Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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VEHICLE FLEET CONTROL SYSTEMS AND METHODS
BACKGROUND
[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to vehicle systems and
particularly to
vehicle fleet control.
SUMMARY
[0002] The disclosed subject matter relates to systems and methods of
efficient
control of distributed systems of vehicles.
[0003] In some implementations, a method is provided that includes
identifying, by a
dedicated fleet control server operated by a dedicated carrier, one or more
shipments for
assignment to a common carrier fleet or a dedicated carrier fleet; receiving,
by the
dedicated fleet control server from a common carrier fleet server, a plurality
of common
carrier constraints including an indication of at least one available common
carrier vehicle
for one or more predetermined windows of time, and costs for shipping the one
or more
shipments with the at least one available common carrier vehicle along one or
more
routes during the one or more predetermined windows of time; receiving, by the
dedicated fleet control server, vehicle status information from communications
circuitry
disposed in one or more vehicles of the dedicated carrier fleet; determining,
by the
dedicated fleet control server in real time while receiving the vehicle status
information,
one or more dedicated carrier constraints for the one or more predetermined
windows of
time based on the received vehicle status information; and selectively
assigning, by the
dedicated fleet control server, the one or more shipments to the dedicated
carrier fleet or
the common carrier fleet based on the determined one or more dedicated carrier
constraints and the received plurality of common carrier constraints.
[0004] In other implementations, a system is provided that includes a
dedicated
carrier fleet with a first plurality of vehicles; and a dedicated fleet
control system
communicatively coupled to each of the first plurality of vehicles and in
communication
with at least one common carrier control system, where the dedicated fleet
control system
is configured to: receive real-time vehicle and driver status information from
communications circuitry for each of the first plurality of vehicles; receive
real-time
availability information for a second plurality of vehicles operated by a
common carrier
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from the common carrier control system for one or more windows of time;
determine a
plurality of dedicated carrier constraints based, at least in part, on the
real-time vehicle
and driver status information; and distribute a plurality of shipments among
the first
plurality of vehicles and the second plurality of vehicles for transportation
of the plurality
of shipments from respective pickup locations to respective delivery locations
within the
one or more windows of time based on a determination of routes for the first
plurality of
vehicles made in real time with a concurrent minimization of an overall cost
of a resulting
distribution using the received real-time availability information and the
plurality of
dedicated carrier constraints.
[0005] In other implementations, a method is provided that includes
distributing,
using a dedicated fleet server, a plurality of loads among a dedicated carrier
fleet and a
common carrier vehicle fleet, for delivery of the plurality of loads from
respective pickup
locations to respective delivery locations, based on a determination of routes
for one or
more first vehicles of the dedicated carrier fleet and a minimization,
simultaneous with
the determination of routes, of an overall cost of the resulting distribution
based on
dedicated carrier constraints, common carrier constraints for one or more
second vehicles
of the common carrier vehicle fleet, and a cost model that excludes fixed
costs for the
dedicated carrier fleet, where at least one of the dedicated carrier
constraints is
determined in real time during the distributing of the plurality of loads,
based on vehicle
status information received by the dedicated fleet server from communications
circuitry
disposed in at least one vehicle of the dedicated carrier fleet, where the
dedicated carrier
constraints include a constraint that each of the plurality of loads be picked
up from a
corresponding pickup location for that load and delivered to a corresponding
delivery
location for that load within a window of time, and where the common carrier
constraints
include an indication of a number of available common carrier vehicles and
common
carrier costs for the window of time and one or more routes associated with at
least one of
the plurality of loads.
[0006] It is understood that other configurations of the subject technology
will
become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following
detailed description,
where various configurations of the subject technology are shown and described
by way
of illustration. As will be realized, the subject technology is capable of
other and
different configurations and its several details are capable of modification
in various other
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respects, all without departing from the scope of the subject technology.
Accordingly, the
drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature
and not as
restrictive.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The novel features of the subject technology are set forth in the
appended
claims. However, for purpose of explanation, several configurations of the
subject
technology are set forth in the accompanying figures summarized below.
[0008] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example vehicle fleet system for
practicing some
implementations of the subject technology.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a diagram of exemplary vehicle routes for dedicated fleet
vehicles
having a common home depot in accordance with some implementations of the
subject
technology
[0010] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an example process that may be performed
for
shipment distribution and vehicle fleet control in implementations of the
subject
technology using the system of FIG. 1.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of another example process that may be
performed
for shipment distribution and vehicle fleet control in implementations of the
subject
technology using the system of FIG. 1.
[0012] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of another example process that may be
performed
for shipment distribution and vehicle fleet control in implementations of the
subject
technology using the system of FIG. 1.
[0013] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example process that may be performed
for
fleet sizing in some implementations of the subject technology using the
system of FIG.
1.
[0014] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an example process that may be performed
for
fleet sizing in some implementations of the subject technology using the
system of FIG.
1.
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[0015] FIG. 8 is a block diagram depicting components of an example vehicle
control
system.
[0016] FIG. 9 is an example process that may be performed at an operations
analyzer
for practicing implementations of the subject technology using the example
device of
FIG. 8.
[0017] FIG. 10 is an example process that may be performed at a preliminary
plan
generator for practicing implementations of the subject technology using the
example
device of FIG. 8.
[0018] FIG. 11 is an example process that may be performed at a plan
optimizer for
practicing implementations of the subject technology using the example device
of FIG. 8.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] The detailed description set forth below is intended as a
description of various
configurations of the subject technology and is not intended to represent the
only
configurations in which the subject technology may be practiced. The appended
drawings are incorporated herein and constitute a part of the detailed
description. The
subject technology is not limited to the specific details set forth herein and
may be
practiced without these specific details.
[0020] The disclosed implementations discussed herein provide systems and
methods
for assigning shipments between a dedicated carrier fleet and a common carrier
fleet in
such a way that takes into consideration relevant fleet constraints and
leverages the
benefit of real-time fleet parameters (e.g., real-time data received at a
carrier server from
communications circuitry installed in each fleet vehicle).
[0021] A dedicated carrier fleet is a fleet of vehicles that are dedicated
to or owned by
a dedicated carrier organization. The dedicated fleet may be allocated by a
dedicated fleet
control system, at least for a period of time, for pickup and delivery of
shipments for the
dedicated carrier organization. Dedicated fleet vehicles may each be
associated with a
home depot from which they depart and to which they return (e.g., within a
period of time
such as each day). A dedicated fleet controller or dedicated fleet control
system may, for
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example, be a local, regional, or global transportation organization that
manages one or
more dedicated fleets for other organizations such as shippers or other
corporations.
[0022] A common carrier fleet may be a third-party shipper that accepts
shipping
orders from any of various shippers (e.g., on demand). A common carrier fleet
can
sometimes be used to supplement existing private and dedicated vehicle fleets.
[0023] The effective and efficient utilization of transportation assets is
a fundamental
building block of sound supply chain management practice. In the logistics
domain,
trucking challenges such as fuel costs, driver shortages, increased customer
service
requirements, industry capacity issues, rising insurance costs, heightened
government
regulations, and elevated environmental standards have increased the sense of
urgency of
transportation providers as they seek to maintain performance. In some
scenarios,
common (e.g., third-party) carriers can be used to supplement existing private
and
dedicated vehicle fleets (i.e., resources "dedicated" to an organization, at
least for a
period of time, and managed by a dedicated fleet controller). This strategy of
utilizing a
mix of dedicated and common carrier resources can allow shippers to obtain the
benefits
often attributed to private and/or dedicated fleets (sometimes referred to
herein as
assigned resources), while still retaining the ability to manage fluctuations
in demand by
using common carrier resources.
[0024] However, while cost can be reduced by using a common carrier fleet
in
combination with a dedicated vehicle fleet, how and when to utilize a common
carrier are
often not purely cost-related decisions. Instead, shippers may desire to
evaluate strategic,
tactical, and operational factors from both a direct and indirect perspective
when
determining a shipping plan. Some advantages of private and/or dedicated
fleets are the
increase in customer service from assigned resources, higher quality,
increased control,
and more flexibility. Accordingly, a more comprehensive total cost of
ownership
perspective is provided herein that incorporates multiple decision factors in
assigning
shipments between dedicated fleets and common carrier fleets.
