Off-board hours-of-service (“HOS”) processing

• US 9,922,001 B2
• Filed: 03/07/2013
• Issued: 03/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omnitracs LLC (Solera Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Omnitracs LLC (Solera Holdings Incorporated)
• Inventors: Flies, Thomas N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Smith-Stewart, Demetra R
• Application Number:
  US13/789,304
• Publication Number:
  US 20130304276A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,839 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices for providing hour-of-service (“HOS”) calculations via a web based host server instead of on an onboard mobile device. In the various embodiments, an onboard vehicle recording device and driver-carried mobile devices may operate independently. The onboard vehicle recording device and driver-carried mobile device(s) may exchange information independently with a host server rather than exchanging information together onboard the vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for off-board hours-of-service (“

HOS”

) processing for a vehicle, comprising;

receiving, at a host server, vehicle performance data from a vehicle recording device onboard the vehicle, wherein the vehicle recording device does not perform HOS calculations;

receiving, at the host server, an indication of a driver status change from a driver'"'"'s mobile device, wherein the driver'"'"'s mobile device does not perform HOS calculations, and wherein the driver'"'"'s mobile device and the vehicle recording device independently exchange information with the host server without requiring communication between the driver'"'"'s mobile device and the vehicle recording device; and

updating an HOS database based at least in part on the received vehicle performance data and the received indication of the driver status change.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating an HOS report at the host server based at least in part on the updated HOS database; and

sending the HOS report from the host server to the driver'"'"'s mobile device without exchanging data with the vehicle recording device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a record of duty status report at the host server based at least in part on the updated HOS database; and

sending the record of duty status report from the host server to the driver'"'"'s mobile device without exchanging data with the vehicle recording device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of a driver status change indicates a change of status to one or more of driving, D, on-duty driving, on-duty not driving, on, off-duty, off, sleeper berth, and SB.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein vehicle performance data includes one or more of speed, engine revolutions per minute, mileage, vehicle ID, trailer ID, fuel level, vehicle weight, engine operation time, GPS location, and acceleration.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle performance data includes a vehicle ID and an odometer reading and wherein the indication of the driver status change includes a driver ID, the method further comprising:

generating an odometer input request at the host server;

sending the odometer input request to the driver'"'"'s mobile device;

receiving, at the host server, an odometer report from the driver'"'"'s mobile device in response to the odometer input request, wherein the odometer report includes a vehicle displayed odometer reading;

determining whether the vehicle displayed odometer reading corresponds to the odometer reading included in the vehicle performance data; and

associating the driver ID with the vehicle ID in the HOS database in response to determining the vehicle displayed odometer reading corresponds to the odometer reading included in the vehicle performance data.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the host server, an odometer reading from the driver'"'"'s mobile device, wherein the odometer reading includes a vehicle displayed odometer reading; and

associating the odometer reading with a vehicle ID in the HOS database.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the driver'"'"'s mobile device does not run an HOS application.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle performance data includes a vehicle ID and an odometer reading and wherein the indication of the driver status change includes a driver ID.

10. A method for workflow processing for a vehicle, comprising:

receiving, at a host server, vehicle performance data from a vehicle recording device onboard the vehicle, wherein the vehicle recording device does not perform HOS calculations;

receiving, at the host server, an indication of a driver status change from a driver'"'"'s mobile device, wherein the driver'"'"'s mobile device does not perform HOS calculations, and wherein the driver'"'"'s mobile device and the vehicle recording device independently exchange information with the host server without requiring communication between the driver'"'"'s mobile device and the vehicle recording device; and

updating a vehicle fleet management database based at least in part on the received vehicle performance data and the received indication of the driver status change.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

providing the vehicle performance data from the host server to the driver'"'"'s mobile device without exchanging data with the vehicle recording device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the vehicle fleet management database is one or more of a type database, an hours-of-service database, a workflow database, a proof-of-delivery database, and a driver feedback database.

13. An off-board hours-of-service (“

HOS”

) system, comprising;

a host server comprising;

means for receiving vehicle performance data from a vehicle recording device onboard the vehicle, wherein the vehicle recording device does not perform HOS calculations;

means for receiving an indication of a driver status change from a driver'"'"'s mobile device, wherein the driver'"'"'s mobile device does not perform HOS calculations, and wherein the driver'"'"'s mobile device and the vehicle recording device independently exchange information with the host server without requiring communication between the driver'"'"'s mobile device and the vehicle recording device; and

means for updating an HOS database based at least in part on the received vehicle performance data and the received indication of the driver status change.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the host server further comprises:

means for generating an HOS report based at least in part on the updated HOS database; and

means for sending the HOS report to the driver'"'"'s mobile device without exchanging data with the vehicle recording device.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the host server further comprises:

means for generating a record of duty status report based at least in part on the updated HOS database; and

