Systems and methods for trip management

• US 10,783,481 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 09/22/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fedex Corporate Services Incorporated (FedEx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fedex Corporate Services Incorporated (FedEx Corporation)
• Inventors: Murphy, William S., Perry, Zachary S., Gately, Jesse, Milman, Kenneth L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Flynn, Kevin H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zeroual, Omar
• Application Number:
  US13/834,088
• Publication Number:
  US 20130346336A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,748 Days
• Field of Search: 705333, 705 50, 705 7, 705332, 705 14, 705 1, 705 5, 701208, 3405721, 3405391, 340933, 340552, 34082549, 340 574, 62 60
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking

Abstract

There is disclosed a method of providing information about a package in transit. The method involves receiving environmental data collected by a sensor associated with the package during transit and identifying contextual data about the package that is associated with the environmental data. The method also involves selectively providing access to the environmental and contextual data together as elements in an information feed to a plurality of parties, wherein the contextual data comprises at least one comment made by a party on an element in the information feed, and wherein one or more elements in the information feed are listed in chronological order beginning at a start time of the transit of the package.

Claims

1. A method of providing information about a package in transit, the method comprising:

providing a sensor configured to be located in or in proximity to a package in transit, the sensor including a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver;

determining the package has initiated a journey;

receiving, using a host device over a network, environmental data collected by the sensor during the journey, the environmental data including real-time package location data for the package obtained via the sensor;

identifying contextual data about the package;

identifying a set of parties associated with the package and identifying a level of access rights associated with each party in the set of parties;

selectively providing access to the environmental and contextual data together as elements in an information feed directed to the set of parties, wherein;

the contextual data comprises at least one comment made by a party in the set of parties on an element in the information feed, and

one or more elements in the information feed are listed in chronological order beginning at a start time of the transit of the package;

providing to at least one party in the set of parties, a plurality of potential locations at which the package may be located at a current time in response to a request for the package location data at the current time; and

displaying to the at least one party, over one or more networks, the information feed on a user interface customized for the at least one party, the customized user interface selectively obfuscating one or more elements of the information feed based on the identified level of access rights for the at least one party and based on the package location data of the package during the journey.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the environmental data further includes an environmental parameter distinct from the package location data, and wherein the contextual data further comprises a notification triggered by a determination that the environmental parameter has fallen outside of a permissible range.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively providing access to the environmental and contextual data comprises:

providing the set of parties access to select one or more elements in the information feed in accordance with the identified access rights.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

upon selection of the at least one comment by one of the parties, automatically displaying the environmental data from a time associated with the comment.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the contextual data comprises information from a third party.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the package has initiated the journey when the package location data received from the sensor indicates that the package has left a geofenced area associated with an origin of the package.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein obfuscating the one or more elements further comprises:

obfuscating the environmental data to the at least one party after the package is in transit and beyond a threshold distance from an origin or after a threshold period of time has elapsed since the package has left the origin.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein obfuscating the one or more elements further comprises:

providing a plurality of package locations to the at least one party.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein obfuscating the one or more elements further comprises:

dynamically varying an obfuscation level depending on a location of the package during transit from an origin to a destination.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of parties comprises at least a sender of the package, a shipper of the package, and a receiver of the package.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the contextual data has not been collected by the sensor associated with the package.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the package has entered a geofenced area associated with a destination of the package based on the location data received from the sensor; and

providing a remote deactivation instruction to the sensor when the location data received from the sensor indicates that the package has entered the destination geofenced area.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the environmental data further includes an environmental parameter distinct from the location data, and wherein providing the remote deactivation instruction to the sensor is further based on a determination that the environmental parameter has fallen outside of a permissible range.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the remote deactivation instruction instructs the sensor to cease collection of the environmental data.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a request to associate the package sensor with the journey of the package.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method of providing information about a package in transit, the method comprising:

providing a sensor configured to be located in or in proximity to a package in transit, the sensor including a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver;

determining the package has initiated a journey;