[0025] Regardless of the transportation strategy chosen, if assigned
resources are part
of that strategy, the organization may not attain enough resources to handle
all shipments
due to the negative asset utilization impact of potential unused capacity
during off-peak
periods. Additionally, common carriers can offer a lower cost for certain
routes such that
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it may not be as economical to operate assigned fleet assets on those
particular routes.
Thus, one tactical decision that may be addressed is what shipments to
designate to
assigned fleet resources versus those that can be assigned to common carriers.
In some
aspects, shipment assignments are made using cost models that are based on
both direct
fixed and variable costs. However, assignments based on cost models that
include fixed
costs can result in low utilization of assigned resources relative to carrier
preference, if
care is not taken.
[0026] Thus, in other aspects, manual intervention is performed in which
qualitative
decision factors such as route preference and perceived quality are used to
modify
automated assignments (e.g., to increase utilization of dedicated vehicles).
However,
manual intervention can decrease the efficiency with which shipments are
routed to
various vehicles and can also prevent an optimal distribution of shipments
from being
made due to the complexity and speed of simultaneously (or concurrently)
receiving
vehicle and driver information from various geographically distributed vehicle
communications systems and client (shipper) systems, integrating the received
information into a cost model and routing constraints, and minimizing the
overall
shipping cost for a shipper while meeting various cost, asset, legal, and
human related
constraints.
[0027] Accordingly, the subject technology provides a method that includes
identifying, by a dedicated fleet control server, one or more shipments for
assignment to
at least one common carrier vehicle in a common carrier fleet or at least one
dedicated
vehicle in a dedicated carrier fleet. The dedicated fleet control server and
the at least one
dedicated vehicle may be operated by a dedicated carrier. The method may also
include
receiving, by the dedicated fleet control server from a common carrier fleet
server, a
plurality of common carrier constraints that include an indication of at least
one available
common carrier vehicle in the common carrier fleet for one or more
predetermined
windows of time, and common carrier costs for shipping the one or more
shipments with
the at least one available common carrier vehicle along one or more routes in
a
distribution network of the common carrier fleet during the one or more
predetermined
windows of time. The method may also include receiving, by the dedicated fleet
control
server, vehicle status information from communications circuitry disposed in
one or more
vehicles of the dedicated carrier fleet for the one or more predetermined
windows of time.
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The method may also include determining, by the dedicated fleet control server
in real
time while receiving the vehicle status information, one or more dedicated
carrier
constraints associated with the dedicated carrier fleet. At least one of the
one or more
dedicated carrier constraints may be determined based on the received vehicle
status
information. The method may also include selectively assigning, by the
dedicated fleet
control server, the one or more shipments to the dedicated carrier fleet or
the common
carrier fleet based on the determined one or more dedicated carrier
constraints and the
received plurality of common carrier constraints.
[0028] In various implementations, communicatively interconnected systems
of
vehicles, common carrier servers, dedicated carrier servers, client devices,
and vehicle
operator devices are provided herein that employ an optimization model that
addresses,
for the first time in a single objective model, the decision of how to assign
loads and
routes between dedicated assets and common carriers, thereby providing a more
efficient
shipping system that can be implemented to move goods on a local, regional,
state-wide,
nation-wide, multi-national, and/or global scale.
[0029] A transportation organization, such as a dedicated carrier may use
the
dedicated fleet control system of the subject technology to allocate truck,
trailer, and/or
other vehicle capacity as a dedicated fleet to dedicated customers based on
historical
shipment data. Dedicated resources (e.g., each dedicated fleet vehicle) may be
re-
allocated periodically and/or in real time among various managed dedicated
fleets (e.g.,
approximately every three months or quarterly, every six months, every month,
etc.), with
the goal of dedicating enough resources to each customer to ensure
satisfactory service
levels without over-assigning resources such that asset utilization suffers. A
dedicated
fleet controller may assign, or re-assign in real time, some shipments to a
common carrier
in addition to an assigned/dedicated fleet in order to supplement dedicated
resources that
are assigned to a customer, as well as to take advantage of any situations in
which the cost
of common carriers makes them the best cost alternative.
[0030] The dedicated fleet control system of the subject technology may
generate
shipment assignments based, at least in part, on factors such as driver
working hours
constraints or constraints that require each vehicle to return to its home
depot within a
period of time (e.g., each day). More specifically, assignment systems and
methods based
on direct route costs for each shipment, may be supplemented by other factors
or
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constraints such as timeliness of deliveries (e.g., customer service), the
ability to return
dedicated fleet drivers to their home depot at the end of each shift, the
backhaul
probability of each route (e.g., to reduce empty or less-that-full miles
travelled on return
routes), maximizing the utilization of dedicated assets (e.g., reducing or
minimizing idle
time and less-than-full miles for each vehicle of a dedicated fleet), and/or
other real-time
information such as vehicle mechanical issues (e.g., mechanical problems that
can arise at
any time), safety issues, fuel prices, oil prices, highway conditions such as
traffic
conditions and associated delays and/or road work or conditions and associated
delays,
accidents, etc..
[0031] The real-time data to be considered for shipping assignments can be
widely
distributed (e.g., data from tens, hundreds, or thousands of individual
vehicles distributed
over several square miles, tens of square miles, hundreds of square miles,
millions of
square miles, etc., and/or data from traffic information servers, market
servers such as oil
market servers, government and regulatory agency servers, repair facility
servers
dedicated carrier servers, common carrier servers, etc.). Some or all of this
real-time data
may also be constantly changing responsive to changing prices, conditions
and/or events.
It would therefore be impossible for any human being, or group of human
beings, to
manually generate shipping assignments that meet the varied and evolving
constraints
based on varied and evolving data, while minimizing costs and preventing under-
utilization of dedicated assets, before some or all of the data upon which the
manual
assignments were based changes to become potentially obsolete and/or
irrelevant to
current conditions.
[0032] As noted above, even the time required for manual modifications to
previously
computed computer-generated of shipping assignments can be too slow to account
for all
of the competing constraints in shipment assignments and to account for real-
time
information available (e.g., from communications circuitry in each vehicle
and/or other
sources as noted above).
[0033] Systems and methods are thus provided that integrate real-time
assignment
operations into a single decision model that more efficiently and effectively
allocate and
assign resources to various routes with various carriers in real time and
without human
intervention in a time frame that would be physically impossible for a human
being or a
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group of human beings to perform before the data on which the decisions are
made
becomes obsolete.
[0034] FIG. 1 is
a diagram showing a networked system of vehicles including a
dedicated vehicle fleet and a common carrier fleet. As shown in FIG. 1, system
100 may
include a dedicated fleet 102 and a common carrier fleet 132. Dedicated fleet
102 may be
operated by a dedicated fleet control system 104. Common carrier fleet 132 may
be
operated by a common carrier control system 130. In various implementations, a
control
system may operate a vehicle fleet by assigning shipments among the vehicles
(e.g. using
any or all of the route assignment and cost optimization operations described
herein),
transmitting a travel route such as a daily route to each vehicle, receiving
and monitoring
status information from each vehicle, making real-time adjustments to shipping
assignments and routes based on the received status information, and/or
tracking
shipment pickups and deliveries by each vehicle (as examples). In some
implementations, the control system may transmit a travel route such as a
daily route
(e.g., in GPS coordinates) to a GPS guidance system in the vehicle that
provides turn-by-
turn directions for a driver of the vehicle. In other implementations, the
control system
may transmit a travel route such as a daily route (e.g., in GPS coordinates)
to a GPS
guidance system in a self-driving vehicle that self-navigates the travel
route.
[0035] As shown
in FIG. 1, dedicated fleet 102 may include a plurality of dedicated
fleet vehicles 110. Each dedicated fleet vehicle 110 may be associated with a
home depot
108 such that each home depot 108 serves a group 106 of dedicated fleet
vehicles 110.