means for sending the record of duty status report to the driver'"'"'s mobile device without exchanging data with the vehicle recording device.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the indication of a driver status change indicates a change of status to one or more of driving, D, on-duty driving, on-duty not driving, on, off-duty, off, sleeper berth, and SB.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein vehicle performance data includes one or more of speed, engine revolutions per minute, mileage, vehicle ID, trailer ID, fuel level, vehicle weight, engine operation time, GPS location, and acceleration.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the vehicle performance data includes a vehicle ID and an odometer reading, wherein the indication of the driver status change includes a driver ID, wherein the host server further comprises:

means for generating an odometer input request;

means for sending the odometer input request to the driver'"'"'s mobile device;

means for receiving an odometer report from the driver'"'"'s mobile device in response to the odometer input request, wherein the odometer report includes a vehicle displayed odometer reading;

means for determining whether the vehicle displayed odometer reading corresponds to the odometer reading included in the vehicle performance data; and

means for associating the driver ID with the vehicle ID in the HOS database in response to determining the vehicle displayed odometer reading corresponds to the odometer reading included in the vehicle performance data.

19. An off-board hours-of-service (“

HOS”

) system, comprising;

a host server, comprising;

a first transceiver configured to communicate with a communication network; and

a host server processor coupled to the first transceiver,

wherein the host server is remote from the vehicle, and

wherein the host server processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising;

receiving, via the first transceiver, vehicle performance data from a second transceiver coupled to a vehicle recording device onboard the vehicle, wherein the vehicle recording device does not perform HOS calculations;

receiving, via the first transceiver, an indication of a driver status change from a third transceiver coupled to a driver'"'"'s mobile device, wherein the driver'"'"'s mobile device does not perform HOS calculations, and wherein the driver'"'"'s mobile device and the vehicle recording device independently exchange information with the host server without requiring communication between the driver'"'"'s mobile device and the vehicle recording device; and

updating an HOS database based at least in part on the received vehicle performance data and the received indication of the driver status change.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the host server is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

generating an HOS report based at least in part on the updated HOS database; and

sending the HOS report via the first transceiver to the driver'"'"'s mobile device without exchanging data with the vehicle recording device.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the host server is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

generating a record of duty status report based at least in part on the updated HOS database; and

sending the record of duty status report via the first transceiver to the driver'"'"'s mobile device without exchanging data with the vehicle recording device.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the indication of a driver status change indicates a change of status to one or more of driving, D, on-duty driving, on-duty not driving, on, off-duty, off, sleeper berth, and SB.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein vehicle performance data includes one or more of speed, engine revolutions per minute, mileage, vehicle ID, trailer ID, fuel level, vehicle weight, engine operation time, GPS location, and acceleration.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the vehicle performance data includes a vehicle ID and an odometer reading, wherein the indication of the driver status change includes a driver ID, wherein the host server is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

generating an odometer input request; and

sending the odometer input request via the first transceiver to the driver'"'"'s mobile device,

receive, via the first transceiver, the odometer report from the driver'"'"'s mobile device in response to the odometer input request, wherein the odometer report includes a vehicle displayed odometer reading;

determining whether the vehicle displayed odometer reading corresponds to the odometer reading included in the vehicle performance data; and

associating the driver ID with the vehicle ID in the HOS database in response to determining the vehicle displayed odometer reading corresponds to the odometer reading included in the vehicle performance data.

25. A system, comprising:

a host server,

means for receiving the vehicle performance data from a vehicle recording device onboard the vehicle, wherein the vehicle recording device does not perform HOS calculations;

means for receiving an indication of a driver status change from a driver'"'"'s mobile device, wherein the driver'"'"'s mobile device does not perform HOS calculations, and wherein the driver'"'"'s mobile device and the vehicle recording device independently exchange information with the host server without requiring communication between the driver'"'"'s mobile device and the vehicle recording device; and

means for updating a vehicle fleet management database based at least in part on the received vehicle performance data and the received indication of the driver status change.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the host server further comprises means for providing the vehicle performance data to the driver'"'"'s mobile device without exchanging data with the vehicle recording device.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the vehicle fleet management database is one or more of a type database, an hours-of-service database, a workflow database, a proof-of-delivery database, and a driver feedback database.

28. A system, comprising:

a host server, comprising;

a first transceiver configured to communicate with a communication network; and

a host server processor coupled to the first transceiver,

wherein the host server is remote from the vehicle, and

wherein the host server processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising;

receiving, via the first transceiver, the vehicle performance data from a second transceiver coupled to a vehicle recording device onboard the vehicle, wherein the vehicle recording device does not perform HOS calculations;

receiving, via the first transceiver, an indication of a driver status change from a third transceiver coupled to a driver'"'"'s mobile device, wherein the driver'"'"'s mobile device does not perform HOS calculations, and wherein the driver'"'"'s mobile device and the vehicle recording device independently exchange information with the host server without requiring communication between the driver'"'"'s mobile device and the vehicle recording device; and

updating a vehicle fleet management database based at least in part on the received vehicle performance data and the received indication of the driver status change.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the host server processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising providing the vehicle performance data to the driver'"'"'s mobile device via the first transceiver without exchanging data with the vehicle recording device.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the vehicle fleet management database is one or more of a type database, an hours-of-service database, a workflow database, a proof-of-delivery database, and a driver feedback database.