Ghost trip elucidation system and method

• US 8,396,662 B1
• Filed: 04/09/2012
• Issued: 03/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GeoTab Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Webtech Wireless Incorporated (GeoTab Incorporated)
• Inventors: Siira, Juhani, Scott, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shafi, Muhammad
• Application Number:
  US13/442,542
• Time in Patent Office: 337 Days
• Field of Search: 701/35, 701/29, 701400-541, 340/439, 340988-996, 307/10.1, 307/12, 307/10, 307/1
• US Class Current: 701/521
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0841 Registering performance data recording measured values G01D; information storage G11B

Abstract

Unauthorized use of fleet vehicles is detected by matching drivers'"'"' logged out times with vehicle movements for which there is no logged in driver. Allowance is made for vehicles that may be moved within permitted areas without a logged in driver. A likelihood value is assigned to each candidate driver whose logged out time corresponds to the duration of unauthorized movement of the vehicle. The likelihood value is increased if the candidate driver is the next driver to log into the vehicle after its unauthorized usage.

Claims

1. A system for elucidating ghost trips in a fleet of vehicles, the system comprising:

a plurality of vehicles each equipped with a movement detector for detecting movements of the vehicle and a recorder for recording detected movements of the vehicle and recording driver login and logout events; and

a server comprising a processor and one or more non-transient computer readable media storing computer readable instructions, which, when processed by the processor, cause the processor to;

receive, from one of said recorders in one of said vehicles, data representing a period of unauthorized movement of said one vehicle;

determine durations for which each of a plurality of drivers were not logged into any of the vehicles;

determine whether any of the durations include the period of unauthorized movement; and

if one or more of the durations includes the period of unauthorized use, assign to each driver to which said one or more durations correspond, a likelihood of being responsible for the unauthorized movement.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the unauthorized movement is movement of said one vehicle while no driver is logged into said one recorder.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the unauthorized movement is determined by the processor to be movement outside of a landmark.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein one or more of the movement detectors is a GPS device or an odometer.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the instructions, when processed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

if one of the drivers with an assigned likelihood has logged into said one vehicle after the period of unauthorized movement, without any other drivers having logged in to said one vehicle after the unauthorized movement and before said one driver'"'"'s logging in, increase said one driver'"'"'s assigned likelihood.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the instructions, when processed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

if one of the drivers with an assigned likelihood logged out of said one vehicle before the period of unauthorized movement, without any other drivers having logged in to said one vehicle after said one driver'"'"'s logging out and before the unauthorized movement, increase said one driver'"'"'s assigned likelihood.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the instructions, when processed by the processor, further cause the processor to send to a remote terminal for display thereon:

details of the unauthorized movement;

identification of each driver with an assigned likelihood of being responsible for the unauthorized movement; and

values of the assigned likelihoods.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the vehicles are either land-borne, airborne or sea-borne.