Dedicated fleet vehicles 110 may be operated by dedicated fleet control system
104 such
that each dedicated fleet vehicle 110 departs from, and returns to, its home
depot 108
within a period of time (e.g., each day, each week, etc.). In this way,
operators such as
drivers of each dedicated fleet vehicle may be provided with an enhanced
lifestyle that
avoids overnight or other extended trips away from home.
[0036] Each
dedicated fleet vehicle 110 may be in communication with dedicated
fleet control system 104. For example, each dedicated fleet vehicle 110 may
have
communications circuitry 150 included therein that communicates with a server
such as
server 114 of dedicated fleet control system 104.
Communications between
communications circuitry 150 of each dedicated fleet vehicle 110 and server
114 may
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include status information provided from the vehicle to server 114 and/or
shipment
assignment instructions provided from server 114 to the vehicle (as examples).
[0037] Status information provided from the vehicle may include vehicle
location
information (e.g., global positioning system (GPS) coordinates), vehicle hours
of
operation information, driver working time or hours of service information,
driver
available hours of service information, fuel level information, maintenance
information,
an identifier of a home depot, shipment status information, and/or other
status information
for the vehicle and/or the driver of the vehicle, discussed further below.
[0038] Vehicle location information may include continuously or
periodically
reported global positioning system (GPS) coordinates that allow server 114 to
track the
movements of each vehicle 110. The vehicle location information may also, or
alternatively, include an identifier of a pickup location or a delivery
location at which the
vehicle is located (e.g., during loading or unloading of shipments). The
identifier of the
pickup location or the delivery location may include an address of the
location, GPS
coordinates of the location, or a numerical identifier of the location that
corresponds to an
account stored at server 114 in connection with other location information
such as a
company name, a contact number or method, or other information associated with
the
location.
[0039] Vehicle hours of operation information may include a real-time
updated
amount of time since the vehicle departed it's home depot, an amount of time
since the
vehicle departed a pickup location or a delivery location, a total number of
hours during
which the vehicle has been operated within a particular time window such as
during one
day, during one week, during one month, during, one season, or during one year
(as
examples).
[0040] Driver working time or hours of service information may include an
amount of
time since a driver of the vehicle entered the vehicle, an amount of time
since the driver
of the vehicle departed a home depot, a pickup location or a delivery
location, a total
number of hours during which the driver has been operating the vehicle within
a
particular time window such as during one day, during one week, during one
month,
during one season, or during one year (as examples). Driver working time or
hours of
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service information may include a real-time current working hours total that
is
continuously updated throughout each shift.
[0041] Driver
available hours of service information may include a real-time updated
amount of time before a driver of the vehicle hits a driving time limit such
as a regulatory
limit. A regulatory limit may be set by the control system 104, or may be
received by the
control system from a government, union, or other agency.
[0042] Fuel
level information may include a real-time updated amount of fuel in one
or more fuel tanks of each vehicle. The amount of fuel may be determined by
electronic
fuel sensors that form a portion of a vehicle computing system for each
vehicle.
[0043] Real-time
maintenance information may include a maintenance reminder for
the vehicle or a maintenance alert for the vehicle. A vehicle maintenance
reminder may
include, for example, a service due reminder for one or more services.
Services may
include an oil change or inspection, a belt change or inspection, a brake
fluid change or
inspection, a brake pad change or inspection, a transmission fluid change or
inspection,
and/or a tire rotation, change or inspection (as examples). A vehicle
maintenance alert
may include a driver-detected or automatically-detected problem with the
vehicle. For
example, an automated tire-pressure monitor may determine that one or more of
the
vehicle's tires are low on air or have lost air pressure. Responsively,
communications
circuitry 150 in that vehicle may send an alert to communications devices 116
that the
vehicle's tires are low on air or have lost air pressure. In other
examples,
communications circuitry 150 may provide vehicle maintenance alerts or other
alerts to
communications devices 116 related to events such as an air-bag-sensor-
detected air bag
deployment, an accelerometer or pressure-sensor-detected collision, a fuel-
sensor-
detected fuel leak or other vehicle-sensor-detected events.
[0044] The
identifier of the home depot for a vehicle may include an address of the
home depot, GPS coordinates of the home depot, or a numerical identifier of
the home
depot that is stored at server 114 in connection with other home depot
information.
[0045] Shipment
status information may include a real-time updated pick-up status, a
real-time updated delivery status, or a real-time updated location of each
shipment carried
by a particular vehicle. The real-time updated pick-up status may include an
indicator of
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whether the shipment has been picked up. The real-time updated delivery status
may
include an indicator of whether the shipment has been delivered.
[0046] The foregoing and other real-time updated values that may be
reported by the
vehicle communications circuitry may be updated, for example, every minute,
every ten
minutes, every hour, several times per minute, several times per second,
hundreds of
times per second, thousands of times per second, etc.
[0047] Assignment instructions provided from server 114 to communications
circuitry 150 of each vehicle 110 may include one or more travel routes such
as daily
routes for that vehicle. The travel routes may be stored at the vehicle and
may, for
example, be automatically imported by the vehicle computing system into a
mapping
device that provides visual and/or audio directions to a driver of the vehicle
for navigating
the travel routes.
[0048] Server 114 of dedicated fleet control system 104 may receive
shipment orders
from a customer to which control system 104 has dedicated a fleet 102. Server
114 may,
based on various factors, constraints, and operations described in further
detail
hereinafter, automatically and in real time, assign the shipments for pickup
and/or
delivery to one or more of dedicated fleet vehicles 110 and/or to common
carrier vehicles
134.
[0049] As shown in FIG. 1, common carrier fleet 132 may include one or more
common carrier vehicles 134. Common carrier vehicles 134 may, optionally
include
communications circuitry 160 for communication with common carrier control
system
130 (e.g., with server 140 via communications devices 142). Communications
circuitry
160 of common carrier vehicles 134 may perform some or all of the functions
described
above in connection with communications circuitry 150 of dedicated fleet
vehicles 110.
For example, communications circuitry 160 of common carrier vehicles 134 may
provide
location information and/or other vehicle and/or driver status information as
described
herein for each vehicle 134 to server 140. Server 140 may generate one or more
common
carrier constraints for common carrier vehicles 134 (e.g., in real time) based
on the
received common carrier vehicle and/or driver status information received from
communications circuitry 160 and may provide the generated common carrier
constraints
(e.g., in real time) to server 114 for route and/or carrier assignment
operations. However,
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this is merely illustrative. In other implementations, communications
circuitry 160 may
provide vehicle and/or status information for common carrier vehicles 134
directly to
server 114 and server 114 may generate and apply some or all of the common
carrier
constrains at server 114.
[0050] Communications devices 142 of server 140 may be operated by server
140 for
communications with common carrier vehicles 134 and/or communications with
server
114 (e.g., via communications devices 116 of server 114). For example, common
carrier
control system 130 may provide common carrier constraints 144 to dedicated
fleet control
system 104. Server 114 may use the provided common carrier constraints 144 in
assigning shipments for delivery between the dedicated fleet 102 and the
common carrier
fleet 132. Although dedicated carrier server 114 and common carrier server 130
of FIG.
1 are each shown as a single server, in various implementations dedicated
fleet control
system 104 and/or common carrier control system 130 may each store and provide
access
to data on multiple networked dedicated carrier servers and/or multiple
networked
common carrier servers. Additionally, dedicated carrier server 114 and/or
common
carrier server 140 may exchange and/or retrieve real-time data for shipping
assignments
from one or more outside servers such as traffic information servers, highway
conditions
servers, GPS system servers, market servers such as oil market servers, or
other
networked information sources for incorporation into shipping assignment
operations.
[0051] Common carrier constraints 144 may include an indication of a number
of
available common carrier vehicles 134 in the common carrier vehicle feet 132
(e.g., for
one or more windows of time such as for one day, a portion of a day, multiple
days, one
week, one month, one quarter, or the like), common carrier costs for specific
routes in a
distribution network for the common carrier fleet, and/or common carrier costs
for
shipping one or more shipments with the available common carrier vehicles
along
specific routes in a distribution network of the common carrier fleet during
one or more
predetermined windows of time (as examples).
