Enhanced municipal bidding model

• US 20080010197A1
• Filed: 07/10/2006
• Published: 01/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Casella Waste Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Casella Waste Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Scherer, Christopher M.
• Application Number:
  US11/483,924
• Publication Number:
  US 20080010197A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

A system and methods for billing by a hauler for municipal waste collection, including providing a contract between the municipality and the hauler for waste collection services with an invoicing component based on collection data recorded in a residence-specific manner. Further, providing electronic means for identifying a municipal resident responsible for providing waste to be collected by the hauler, and recording, by the hauler, waste collection data in the residence-specific manner. Further still, providing by the hauler, an invoicing for waste collection that includes the invoicing component based on the recorded waste collection data. The instant abstract is neither intended to define the invention disclosed in this specification nor intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

Claims

1. A risk-sharing method for the billing by a hauler for municipal waste collection, the method comprising:

a) providing a contract between the municipality and the hauler for waste collection services with an invoicing component based on collection data recorded in a residence-specific manner;

b) providing electronic means for identifying a resident responsible for providing waste to be collected by the hauler;

c) recording, by the hauler, waste collection data in the residence-specific manner; and

d) providing, by the hauler, an invoicing for waste collection that includes the invoicing component based on the recorded waste collection data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the resident is one of a non-commercial entity, a commercial resident and other entity associated with the municipality.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the invoicing by the hauler for municipal waste collection is based on recorded waste collection data that is billed to the municipality, the resident and/or any combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the waste collection data recorded by the hauler, includes one of an invoicing value, a credit and a reward for each resident.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the municipality, the resident and/or any combination thereof is periodically invoiced by the hauler for municipal waste collection, such that a collection fee is charged for a total amount of waste collection for one or more collection period.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the municipality, the resident and/or any combination thereof is periodically invoiced by the hauler for municipal waste collection, such that a base collection fee is charged for a limited amount of waste collection, plus one of an additional collection fee is charged for collected waste in excess of aggregate hauling limits and crediting a credit and/or a reward for waste collected under aggregate hauling limits.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the municipality, the resident and/or any combination thereof is periodically invoiced by the hauler for municipal waste collection, such that the invoicing is based on a tier pricing model that charges a collection fee assessed for one or more tier levels of the tier pricing model, plus one of an excess collection fee that is charged for collection of waste exceeding the one or more tier levels, and providing a credit and/or a reward for an amount of waste collected under the one or more tier levels.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the invoicing component includes a credit and/or a reward that provides a benefit to each resident based on one of one or more recycling actions and one or more recycling behavior.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic means is selected from a group consisting of one of an RFID system and a GPS system.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the RFID system comprises an RFID tag fastened to a container.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the RFID tag contains electronic information including a name, a address and other contact information relating to a specific billing plan or billing structure.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein RFID tag fastened to the container is associated with at least one resident.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the waste collection data provides for one of an identifying activity data for waste collection in a resident-specific manner to assist in the invoicing component by the hauler.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the identifying activity data includes an identification of waste collection services from a group consisting of one of curbside pick-up, mobile household hazardous waste collections, household hazardous waste drop-off facility, transport recycling drop-offs centers and landfills for waste collection in a resident-specific manner to assist in the invoicing component by the hauler.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the identifying activity data includes an identification of waste from a group consisting of solid waste, recycling, bulky waste, white goods, yard waste, electronic waste, other non-commercial entity waste and other commercial waste for waste collection in a resident-specific manner to assist in the invoicing component by the hauler.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the identifying activity data is associated with a geographic location, a weight, a volume, a time and a date for waste collection in a resident-specific manner to assist in the invoicing component by the hauler.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the waste collection data recorded by the hauler is associated with preparing at least one bid for municipal waste collection consisting of one of collecting and recycling for the municipality.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the waste collection data recorded by the hauler includes other data.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the other data includes a third party data relating to one of a historical municipality data, a historical resident data, a government collected data, a non-government collected data, a historical waste collection data and any combination thereof.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the waste collection data is combined with other data so as to provide one or more bids by the hauler for the collection of municipal waste for the municipality.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the waste collection data recorded by the hauler is associated with one or more collection means.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the one or more collection means provides data relating to one or more material from a group consisting of one of solid waste, recycling, bulky waste, white goods, yard waste, electronic waste, other non-commercial entity waste and other commercial waste for waste collection in a resident-specific manner to assist in the invoicing component by the hauler.

24. The method of claim 9, wherein the waste collection data provides for a geographic optimization routing for the one or more collection means for the collecting of municipal waste by the hauler.

