Trailer utilization systems, methods, computer programs embodied on computer-readable media, and apparatuses

• US 9,020,846 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2008
• Issued: 04/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Inventors: Siris, Marc
• Primary Examiner(s): Iwarere, Oluseye
• Assistant Examiner(s): Danzig, Reva R
• Application Number:
  US12/340,233
• Publication Number:
  US 20100161170A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,321 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/28, 705/335, 705/400, 235/385, 235/462.41, 395/133, 701/33, 364/148, 700/28
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0835 Relationships between shipper or supplier and carriers

Abstract

The disclosed systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer programs embodied on computer-readable media may enable a shipping carrier to determine the utilization of a trailer in a delivery network by receiving and aggregating disparate types and sources of shipping information, including, for example, package billing data from a customer order, scan data from the loading and unloading of packages transported by the trailer, dimensional data received from dimensional scans of packages at carrier shipping hubs, and/or trailer data including the volume of the trailer. Utilization may be determined for each trailer in a carrier delivery network or for a subset of trailers in the network. The determined utilizations may be used to determine the parameters for an optimized delivery network, which may include the addition, elimination, and/or modification of the delivery schedule. Network optimization may be an iterative process that may be continually performed using continually updated trailer utilization statistics.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a computing device configured to receive data associated with each of a plurality of packages being shipped in a delivery network, said data comprising dimensional information associated with at least one of the plurality of packages;

a dimensional scanner configured to determine one or more dimensions of at least one of the plurality of packages;

a scanner configured to scan a unique identification code displayed on each of the plurality of packages in order to identify in which of a plurality of trailers each of the plurality of packages is assigned and to transmit an identified trailer assignment associated with each of the plurality of packages; and

a network entity in electronic communication with the computing device, dimensional scanner, and scanner, said network entity configured to;

receive the data associated with each of the plurality of packages from the computing device, the one or more dimensions of at least one of the plurality of packages from the dimensional scanner, and the identified trailer assignment associated with each of the plurality of packages from the scanner;

determine one or more dimensions of each package in a first subset of the plurality of packages based at least in part on some combination of the dimensional information of the data received from the computing device and the one or more dimensions of at least one of the plurality of packages received from the dimensional scanner;

determine a volume of a second subset of the plurality of packages based at least in part on a weight of the second subset of the plurality of packages and historical average volume data;

calculate, for each of the trailers in the plurality of trailers, an aggregate volume of the packages assigned to the trailer based at least in part on the identified trailer assignments, the one or more determined dimensions for the first subset and the determined volume of the second subset of each of the packages; and

determine the utilization of each of the plurality of trailers based at least in part on the calculated aggregate volume of the packages assigned to each of the plurality of trailers.

2. An apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive an indication of one or more packages assigned to a trailer;

determine one or more dimensions of each package assigned to the trailer; and

determine the utilization of the trailer based at least in part on the one or more dimensions of each of the packages assigned to the trailer.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the indication of one or more packages assigned to a trailer is received as the one or more packages are scanned at a hub.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more dimensions of each package assigned to the trailer comprise one or more actual dimensions received from a customer at the time of shipment of the corresponding package.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more dimensions of each package assigned to the trailer comprise one or more estimated dimensions received from a customer at the time of shipment of the corresponding package.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more dimensions of each package assigned to the trailer are received from a dimensional scanner.

7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more dimensions of each package assigned to the trailer comprise height, width, and length.

8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein in order to determine the utilization the processor is further configured to:

determine the volume of each package assigned to the trailer;

calculate the total volume of the packages assigned to the trailer; and

divide the total volume by an available volume associated with the trailer to determine a percent utilization of the trailer.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the weight of each package assigned to the trailer.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the weight of each package assigned to the trailer comprises an actual weight received from a customer at the time of shipment of the corresponding package.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the weight of each package assigned to the trailer comprises an estimated weight received from a customer at the time of shipment of the corresponding package.

12. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the utilization of each of a plurality of trailers used in a delivery network.