[0052] Communications devices 116 of server 114 may be operated for
communications with communications circuitry 150 of dedicated fleet vehicles
110, with
server 140, with other external systems (e.g., traffic systems, weather
reporting systems,
law enforcement systems, or other systems), and/or with operator devices such
as
operator device 112.
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[0053] Operator
device 112 may be, for example, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a
tablet, a portable digital assistant, a pager, a tablet, or a laptop. Operator
device 112 may
be carried by an operator such as a driver of a vehicle 110 during and/or
after working
hours and may be in communications with communications circuitry 150 of a
vehicle 110
and/or with dedicated fleet control system 104 as shown in FIG. 1. In some
implementations, operator device 112 may communicate with server 114 via
communications circuitry 150. For example, operator device 112 may be
communicatively coupled to communications circuitry 150 (e.g., via a wired or
wireless
connection) while the operator device is located within the cab of the
vehicle.
Communications such as shipment assignment and route instructions may be
provided
from server 114 to communications circuitry 150 over a network such as a
cellular data
network or the Internet and then communicated from communications circuitry
150 to
operator device 112. Delivery
reporting information, pickup reporting information,
driver identity information, and/or other information may be entered into
operator device
112 by the driver and, when device 112 is communicatively coupled to
communications
circuitry 150, uploaded to server 114 via communications circuitry 150.
However, this is
merely illustrative. In other implementations, operator device 112 may
communicate
with server 114 over a network such as a cellular data network or the Internet
without
intervening communication with communications circuitry 150.
[0054] In some
implementations, server 114, server 140, communications circuitry
150 of vehicles 110, operator device 112, and/or communications circuitry 160
of
vehicles 134 can communicate with one another via a network such as the
Internet, an
intranet, a local area network, a wide area network, a wired network, a
cellular
communications network, a wireless network, or a virtual private network (VPN)
in
various scenarios and implementations.
[0055] In one
example, operator device 112 may communicate with communications
circuitry 150 of a vehicle 110 (e.g., via near field communications, Bluetooth
communications, or other wired or wireless communications) when operator
device 112 is
within a proximity (e.g., in the cab) of a vehicle 110. Once operator device
112 and
vehicle 110 are coupled in this way, vehicle and driver status may be reported
to server
114 (e.g., periodically, continuously, or in response to events such as
delivery, pickup, or
working time threshold events). For example, in order to prevent a particular
driver from
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operating a vehicle longer than allowed by law (or by other standards) in a
day, driver
working time and/or driver current available hours may be reported to server
114 and
used by server 114 in allocating shipments between dedicated fleet 102 and
common
carrier fleet 132.
[0056] As shown in FIG. 1, server 114 may store and/or generate information
to be
used for assigning shipments between dedicated fleet 102 and common carrier
fleet 132
such as a cost model 118 (e.g., a mathematical description, implemented in
software and
configurable based on real-time real-world data such as status information
from vehicles
110 and/or common carrier constraints 144), operator data 120 (e.g., stored
and/or real-
time driver working time and/or driver current available hours for one or more
windows
of time), dedicated fleet data 122 (e.g., a number of vehicles 110 in
dedicated fleet 102, a
maintenance status of each vehicle, a fuel level of each vehicle, a maximum
range of each
vehicle, a capacity of each vehicle, a home depot of each vehicle, etc.), and
one or more
dedicated carrier constraints 124. Operator data 120, dedicated fleet data
122, and/or
dedicated carrier constraints 124 may be continuously, periodically, or
otherwise updated
(e.g., in real time) based on data received from vehicles 110. Dedicated
carrier
constraints 124, as discussed in further detail hereinafter, may be
predetermined or may
be generated by server 114 (e.g., in real time based, in part, on status
information from
communications circuitry 150).
[0057] Although examples are described herein in which a driver operates
each
vehicle, this is merely illustrative. In some implementations, communications
circuitry
150 may be coupled with operational circuitry for the vehicle such that
operation of the
vehicle is controlled by the vehicle itself according to instructions (e.g.,
delivery and
pickup instructions for one or more shipments) from server 114.
[0058] Although FIG. 1 shows an example of a system in which dedicated
fleet
control system 104 operates a single dedicated fleet 102, this is merely
illustrative. In
other implementations, dedicated fleet control system 104 may operate more
than one
dedicated fleet, each fleet dedicated to a particular customer or shipper. In
order to
efficiently use dedicated fleet vehicles, the dedicated fleet vehicles may be
reassigned
(e.g., periodically such as once per month, once per quarter, twice per year,
once per year,
or in response to a change in customer demand or other factors). Reassignment
of
dedicated fleet vehicles 110 may include moving one or more dedicated fleet
vehicles 110
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from one dedicated fleet (e.g., dedicated fleet 102) to another dedicated
fleet that is
dedicated, by control system 104 to an organization or client that is
different from the
organization or client to which dedicated fleet 102 is assigned, may include
adding
additional (e.g., newly purchased) vehicles to a dedicated fleet, or
permanently removing
one or more vehicles from all dedicated fleets (e.g., by selling or donating
the vehicle(s)).
[0059] FIG. 2 shows a diagram of two exemplary routes for two corresponding
dedicated fleet vehicles 110, each associated with a common home depot 108. As
shown
in FIG. 2, a first vehicle 110 may operate to carry a load 200 (e.g., a load
containing one
or more individual shipments) along a route 204 that includes various nodes
206. Each
node 206 may be a pickup and/or delivery location for one or more shipments in
the load
200. As shown, route 204 begins and ends at home depot 108.
[0060] A second vehicle 110 may be operated to carry another load (e.g., a
load
including two shipments 200P) along another route 208 that includes various
nodes 206.
As shown in the particular example of FIG. 2, routes 204 and 208 include one
common
node 206 and a plurality of different nodes 206. Routes for each vehicle 110
may be
determined in a simultaneous operation with the assignment of shipments among
vehicles
110 and common carrier fleet 132. The simultaneous route determination and
assignment
of shipments may be performed using the cost model 118, the operator data 120,
the
dedicated fleet data 122, the common carrier constraints 144, real-time data
from vehicles
110, and/or various dedicated vehicle constraints as described herein.
[0061] As shown in FIG. 2, while traversing route 204, dedicated fleet
vehicle 110
may transmit vehicle and/or driver status information to dedicated fleet
control system
104. For example, dedicated fleet vehicle 110 may continuously report its
location, may
report arrival and/or departure times for each node 206 and/or home depot 108,
and/or
may report other vehicle and driver status information as described herein to
control
system 104.
[0062] For example, when vehicle 110 leaves home depot 108, a home depot
departure notification maybe transmitted from communications circuitry 150 to
dedicated
fleet control system 104. While travelling from home depot 108 to a first node
206,
communications circuitry 150 may continuously or periodically report location
information to dedicated fleet control system 104. Upon arrival at a first
node 206,
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communications circuitry 150 may transmit an arrival notification for that
node. If that
node is a pickup node, when load 200 is loaded into vehicle 110,
communications
circuitry 150 may transmit a pickup time notification to dedicated fleet
control system
104. While travelling from pickup node 206 to a delivery node 206,
communications
circuitry 150 may continuously or periodically report location information to
dedicated
fleet control system 104. Upon arrival at a second node 206, communications
circuitry
150 may transmit an arrival notification for that node. If that node is a
delivery node 206
for some or all of load 200, when some or all of load 200 is unloaded from
vehicle 110,
communications circuitry 150 may transmit a delivery time notification to
dedicated fleet
control system 104. Upon return to home depot 108, communications circuitry
150 may
transmit a home depot return notification. In some implementations, routing
for vehicle
110 may be determined, in part, based on a backhaul constraint that increases
the
likelihood that vehicle 110 will carry a load from a last node 206 to home
depot 108
and/or from a second to last node 206 to a last node 206 (as examples) such
that trip from
the furthest node 206 back toward home depot 108 carries at least a partial
load. As
shown in FIG. 2, home depot 108 may also be in electronic communication with
dedicated fleet control system 104 and may exchange other information for
reporting of
vehicle, driver, and/or load information.