25. The method of claim 9, wherein the GPS system includes one of monitoring, locating and providing real time data relating to one of one or more collection means, one or more business associates related with the hauler and one or more driving information such as weather, traffic and other related driving information for routing the one or more collection means.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the waste collection data provides for each resident'"'"'s future projected waste collection, based each resident'"'"'s previous recorded waste collection data.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the municipality, the resident and/or any combination thereof is periodically invoiced by the hauler for municipal waste collection, such that the invoicing by the hauler is transmitted by one of an email, a telephone, a text messaging, a paper mailing, a faxing, an Internet and an electronic medium.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the invoicing is transmitted together with a report.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the invoicing is transmitted separately from the report.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the report includes the waste collection data, such that the waste collection data has a weight and/or a volume of waste collected by the hauler for each resident.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein the electronic means includes an RFID system, such that the report provides information from RFID system.

32. The method of claim 28, wherein the report includes the waste collection data that has one of a quantity and a quality of the waste collected from each residence whereby the report provides an incentive for economic growth.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the incentive is a credit and/or a reward that provides a benefit to each resident based on one of one or more recycling actions and one or more recycling behavior.

23. The method of claim 23, wherein the identification of the one or more material is associated with one of a geographic location, a weight and a volume for waste collected from each resident of the municipality by the waste hauler.

34. A waste hauling service pricing method for billing by a hauler for municipal waste hauling, the method comprising:

a) providing an agreement for municipal waste hauling services;

b) providing electronic means for identifying each resident for collection of waste by the hauler;

c) recording, by the hauler, pick-up data associated with the collection of waste for each resident of the municipality; and

d) providing, by the hauler, one of an invoicing and a reporting associated with collection of waste based on the pick-up data.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the resident is one of a non-commercial entity, a commercial resident and other entity associated with the municipality.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the municipality, the resident and/or any combination thereof is periodically invoiced by the hauler for municipal waste collection, such that the invoicing and or the reporting by the hauler is transmitted by one of an email, a telephone, a text messaging, a paper mailing, a faxing, an Internet and an electronic medium.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein the invoicing of the municipality, the resident and/or any combination thereof, is based on a collection fee charged for a total amount of waste collection for one or more collection period.

38. The method of claim 34, wherein the municipality, the resident and/or any combination thereof is periodically invoiced by the hauler for municipal waste collection, such that a base collection fee is charged for a limited amount of waste collection, plus one of an additional collection fee that is charged for collected waste in excess of aggregate hauling limits and crediting a credit and/or a reward for waste collected under aggregate hauling limits.

39. The method of claim 34, wherein the municipality, the resident and/or any combination thereof is periodically invoiced by the hauler for municipal waste collection, such that the invoicing is based on a tier pricing model that charges a collection fee assessed for one or more tier levels of the tier pricing model, plus one of an excess collection fee that is charged for collection of waste exceeding the one or more tier levels, and providing a credit and/or a reward for an amount of waste collected under the one or more tier levels.

40. The method of claim 34, wherein the hauler uses the pick-up data for at least one bid in response to an RFP for municipal waste collection services.

41. The method of claim 34, wherein the electronic means includes an RFID system having one or more RFID tag attached to one or more container associated with waste collection for each resident of the municipality.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the one or more RFID tag provides RFID data that is communicated to the pick-up data.

43. The method of claim 34, wherein the pick-up data includes a load information associated with municipal waste collection for each resident.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the load information is gathered from one or more collection means by the hauler.

45. The method of claim 34, wherein the pick-up data is associated with the reporting so as to include one of a weight and a volume for waste collected from each resident of the municipality.

46. The method of claim 34, wherein the pick-up data is associated with the reporting so as to include one of a date and a time for waste collected from each participating resident of the municipality.

47. The method of claim 34, wherein the electronic means includes a GPS means for one of monitoring, locating and providing real time data relating to one of one or more collection means, one or more business associates related with the hauler and one or more driving information such as weather, traffic and other related driving information for routing the one or more collection means.

48. A bidding system for billing by a hauler for municipal waste collection in response to at least one bid associated with the municipality, the bidding system including a contract for waste collection, providing electronic means for identifying each resident for collection of waste by the hauler, recording, by the hauler, pick-up data associated with the collection of waste for each resident of the municipality, providing, by the hauler, one of an invoicing and a reporting associated with collection of waste based on the pick-up data, the system comprising:

a) providing the contract between the municipality and the hauler for waste collection services with the invoicing and the reporting by the hauler based on collecting pick-up data associated with waste collection from each participating resident of the municipality;

b) providing electronic means for identifying the participating resident responsible for providing waste to be collected by the hauler;

c) recording, by the hauler, the pick-up data for each participating resident of the municipality; and

d) providing, by the hauler, one of the invoicing, the reporting and rewarding a reward for waste collection based on the pick-up data.

49. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the reward includes providing the participating resident with one of a non-monetary reward and a monetary reward.

50. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the invoicing by the hauler for municipal waste collection is based on recorded pick-up data that is billed to the municipality, the participating resident and/or any combination thereof.

51. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the recorded pick-up data by the hauler, includes an invoicing value for each participating resident.

52. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the municipality, the participating resident and/or any combination thereof is periodically invoiced by the hauler for municipal waste collection, such that a collection fee is charged for a total amount of waste collection for one or more collection period.

53. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the municipality, the participating resident and/or any combination thereof is periodically invoiced by the hauler for municipal waste collection, such that a base collection fee is charged for a limited amount of waste collection, plus one of an additional collection fee is charged for collected waste in excess of aggregate hauling limits and rewarding the reward for waste collected under aggregate hauling limits.

54. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the municipality, the participating resident and/or any combination thereof is periodically invoiced by the hauler for municipal waste collection, such that the invoicing is based on a tier pricing model that charges a collection fee assessed for one or more tier levels of the tier pricing model, plus one of an excess collection fee that is charged for collection of waste exceeding the one or more tier levels, and rewarding the reward for an amount of waste collected under the one or more tier levels.

55. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the electronic means for identifying the municipal resident is selected from a group consisting of one of an RFID system and an GPS system.

56. The bidding system of claim 55, wherein the RFID system includes a RFID tag fixed to a container for municipal waste collection, such that each container is associated with each participating residence.

57. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the waste to be hauled by the hauler is selected from a group consisting of one of solid waste, recycling, bulky waste, white goods, yard waste, electronic waste, other non-commercial entity waste and other commercial waste.

58. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the participating resident of the municipality is one of a non-commercial entity, a commercial resident and other entity associated with the municipality.

59. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the pickup data is associated with preparing at least one bid for municipal waste collection consisting of one of collecting and recycling for the municipality.

60. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the pickup data is associated with one of a weight and a volume for municipal waste collection for the municipality.

61. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the invoicing and the reporting of municipal waste collection of the municipality by the hauler is associated with the pick-up data relating to one of a date, a time, a quantity and a quality of the waste collected from each participating residence.

62. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the pick-up data provides for a percent participation level for all residents of the municipality.

63. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the electronic means includes a GPS means that provides for a geographic optimization routing for one or more collection means for the hauler when collecting municipal waste.

64. The bidding system of claim 63, wherein the one or more collection means is associated with an identification of materials of the waste collected from each participating residence.

65. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the pick-up data is combined with other data to be used by the hauler for presenting one or more bids to the municipality for waste collection services.

66. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the pick-up data includes an identity activity data associated with waste collection selected from a waste group consisting of one of solid waste, recycling, bulky waste, white goods, yard waste, electronic waste, other non-commercial entity waste and other commercial waste.

67. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the invoicing and/or the reporting of municipal waste collection is transmitted to the municipality, participating resident and any combination thereof by one of an email, a telephone, a text message, a paper mail, a fax, an Internet and an electronic medium.

68. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the reporting includes one of a quantity and a quality of waste collected from each participating residence in the municipality whereby the reporting provides an incentive.

69. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the invoicing and/or reporting includes one of one or more hauling activities for the municipal waste collection and one or more contamination listings for each of the one or more hauling activities for the municipal waste collection.

70. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the invoicing and/or reporting includes one of an accrual of invoices and/or reporting for and credits for one or more collection periods which is transmitted to the municipality, participating resident and any combination thereof.

71. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the participating resident includes a group consisting of a senior citizen group, a handicapped group, a back door group, a curbside group, a multi-dwelling group, a spring clean-up group and a fall clean-up group.

72. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the pick-up data includes a first monitoring data having volumes of waste collection for each participating resident for at least one time within a collection period, which is compared with a second monitoring data having volumes of waste collection for each participating resident after the first monitoring data with the collection period.

73. The bidding system of claim 72, wherein the first monitoring data is compared with the second monitoring data, so as to provide an evaluation data for each participating resident.

74. The bidding system of claim 48, wherein the pick-up data includes one of a non-paying municipality data, a non-paying participating residents data and any combination thereof so as to interrupt waste collection services by the hauler until payment for services rendered is received.