receiving, using a host device over a network, environmental data collected by the sensor during the journey, the environmental data including real-time package location data for the package obtained via the sensor;

identifying contextual data about the package;

identifying a set of parties associated with the package and identifying a level of access rights associated with each party in the set of parties;

selectively providing access to the environmental and contextual data together as elements in an information feed directed to the set of parties, wherein;

the contextual data comprises at least one comment made by a party in the set of parties on an element in the information feed, and

one or more elements in the information feed are listed in chronological order beginning at a start time of the transit of the package; and

displaying to the each party, over one or more networks, the information feed on a user interface customized for the each party, the customized user interface selectively providing to the each party, a plurality of potential locations at which the package may be located at a current time in response to a request for the package location data at the current time.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the environmental data further includes an environmental parameter distinct from the package location data, and wherein the contextual data comprises a notification triggered by a determination that the environmental parameter has fallen outside of a permissible range.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the step of wherein selectively providing access to the environmental and contextual data further comprises:

providing the set of parties access to select one or more elements in the information feed in accordance with the identified access rights.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, the method further comprising:

upon selection of the at least one comment by one of the parties, automatically displaying the environmental data from a time associated with the comment.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the contextual data comprises information from a third party.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, the method further comprising:

determining that the package has initiated the journey when the package location data received from the sensor indicates that the package has left a geofenced area associated with an origin of the package.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the set of parties comprise one of a sender of the package, a shipper of the package, and a receiver of the package.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the contextual data has not been collected by the sensor associated with the package.

24. A host device for tracking information associated with a journey of a package from an origin, the host device comprising:

a receiver configured to receive, over a network, environmental data from a package sensor located in or in proximity to a package, wherein the environmental data includes real-time package location data for the package obtained through the sensor including a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver;

a memory device configured to store the received environmental data; and

a CPU configured to;

determine the package has initiated a journey;

identify contextual data about the package;

identify a set of parties associated with the package and identify a level of access rights associated with each party in the set of parties;

selectively provide access to the environmental and contextual data together as elements in an information feed directed to the set of parties, wherein;

the contextual data comprises at least one comment made by a party in the set of parties on an element in the information feed, and

one or more elements in the information feed are listed in chronological order beginning at a start time of a transit of the package,

provide to at least one party in the set of parties a plurality of potential locations at which the package may be located at a current time in response to a request for the package location data at the current time; and

display to each party, over one or more networks, the information feed on a user interface customized for the each party, the customized user interface selectively obfuscating one or more elements of the information feed based on the identified level of access rights for the each party and based on the package location data of the package during the journey.

25. The host device of claim 24, wherein the environmental data further includes an environmental parameter distinct from the package location data, and wherein the contextual data comprises a notification triggered by a determination that the environmental parameter has fallen outside of a permissible range.

26. The host device of claim 24, wherein the CPU is further configured to:

provide the set of parties access to select one or more elements in the information feed in accordance with the identified access rights.

27. The host device of claim 24, wherein the CPU is further configured to:

upon selection of the at least one comment by one of the parties, automatically display the environmental data from a time associated with the comment.

28. The host device of claim 24, wherein the contextual data comprises information from a third party.

29. The host device of claim 24, wherein the CPU is further configured to:

determine that the package has initiated the journey when the package location data received from the sensor indicates that the package has left a geofenced area associated with an origin of the package.

30. The host device of claim 24, wherein when obfuscating the one or more elements, the CPU is further configured to:

obfuscate the environmental data to the at least one party after the package is in transit and beyond a threshold distance from an origin or after a threshold period of time has elapsed since the package left the origin.

31. The host device of claim 24, wherein when obfuscating the one or more elements, the CPU is further configured to:

dynamically vary an obfuscation level depending on a location of the package during transit from an origin to a destination.

32. The host device of claim 24, wherein the set of parties comprises at least a sender of the package, a shipper of the package, and a receiver of the package.

33. The host device of claim 24, wherein the contextual data has not been collected by the sensor associated with the package.