[0063] FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram of an example process for selectively
assigning
shipments (e.g., shipment orders received from a client device) between a
dedicated
carrier and a common carrier, according to various aspects of the subject
technology. For
explanatory purposes, the various blocks of the example process of FIG. 3 are
described
herein with reference to the components and/or processes described herein. One
or more
of the blocks of the example process of FIG. 3 may be implemented, for
example, by one
or more processors without user intervention, including, for example, server
114 of FIG.
1 or one or more components or processors of server 114. In some
implementations, one
or more of the blocks may be implemented apart from other blocks, and by one
or more
different processors or controllers. Further for explanatory purposes, the
blocks of the
example process of FIG. 3 are described as occurring in serial, or linearly.
However,
multiple blocks of the example process of FIG. 3 may occur in parallel. In
addition, the
blocks of the example process of FIG. 3 need not be performed in the order
shown and/or
one or more of the blocks of the example process of FIG. 3 need not be
performed.
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[0064] In the depicted example, at block 300, a dedicated fleet control
server such as
server 114 of FIG. 1 may identify one or more shipments assigned to, or for
assignment
to, at least one common carrier vehicle 134 in a common carrier fleet 132
and/or at least
one dedicated vehicle 110 in a dedicated carrier fleet (dedicated fleet) 102,
the dedicated
fleet control server 114 and the at least one dedicated vehicle 110 being
operated by a
dedicated carrier 102. For example, a shipment order containing pickup and
delivery
instructions for one or more shipments for an organization to which dedicated
fleet 102 is
dedicated may be received.
[0065] At block 302, the dedicated fleet control server 114 may receive,
from a
common carrier fleet server 140, a plurality of common carrier constraints
144. For
example, server 140 may determine a number of (e.g., at least one) available
common
carrier vehicles and costs associated with the operation of those vehicles
(e.g., in real time
based on availability) and may provide real-time common carrier constraints,
including a
cost per vehicle, a cost per route, a cost per weight, a cost per distance,
and/or a number
of available vehicles to server 114. In one particular example, the common
carrier
constraints may include an indication of a number of available common carrier
vehicles
in the common carrier vehicle fleet 132 for one or more predetermined windows
of time,
and common carrier costs for shipping the one or more shipments with the
available
common carrier vehicles 134 along specific routes in a distribution network of
the
common carrier fleet 132 during the one or more predetermined windows of time.
A
window of time may include a day, a week, a month, a quarter, a season, or
other suitable
period of time. The common carrier constraints 144 may be constantly changing
and thus
may be provided with sufficient frequency that server 114 can, in real time
during
shipping assignment operations, incorporate any changes in the common carrier
constraints.
[0066] At block 304, the dedicated fleet control server 114 may receive
vehicle status
information from communications circuitry 150 disposed in each vehicle 110 of
the
dedicated carrier fleet 102 for the one or more predetermined windows of time.
The
vehicle status information may be constantly changing (e.g., due to changing
positions of
the vehicles of the fleet, changing shipment status information, changing
traffic or other
highway conditions, maintenance or mechanical issues, etc. that occur before,
during, and
after delivery operations) and thus may be provided with sufficient frequency
that server
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114 can, in real time during shipping assignment operations, incorporate any
changes in
the vehicle status information.
[0067] At block 306, the dedicated fleet control server 114 may determine,
in real
time while receiving the vehicle status information, one or more dedicated
carrier
constraints associated with the dedicated carrier fleet 102. At least one of
the dedicated
carrier constraints may be determined based on the received vehicle status
information.
Because the vehicle status information may be constantly changing, dedicated
carrier
constraints may be constantly updated in real time during shipping assignment
operations.
For example, server 114 may receive a real-time current working hours total
from a
dedicated fleet vehicle 110 for a driver of that vehicle 110. Server 114 may
determine,
based on the real-time current working hours total, a remaining available
hours total for
the driver (e.g., an available working hours value for the driver). Server 114
may then
generate a dedicated carrier constraint that prevents assigning any shipments
to the driver
that would cause the driver to work beyond the remaining available hours total
to
complete the deliveries.
[0068] At block 308, dedicated fleet control server 114 may selectively
assign the one
or more shipments to the dedicated fleet 102 or the common carrier fleet 132
based on the
determined dedicated carrier constraints and the received common carrier
constraints.
The one or more shipments may be assigned in real time as constraints are
received or
calculated (e.g., calculated in real time during the selective assignment
based on
constantly changing data from distributed components of the system such as
vehicles and
various networked servers). In this way, the utilization of the dedicated
fleet vehicles 110
can be set at a desirable level while minimizing costs using the common
carrier fleet 132,
and while ensuring dedicated fleet vehicle maintenance, home depot
consistency, and
driver safety, all before the data upon which the selective assignment is
based becomes
obsolete. Various examples of selective assignment operations are provided
below.
[0069] In one implementation, the operations of block 306 may include, for
example,
receiving a real-time current working hours total from a dedicated fleet
vehicle 110 for a
driver of that vehicle while performing the operations of block 308. In this
example, the
operations of block 308 may include not selecting the driver for any of the
one or more
shipments if the dedicated carrier constraint that prevents assigning the one
or more
shipments for the driver within the one or more predetermined windows of time
that
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cause the driver to work beyond the remaining available hours total is not
satisfied. The
remaining hours total may be determined by server 114 to be a difference
between a
working hours maximum (e.g., 8 hours, 12 hours, or 14 hours) and the current
working
hours total. In some implementations, the operations of block 308 may include
assigning
a shipment to a common carrier fleet based on not selecting the driver. In
some
implementations, the shipment may be assigned to another driver of the
dedicated vehicle
fleet.
[0070] In one implementation, vehicle status information for each vehicle
110 of the
dedicated vehicle fleet 102 may include a real-time remaining available
driving hours
value for a driver of that vehicle 110 within the one or more predetermined
windows of
time, and the operations of block 308 may include selecting only dedicated
vehicle fleet
drivers with real-time available driving hours values that satisfy a
predetermined
threshold (e.g., that are greater than a driving hours threshold).
[0071] As another example, the vehicle status information for a particular
dedicated
fleet vehicle 110 may include a maintenance notice for that vehicle 110 during
one or the
one or more predetermined windows of time and the operations of block 308 may
include
preventing assignment of shipments to that vehicle 110 during the one or more
predetermined windows of time until the maintenance notice is cleared. A
shipment
scheduled for that vehicle 110 during the window of time may be assigned to a
common
carrier fleet 132 or the shipment may be assigned to another dedicated fleet
vehicle 110 of
the dedicated vehicle fleet 102.
[0072] As another example, the vehicle status information for a particular
dedicated
fleet vehicle 110 may include an identifier of a home depot 108 for that
vehicle, and the
operations of block 306 may include generating a constraint that causes a
route for that
vehicle 110 to begin and end at the identified home depot 108.
[0073] Once the selective assignments are complete, a shipment plan may be
generated or updated by the dedicated fleet control server 114 based on the
selective
assignment. The shipment plan may include a route for each dedicated fleet
vehicle to be
operated and an assignment either to a dedicated fleet vehicle 110 or a common
carrier
132 for each shipment. The shipment plan may be implemented as a group of data
fields
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pertaining to one or more shipments. The shipment plan may be stored at the
dedicated
fleet server 114.
[0074] A portion of the shipment plan (e.g., a list of shipments to be made
by the
common carrier fleet) may be provided (e.g., transmitted electronically from
server 114 to
server 140) to the common carrier fleet server 140 for distribution of a first
portion of the
one or more shipments to the common carrier fleet.
