SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRIP MANAGEMENT

• US 20130346336A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 12/26/2013
• 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., Milman, Kenneth L., Perry, Zachary S., Gately, Jesse
• Granted Patent: US 10,783,481 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/333
• 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:

receiving environmental data collected by a sensor associated with the package during transit;

identifying contextual data about the package that is associated with the environmental data; and

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.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the contextual data further comprises a notification triggered by sensor data.

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

providing access to select one or more elements in the information feed based on individual party access rights.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

upon selection of the 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, wherein selectively providing access to the environmental and contextual data comprises:

obfuscating one or more elements of the information stream from one or more select parties while the package is in transit, in accordance with predefined access rules.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining that the package is in transit when it leaves a geofenced area associated with an origin of the package.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

obfuscating the environmental data to the select parties 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 was left the origin.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein obfuscating the one or more elements further comprises:

delaying location information provided to the one or more select parties about he package.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein obfuscating the one or more elements further comprises:

providing an approximate range of the location to the one or more select parties.

11. The method of claim 6, 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.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the parties comprise at least one of a sender of the package, a shipper of the package, or a receiver of the package.

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

14. A 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:

receiving environmental data collected by a sensor associated with the package during transit;

identifying contextual data about the package that is associated with the environmental data; and

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.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the contextual data comprises a notification triggered by sensor data.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the step of wherein selectively providing access to the environmental and contextual data further comprises:

providing access to select one or more elements in the information feed based on individual party access rights.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, the method further comprising:

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

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the contextual data comprises information from a third party.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the step of selectively providing access to the environmental and contextual data further comprises:

obfuscating one or more elements of the information stream from one or more select parties while the package is in transit, in accordance with predefined access rules.

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

determining that the package is in transit when it leaves a geofenced area associated with an origin of the package.

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

obfuscating the environmental data to the select parties 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.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the step of obfuscating the one or more elements further comprises:

delaying location information provided to the one or more select parties about the package.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the step of obfuscating the one or more elements further comprises:

providing an approximate range of the location to the one or more select parties.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the step of 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.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the parties comprise at least one of a sender of the package, a shipper of the package, or a receiver of the package.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the contextual data has not been collected by the sensor associated with the package.

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

an I/O unit configured to receive environmental data from a package sensor;

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

a CPU configured to;

identify contextual data about the package that s associated with the environmental data; and

selectively provide 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.

28. The host device of claim 27, wherein the contextual data comprises a notification triggered by sensor data.

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

provide access to select one or more elements in the information feed based on individual party access rights.

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

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

31. The host device of claim 27, wherein the contextual data comprises information from a third party.

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

obfuscate one or more elements of the information stream from one or more select parties while the package is in transit, in accordance with predefined access rules.

33. The host device of claim 32, wherein the CPU is further configured to:

determine that the package is in transit when it leaves a geofenced area associated with an origin of the package.

34. The host device of claim 32, wherein the CPU is further configured to:

obfuscate the environmental data to the select parties 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.

35. The host device of claim 32, wherein when obfuscating the one or more elements, the CPU is further configured to:

delay location information provided to the one or more select parties about the package.

36. The host device of claim 32, wherein when obfuscating the one or more elements, the CPU is further configured to:

provide an approximate range of the location to the one or more select parties.

37. The host device of claim 32, 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.

38. The host device of claim 27, wherein the parties comprise at least one of a sender of the package, a shipper of the package, or a receiver of the package.

39. The host device of claim 27, wherein the contextual data has not been collected by the sensor associated with the package.