SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ASSESSING VEHICLE AND VEHICLE OPERATOR EFFICIENCY

• US 20150161828A1
• Filed: 02/12/2015
• Published: 06/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2011
• 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: DAVIDSON, MARK J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,858,732 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3469 Fuel consumption; Energy use; Emission aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3617 using user history, behaviour, conditions or preferences, e.g. predicted or inferred from previous use or current movement
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/00 Registering or indicating the working of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/02 Registering or indicating driving, working, idle, or waiting time only apparatus forming part of taximeters G07B13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/06 in graphical form
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/123 indicating the position of vehicles, e.g. scheduled vehicles; Managing passenger vehicles circulating according to a fixed timetable, e.g. buses, trains, tramstransmission of navigation instructions to vehicles G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/207 with respect to certain areas, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas with possible alerting when inside or outside boundaries
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to a fleet management computer system for assessing vehicle efficiency. According to various embodiments, the fleet management computer system is configured for receiving and assessing vehicle telematics data in order to determine an idle percentage of engine run time value representing the percentage of the vehicle'"'"'s engine run time during which the vehicle'"'"'s engine was idling during the one or more time periods. In addition, the fleet management computer system may be configured for assessing vehicle telematics data in order to identify segment of engine idle time and generate a graphical display indicating various attributes of the identified idle time segments. The idle time percentage and idle time segments generated by the system can be used to assess the efficiency of vehicles and/or vehicle operators in an associated fleet.

Claims

1. A method for assessing vehicle efficiency, the method comprising:

receiving, via one or more processors, vehicle telematics data indicative of one or more vehicle dynamics for a vehicle during one or more time periods;

identifying, via the one or more processors, engine idle time segments based on the vehicle telematics data, each of the identified engine idle time segments representing a period of time during which the vehicle'"'"'s engine was idling;

determining, via the one or more processors, the location of the vehicle when each identified engine idle time segment occurred; and

providing, via the one or more processors, for display via a graphical user interface;

at least one evaluation results display indicating one or more of the identified engine idle time segments; and

at least one geographical map;

wherein the graphical user interface (a) enables a user to select at least one of the one or more identified engine idle time segments indicated in the evaluation results display, and (b) in response to the user selecting the at least one of the one or more identified engine idle time segments, indicates the location of the at least one user-selected engine idle time segment on the geographical map.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein (a) the evaluation results display comprises a timeline indicating the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments according to their time of occurrence, and (b) the graphical user interface enables a user to select the at least one of the identified engine idle time segments indicated in the timeline by selecting a historical time corresponding to a particular engine idle time segment.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the graphical user interface includes a user-movable scroll bar that enables a user to select the historical time.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein (a) the timeline indicating the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments according to their time of occurrence comprises a Gantt chart and (b) the user-movable scroll bar enables a user to select the historical time in relation to the Gantt chart.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the graphical user interface includes a data field that enables a user to select the historical time by entering a time value into the data field.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein (a) the geographical map includes a vehicle position indicator indicating the position of the vehicle and (b) the method further comprises positioning the vehicle position indicator in the geographical map such that the position of the vehicle position indicator corresponds with the historical time selected by a user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein (a) the evaluation results display comprises a list of the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments and (b) the method further comprises receiving a selection of the at least one of the one or more identified engine idle time segments indicated in the evaluation results display.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising determining each identified engine idle time segment'"'"'s time of occurrence and duration, wherein the list indicates each of the identified engine idle time segments'"'"' time of occurrence and duration.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising sorting the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments in the list according to time of occurrence and duration in response to user input.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining, for each of the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments, a type of activity segment during which the respective engine idle time segment occurred.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

indicating the activity segment during which each of the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments occurred; and

sorting the engine idle time segments according to activity segment in response to user input.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the type of activity segment is selected from the group consisting of (a) start of trip segments, (b) travel segments, and (c) end of trip segments.

13. The method claim 1 further comprising:

receiving user input requesting retrieval of vehicle telematics data relating to one or more user parameters;

retrieving certain vehicle telematics data relating to the parameters from one or more data repositories; and

loading the certain vehicle telematics data to one or more memory storage areas.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more user parameters comprise one or more parameters selected from the group consisting of (a) one or more time periods, (b) one or more specific drivers, (c) one or more specific vehicles, and (d) one or more locations.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein (a) the graphical user interface further comprises one or more menus and (b) the method further comprises:

receiving the one or more user parameters selected from the one or more menus; and

retrieving vehicle telematics data relating to selected parameters.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising identifying a vehicle operator associated with each of the engine idle time segments.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on the vehicle telematics data, one or more efficiency statistics for the vehicle operator; and

providing for display via the graphical display the efficiency statistics for the vehicle operator.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the one or more efficiency statistics comprise one or more statistics selected from the group consisting of (a) total idle time, (b) idle percentage of engine runtime, (c) maximum engine idle event, and (d) total idle time per mile traveled.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

determining, for each of the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments, a type of activity segment during which the respective engine idle time segment occurred, wherein (a) the type of activity segment is selected from the group consisting of (i) start of trip segments, (ii) travel segments, and (iii) end of trip segments, and (b) the one or more efficiency statistics comprise one or more statistics selected from the group consisting of (i) total idle time occurring during start of trip segments, (ii) total idle time occurring during travel segments;

idle time per start of trip segment event, and (iii) idle time per end of trip segment event.