[0075] Assignments from a second portion of the shipping plan for a second
portion
of the one or more shipments may be provided by the dedicated fleet control
server 114 to
the communications circuitry 150 of at least some of the vehicles 110 of the
dedicated
fleet 102. For example, a travel route (e.g., a daily route) such as one of
routes 204 or
208 of FIG. 2, with shipping pickup and delivery instructions (e.g.,
instructions noting
each node 206 on the route) may be pushed from the dedicated fleet control
server 114 to
each dedicated fleet vehicle 110 before pickup and delivery operations for
that vehicle are
started. The travel route may be stored by a computing system of each vehicle
or
transmitted by or accessible from a server to be provided to the driver of the
vehicle (e.g.,
as turn-by-turn directions with a map and shipment instructions for each
shipment) or for
autonomous execution by a driverless vehicle. One or more travel routes may be
provided to each vehicle each day, each week, each month, each quarter, each
season, at
any other suitable time. For example, the travel routes 204/208 may be daily
routes that
are updated from the server 114 to vehicles 110 one or more times during each
delivery
day.
[0076] In another example, the travel routes 204/208 may be provided from
the
dedicated fleet control server 114 to an operator device 112. The travel
routes 204/208
may be provided to the vehicle 110 from the operator device 112 when the
operator
device is within a proximity (e.g., within range of short-range communications
circuitry)
of the vehicle 110. For example, the travel routes 204/208 may be loaded on
the operator
device 112 and automatically downloaded to the vehicle 110 when the driver
enters the
vehicle so that directions (e.g., turn-by-turn directions) can be generated
for the driver to
help the driver timely pickup and deliver all assigned shipments.
[0077] FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram of another example process for
selectively
assigning shipments (e.g., shipment orders received from a client device)
between a
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dedicated carrier and a common carrier, according to various aspects of the
subject
technology. For explanatory purposes, the various blocks of the example
process of FIG.
4 are described herein with reference to the components and/or processes
described
herein. The one or more of the blocks of the example process of FIG. 4 may be
implemented, for example, by one or more processors, including, for example,
server 114
of FIG. 1 or one or more components or processors of server 114. In some
implementations, one or more of the blocks may be implemented apart from other
blocks,
and by one or more different processors or controllers. Further for
explanatory purposes,
the blocks of the example process of FIG. 4 are described as occurring in
serial, or
linearly. However, multiple blocks of the example process of FIG. 4 may occur
in
parallel. In addition, the blocks of the example process of FIG. 4 need not be
performed
in the order shown and/or one or more of the blocks of the example process of
FIG. 4
need not be performed.
[0078] In particular, in one implementation, the operations described below
in
connection with FIG. 4 may be performed by a system to operate a dedicated
carrier fleet
102 that includes a first plurality of vehicles (e.g., dedicated fleet
vehicles 110). The
system may include a database of common carrier constraints associated with at
least one
common carrier fleet (e.g., common carrier fleet 132) that may have a second
plurality of
vehicles (e.g., common carrier vehicles 134). The system may include a
dedicated fleet
control system (e.g., system 104) communicatively coupled to each of the first
plurality of
vehicles and in communication with at least one external routing system (e.g.,
common
carrier control system 130) for the second plurality of vehicles.
[0079] In the depicted example, dedicated fleet control system 104 may be
configured
to receive, at block 400, real-time vehicle and driver status information from
communications circuitry 150 for each of the first plurality of vehicles 110
(e.g., real-time
location information, working hours information, fuel level information,
maintenance
information, pickup and/or delivery information etc.).
[0080] Dedicated fleet control system 104 may receive, at block 402, real-
time
availability information for a second plurality of vehicles operated by a
common carrier
from the common carrier control system for one or more windows of time.
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[0081] Dedicated fleet control system 104 may determine, at block 404, a
plurality of
dedicated carrier constraints based, at least in part, on the real-time
vehicle and driver
status information and, at block 406, distribute a plurality of shipments
among the first
plurality of vehicles 110 and the second plurality of vehicles 134 for
transportation of the
plurality of shipments from respective pickup locations to respective delivery
locations
within the one or more windows of time based on a determination of routes such
as routes
204 and 208 of FIG. 2 for the first plurality of vehicles 110 made in real
time with a
concurrent minimization of an overall cost of a resulting distribution using
the received
real-time availability information and the dedicated carrier constraints.
[0082] The database of common carrier constraints may be a remote database
operated by dedicated fleet control system 104, a local database (e.g.,
storage of server
114 of FIG. 1) operated by dedicated fleet control system 104, or a remote
database of a
common carrier control system 130. The common carrier control system 130 may
provide, at various times, the common carrier constraints to the dedicated
fleet control
system 104. For example, common carrier control 130 system may provide the
common
carrier constraints to dedicated fleet control system 104 each day (e.g., each
morning),
more than once per day (e.g., twice per day, three times per day, or
continuously or nearly
continuously), each week, each month, each quarter, each year, or may provide
the
common carrier constraints responsive to an event such as a request from
dedicated fleet
control system 104, a change in the common carrier fleet 132, and/or a change
or update
to the constraints. In this way, server 114 can be provided with and
incorporate real-time
updated common carrier information (and/or other real-time information) to
distribute a
plurality of shipments among various dedicated carrier vehicles 110 and common
carrier
vehicles 134 in a way that would be impossible to perform by a human being
before the
common carrier information (and/or other real-time information) changes
sufficiently to
affect the resulting distribution.
[0083] In some implementations, the concurrent minimization of the overall
cost of
the resulting distribution includes a minimization based on a cost model (see,
e.g., Model
1 discussed hereinafter) that excludes fixed costs for the first plurality of
vehicles 110, as
described in further detail hereinafter.
[0084] For example, the minimization based on the cost model that excludes
fixed
costs for the first plurality of vehicles 110 may include a minimization of a
sum of a
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selection factor multiplied by a travel cost for each of the first plurality
of vehicles 110
and each of the second plurality of vehicles 134 for travel between each
pickup location
and each delivery location, as described in further detail hereinafter.
[0085] In some implementations, the dedicated carrier constraints include a
time
window constraint that ensures each of the plurality of shipments is picked up
from its
pickup location and delivered to its delivery location within a time window.
The time
window may correspond to a maximum allowable time difference between a pickup
time
and a delivery time.
[0086] In some implementations, the time window constraint may include a
flexibility
factor applied to the maximum allowable time difference between the pickup
time and the
delivery time. The flexibility factor may, for example, be a user-specified
variability in
the maximum allowable time difference that facilitates a reduction in size for
the
dedicated carrier fleet 102.
[0087] In some implementations, the dedicated carrier constraints include
an empty-
miles constraint and a less-than-full-miles constraint that, in combination,
reduce a
number of determined routes that include portions in which any vehicle of the
dedicated
carrier fleet 102 travels with less than a full load such that miles travelled
less than full
for each of the first plurality of vehicles 110 satisfies a predetermined
threshold (e.g., is
less than a less-than-full threshold). For example, an empty-miles constraint
may be
implemented in part by applying a weighting factor that discourages routes
204/208 for a
dedicated fleet vehicle 110 that include a route portion in which the vehicle
110 is empty.
For example, a less-than-full-miles constraint may be implemented in part by
applying a
weighting factor that discourages routes 204/208 for a dedicated fleet vehicle
110 that
include a portion in which the vehicle 110 is not full to its capacity.
[0088] In some implementations, each of the first plurality of vehicles 110
is
associated with a home depot 108, the status information includes at least an
identifier of
the home depot 108 for each of the first plurality of vehicles, and the
dedicated carrier
constraints include a constraint that each of the first plurality of vehicles
110 depart from
and return to its respective home depot 108 at a predetermined time or within
a
predetermined time window. For example, the home depot constraint may be a
constraint
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that ensures that each dedicated fleet vehicle 110 departs from and returns to
its
respective home depot 108 at a predetermined time (e.g., each day).
[0089] A backhaul probability may be a probability of a vehicle carrying
cargo on a
return journey from a delivery location. In some implementations, the
dedicated carrier
constraints include a backhaul probability constraint that modifies the
resulting
distribution such that a number of empty return routes for the first plurality
of vehicles
110 satisfies a predetermined threshold (e.g., is below an empty backhaul
threshold). The
backhaul probability constraint may be implemented, in some examples, as an
increased
or decreased empty-miles constraint applied to route portions in the direction
of the home
depot 108.
[0090] In some implementations, the vehicle and driver status information
for each
vehicle 110 and driver includes a current available driving hours value for a
driver of that
vehicle 110, and the operations of block 308 above may include selecting
dedicated
vehicle fleet drivers with current available driving hours values that satisfy
a
predetermined threshold (e.g., that are greater than an available working
hours threshold).
[0091] In various implementations, assignment of shipments among dedicated
carrier
fleets and common carrier fleets may include, at least in part, a cost
minimization
operation. The cost minimization operation may be based on a cost model that
provides
an estimate of the resulting cost of the dedicated versus common carrier
assignments and
may, according to various implementations, have a dependence on direct costs,
which
may include the fixed cost of assigned assets.
[0092] Although cost may be important in some implementations, other
factors such
as time sensitivity, returning drivers to their home depot, and utilization of
dedicated fleet
resources may also be important. Additionally, in some implementations, fixed
costs may
be already established until the next (e.g., quarterly) reallocation cycle,
which may reduce
the effect of direct costs in the daily decision process for assignment of
shipments.
[0093] Accordingly, in some cost models (see, e.g., Model 1 described
hereinafter),
fixed costs are excluded so as not to allow these factors to be prioritized
and included in
the assignment between dedicated and common carriers. In this way, time-
efficient and
cost-efficient assignment operations can be performed using a single-objective
analytical
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model that incorporates all of the relevant factors that influence the
assigned resource
versus common carrier resource assignment and routing operations.
[0094] As described herein, a vehicle routing operation (VRO) may be an
operation
in which shipping needs for a number of customers or clients are routed to be
served by a
fleet of vehicles. Vehicle routing operations may be performed, in various
implementations using constraints such as pickup and delivery time window
constraints,
constraints that increase the likelihood of backhauls (e.g., loads carried by
a vehicle on a
return trip), and/or other pickup and delivery constraints that help determine
routes for
transport demand between pickup and delivery locations.
[0095] For example, in some circumstances, pickups and deliveries may be
constrained to be performed, based on customer requests or requirements,
within a time
window. In this case, for example, a client may require that each load has to
be carried in
a specific timeframe from a pickup location to a delivery location. A vehicle
control
system as described herein may generate and apply constraints to ensure the
client's
requests are satisfied. To provide additional flexibility, and potential cost
savings, in
some scenarios, shipments may be distributed among a dedicated fleet and one
or more
common carrier fleet(s). A vehicle control system implemented by a dedicated
fleet
control system is described herein that allows comparison of dedicated assets
versus
common carrier resources for specific routes in a distribution network in
order to make
the best assignment and routing decision using a single model.
[0096] In some implementations, a dedicated fleet control system such as
dedicated
fleet control system 104 of FIG. 1 may perform simultaneous route assignment
and cost
optimization operations using an example optimization model, labeled Model 1,
that will
now be described in connection with, for example, Tables 1 and 2 and FIG. 5.
In
particular, Table 1 below presents various terms that may be used in an
example of an
optimization model for simultaneous route assignment and cost optimization. In
the
Model 1 implementation, a new cost structure is utilized in the objective
function of the
model, and additional practical constraints are also applied to allow
transportation
providers to assign and route resources according to the decision factors that
they value in
practice.
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[0097] In order to describe Model 1, three major sets are defined: nodes
(see, e.g.,
nodes 206 of FIG. 2), loads (see, e.g., loads 200 of FIG. 2) and routes (see,
e.g., routes
204 and 208 of FIG. 2). More particularly, in the Model 1 implementation, a
first
operation assigns a particular node 206 to be a home depot node for each
dedicated fleet
vehicle 110. Although the home depot is a single location, two nodes (a
departing node
and a returning node) are assigned to the home depot for computational
convenience and
efficiency. For example, the first of these nodes (node 1) assigned to the
home depot is
utilized as the departing node, and the second node is assigned to the same
home depot as
the returning node (node 2).
[0098] Two nodes 206, one for pickup and one for delivery also characterize
each
load (see, e.g., loads 200 and 200P of FIG. 2). In this case, two loads 200
with the same
pickup and delivery locations, in this implementation, will have four nodes
206 instead of
two.
Table 1: Nomenclature.
i,j,h Node indexes
Vehicle number index
Cuk Cost of traveling from node i to node j with truck k
v ={17,,v,} Set of all vehicles; v., is the set of dedicated/private fleet
and v2 is a set with one member representing all
common/global carriers.
NT Number of utilized trucks
PC Fixed cost
TC/jk Travel cost from i to j for vehicle k
Set of nodes
s, The time that node i has been visited by a vehicle Vi N{1,2}
Travel time from i to j
Iswu Service and wait time for dedicated vehicle at route (i,j) with
lower bound of 30 minutes.
Wlk,W2k The time that node 1 or 2 has been visited by the vehicle k
WT Upper bound for working time, PVT =14 hours
Working time is equal to all driving time, service time and waiting time
between loads.
routes Set of all valid routes with the form of (i,j)
i is origin node and j is destination
loads Set of all load routes with the form of (i,
i is pickup node and j is delivery node
vehicle k goes through route (i, j)
ti
Xk = {0,
otherwise
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[0099] Routes 204/208 may each be referred to as a set of paired nodes 206
labeled as
(i, j), which are used to define valid routes. In order to avoid unnecessary
routes and
decrease the number of variables, the following implementations of dedicated
carrier
constraints may be utilized for defining routes 204/208 in the Model 1
implementations:
= There is no valid route 204/208 from a delivery node 206 to another
delivery node
206
= There is no route 204/208 from depot return node (node 2) to any other
node 206
= From each pick-up node 206 there is only one route 204/208 to its
corresponding
delivery node 206
[0100] As discussed above, in other implementations, routing assignments
can
sometimes be performed with a single carrier model (e.g., a private carrier, a
dedicated
carrier, or a common carrier), instead of a combination of carriers. In still
other
implementations, models that do allow selection of different types of carriers
can be used
and may utilize direct costs in determining routing and carrier assignments.
In still other
implementations, multi-objective or multi-criteria decision making methods may
be
utilized for multi-carrier selection processes to allow integration of other
decision factors
into the process.
[0101] However, in the Model 1 example, a particular cost model is provided
that
allows routing determinations and carrier assignments to be performed using a
single
objective model for carrier selection of routes. The objective of the Model 1
model is
minimization of cost, and thus both dedicated asset and common carrier cost
may be
considered in an objective function, which may be implemented for computation
as
follows:
Min E EE
cdkxok (Equation 1)
keV (VI,V2)101 JEN
[0102] Table 2 below is an overview of an assigned asset cost breakdown
that may be
used to determine costs within the Model 1 model. As shown, overall costs of
dedicated
assets in Table 2 are divided into three categories: fixed cost, travel fixed
cost, and travel
variable cost. Any or all of these costs may be calculated in real time based
on, for
example, real-time vehicle status information received from communications
circuitry
150 of dedicated fleet vehicles 110 as discussed herein.
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Table 2: Transportation cost components.
Fixed cost Travel cost ¨ route cost Travel cost - per
mile
Equipment purchase (e.g., Truck, Cost of road Fuel
consumption
trailer, etc.) characteristics
Depreciation (e.g., salvage) Number of stops Driver (e.g., wage,
benefits, etc.)
Maintenance and inspection Toll Maintenance
Special permits
License fees, insurance fees, etc.
Management and overhead
(e.g., Office space, office
equipment, management salary and
expenses, advertisement,
communication, etc.)
[0103] Fixed costs may consist of all overhead (e.g., management costs,
office costs,
etc.) and capital investment (e.g., truck purchase costs, required business
licenses and
permits costs, insurance costs, etc.). Some part of maintenance activities may
actually be
fixed. For example, an oil change is often scheduled based on mileage or time,
whichever
comes first. Time-based maintenance costs may thus be considered in the fixed
costs.