20. A system comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including program code, the at least one memory and the program code configured to, with the processor, cause the system to at least:

receive vehicle telematics data indicative of one or more vehicle dynamics for a vehicle during one or more time periods;

identify engine idle time segments based on the vehicle telematics data, each of the identified engine idle time segments representing a period of time during which the vehicle'"'"'s engine was idling;

determine the location of the vehicle when each identified engine idle time segment occurred; and

provide for display via a graphical user interface;

at least one evaluation results display indicating one or more of the identified engine idle time segments; and

at least one geographical map;

wherein the graphical user interface (a) enables a user to select at least one of the one or more identified engine idle time segments indicated in the evaluation results display, and (b) in response to the user selecting the at least one of the one or more identified engine idle time segments, indicates the location of the at least one user-selected engine idle time segment on the geographical map.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein (a) the evaluation results display comprises a timeline indicating the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments according to their time of occurrence, and (b) the graphical user interface enables a user to select the at least one of the identified engine idle time segments indicated in the timeline by selecting a historical time corresponding to a particular engine idle time segment.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the graphical user interface includes a user-movable scroll bar that enables a user to select the historical time.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein (a) the timeline indicating the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments according to their time of occurrence comprises a Gantt chart and (b) the user-movable scroll bar enables a user to select the historical time in relation to the Gantt chart.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein (a) the geographical map includes a vehicle position indicator indicating the position of the vehicle and (b) the memory and program code are further configured to, with the processor, cause the system to position the vehicle position indicator in the geographical map such that the position of the vehicle position indicator corresponds with the historical time selected by a user.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein (a) the evaluation results display comprises a list of the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments and (b) the memory and program code are further configured to, with the processor, cause the system to receive a selection of the at least one of the one or more identified engine idle time segments indicated in the evaluation results display.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein the memory and program code are further configured to, with the processor, cause the system to determine for each of the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments, a type of activity segment during which the respective engine idle time segment occurred.

27. The system claim 20, wherein the memory and program code are further configured to, with the processor, cause the system to:

receive user input requesting retrieval of vehicle telematics data relating to one or more user parameters;

retrieve certain vehicle telematics data relating to the parameters from one or more data repositories; and

load the certain vehicle telematics data to one or more memory storage areas.

28. The system of claim 20, wherein the memory and program code are further configured to, with the processor, cause the system to:

determine, based at least in part on the vehicle telematics data, one or more efficiency statistics for the vehicle operator; and

provide for display via the graphical display the efficiency statistics for the vehicle operator.

29. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

an executable portion configured to receive vehicle telematics data indicative of one or more vehicle dynamics for a vehicle during one or more time periods;

an executable portion configured to identify engine idle time segments based on the vehicle telematics data, each of the identified engine idle time segments representing a period of time during which the vehicle'"'"'s engine was idling;

an executable portion configured to determine the location of the vehicle when each identified engine idle time segment occurred; and

an executable portion configured to provide for display via a graphical user interface;

at least one evaluation results display indicating one or more of the identified engine idle time segments; and

at least one geographical map;

wherein the graphical user interface (a) enables a user to select at least one of the one or more identified engine idle time segments indicated in the evaluation results display, and (b) in response to the user selecting the at least one of the one or more identified engine idle time segments, indicates the location of the at least one user-selected engine idle time segment on the geographical map.

30. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein (a) the evaluation results display comprises a timeline indicating the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments according to their time of occurrence, and (b) the graphical user interface enables a user to select the at least one of the identified engine idle time segments indicated in the timeline by selecting a historical time corresponding to a particular engine idle time segment.

31. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the graphical user interface includes a user-movable scroll bar that enables a user to select the historical time.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein (a) the timeline indicating the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments according to their time of occurrence comprises a Gantt chart and (b) the user-movable scroll bar enables a user to select the historical time in relation to the Gantt chart.

33. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein (a) the geographical map includes a vehicle position indicator indicating the position of the vehicle and (b) the computer-readable program code portions additionally comprise an executable portion configured to position the vehicle position indicator in the geographical map such that the position of the vehicle position indicator corresponds with the historical time selected by a user.

34. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein (a) the evaluation results display comprises a list of the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments and (b) the computer-readable program code portions additionally comprise an executable portion configured to receive a selection of the at least one of the one or more identified engine idle time segments indicated in the evaluation results display.

35. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the computer-readable program code portions additionally comprise an executable portion configured to determine for each of the one or more of the identified engine idle time segments, a type of activity segment during which the respective engine idle time segment occurred.

36. The computer program product claim 29, wherein the computer-readable program code portions additionally comprise:

an executable portion configured to receive user input requesting retrieval of vehicle telematics data relating to one or more user parameters;

an executable portion configured to retrieve certain vehicle telematics data relating to the parameters from one or more data repositories; and

an executable portion configured to load the certain vehicle telematics data to one or more memory storage areas.

37. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the computer-readable program code portions additionally comprise:

an executable portion configured to determine, based at least in part on the vehicle telematics data, one or more efficiency statistics for the vehicle operator; and

an executable portion configured to provide for display via the graphical display the efficiency statistics for the vehicle operator.