[0104] Travel costs can be divided into route-dependent and mileage-
dependent
components. The route-dependent travel cost component may include costs such
as road
quality costs, traffic costs, toll costs, and an average number of stops cost.
The mileage-
dependent portion may consist of costs such as fuel consumption costs, some
proportion
of driver salary costs, and distance related maintenance costs like tire costs
and belt
change costs.
[0105] Fixed costs may be different from the other two categories. For
example, fixed
costs may be constant regardless of how many dedicated carrier vehicles are
being
utilized, particularly in systems that allocate dedicated fleet resources to
customers on a
periodic basis. Accordingly, fixed costs for a dedicated carrier fleet may not
be
avoidable, whether or not the dedicated fleet vehicles are used to move
shipments, and
can thus be excluded from comparison between assigned assets and common
carriers on a
tactical level. However, it should be noted that fixed costs may still be
considered in fleet
sizing decisions (described in further detail below in connection with, for
example, FIGS.
6 and 7) for deciding how many internal (dedicated) resources to allocate
across parts of
the network (e.g., to various dedicated fleets for various customers).
However, in the
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Model 1 example, the fleet size is set in advance of the daily assignment
decision (e.g., at
an earlier periodic asset allocation). The following Model 1 equations and
related
calculations may be used as part of a vehicle control system operation to help
facilitate
automated optimization using the fixed and variable costs described above in
connection
with Table 2.
[0106] Fixed cost, like any other cost element for a vehicle fleet, may be
divided by
the total number of vehicles (e.g., trucks) or traveled miles for the fleet.
In this case, the
cost associated with assigned (internal or dedicated) trucks will be:
FC
= __________________________ + TCk k e v, (Equation 2)
Iv' I
where v, is total number of dedicated/private trucks.
[0107] A utilization element, u, may be defined that numerically describes
daily truck
utilization for Model 1. For example, one suitable definition of daily truck
utilization is:
Number of utilized trucks
u = (Equation 3)
[0108] In this implementation, a dedicated carrier fleet controller may
charge
customers all travel costs and a portion of fixed costs such that the
customer's overall cost
can be determined numerically as follows:
Customer's overall cost = FC * u + E (Tc,,k *x,õ) (Equation 4)
[0109] However, an unexpected hidden cost may be created when allocating
the fixed
costs in this manner, as the objective function only considers the actual
number of
vehicles utilized as part of fixed costs even though the fixed costs for all
of the dedicated
fleet vehicles are actually incurred given the periodic allocation process.
Consequently
the following unexpected part of the fixed costs are not considered in the
above objective
function:
Hidden cost = FC * (1¨u) (Equation 5)
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[0110] In order to avoid
unnecessarily and undesirably, underutilizing the dedicated
fleet, the fixed costs may be divided by the number of utilized trucks instead
of total
trucks in order to capture all the relevant costs. Using the above
nomenclature, a
numerical value for the cost of each utilized truck k can be determined as
follows:
FC
Assigned asset cost =+ (TCuk* xuk) k j) e routes (Equation 6)
*u
[0111] Using the
above operation to determine the cost of each utilized dedicated
fleet truck, an improved objective function can be obtained that represents a
more
accurate total cost. However, the presence of a variable (i.e., the number of
utilized
trucks, u) in the denominator above makes the problem nonlinear. However, the
overall
summed cost of dedicated assets can be determined numerically as follows:
z zzciikx,k = FC*
* u + (TCuk* xuk) (Equation 7)
;cell (OEN iGN V1 U
Vi,j,k
[0112] The above
shows that the denominator in first element may be canceled with
I u and the
remaining portion of the first term above will be fixed cost FC, which is
constant. The following unexpected linear equation will thus be the resulting
objective
function for Model I in which fixed costs are excluded from the cost model
and, a
minimization of a sum of a selection factor (xyk) multiplied by a travel cost
(TCuk) for
each of the first plurality of vehicles and each of the second plurality of
vehicles for travel
between each pickup location and each delivery location is performed at the
dedicated
fleet control system 104 as follows:
minimize * (Equation 8)
[0113] The same
unexpected result may be obtained by considering actual traveled
miles instead of utilized assigned assets in the model formulation.
Consequently, fixed
cost may be excluded in the tactical decision making (e.g., assignments)
between
assigned assets and common carriers when using a periodic fleet allocation
strategy in the
Model 1 implementation.
[0114] The Model
1 implementation may be used to more accurately reflect the real-
time decision factors used in practice in the dedicated fleet versus common
carrier
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assignment operations. These assignment operations using the Model 1
implementation
(and/or other cost model implementations) may be performed by a dedicated
fleet control
system 104 and may also utilize model constraints (e.g., dedicated carrier
constraints) for
assigning and routing the dedicated fleets, as will now be discussed. In other
implementations, some or all of the dedicated carrier constraints discussed
below can also
be utilized with other cost models, if desired.
[0115] Some real-world constraints that are integrated in the Model 1
implementation
and or other implementations for dedicated fleet vehicles 110, may not be
taken into
account for common carrier resources 134. Example differences of how
constraints may
be applied to dedicated versus common carrier resources are as follows:
= Routing of common carriers 132 is not a point of interest. In various
implementations, single load handling may be used for the common carrier
without considering common carrier truck routing before picking up and
after delivering a load.
= It may be assumed that the common carriers 132 will take care of time
window and maximum working hour regulations externally from the
dedicated fleet control system 104.
= Leaving from and returning to a home depot may not be a concern for
common carrier resources.
[0116] Dedicated carrier constraints may include a fulfillment constraint
that imposes
that every order must fulfilled. In this way, dedicated fleet control system
104 may be
prevented from generating any shipping plan (e.g., a plan that includes
assignments for
shipments among a dedicated fleet 102 and a common carrier fleet 132, along
with routes
204/208 for the dedicated fleet 102) that leaves any shipment order
unfulfilled. The
fulfillment constraint may be implemented in the model as follows by
constraining a sum,
over all vehicles k in both the dedicated and common carrier fleets, of a
selection factor,
xiik, to be equal to one for all loads:
x,.,k .1 ,V (i, *loads (Equation 9)
Ice,/ tv,,v,)
[0117] Home depot departure and return constraints may also be applied that
require
that every dedicated fleet vehicle 110 must depart from its assigned home
depot 108 (e.g.,
node 1 as departing node 206) and return to the same home depot 108 (e.g.,
node 2 as
returning node 206). During assignment and routing operations, an unutilized
dedicated
fleet vehicle 110 may be represented by a vehicle having a route that includes
travel from
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node 1 to 2, which means that truck has not left the home depot 108. Home
depot
departure and return constraints may be implemented in the model,
respectively, as
follows:
Exu, =1 , i =1 (Equation 10)
kEv,
Exuk =1 'I = 2 (Equation 11)
ken
[0118] As shown, for the home depot departure constraint, a sum, over all
dedicated
carrier vehicles, of the selection factor, xuk, may be constrained to be equal
to one for
node 1. For the home depot return constraint, a sum, over all dedicated
carrier vehicles,
of the selection factor, xuk, may be constrained to be equal to one for node
2.
[0119] An additional constraint may prevent dedicated fleet vehicles from
staying at
any node 206 except for node 2 (i.e., the home depot 108) that is the final
destination for
all dedicated fleet vehicles 110. There are two types of routes addressed in
this additional
constraint, one route is coming to node j from node i and the other route has
to leave node
j to another node h. This additional constraint may be implemented numerically
as a
constraint that the difference over the following sums of selection factors,
xuk, and xjhk, is
zero for all nodes and all dedicated fleet vehicles 110 as follows:
E xuk -Ex,õA = 0 ,Vh E N,Vk E (Equation 12)
teN\2 1)01
[0120] A time window constraint may also be applied that ensures that all
pickups
and deliveries by dedicated fleet vehicles 110 are performed within a
predetermined time
window. For example, the time window constraint may be a constraint that the
difference
between the time that a dedicated fleet vehicle 110 visits a delivery node 206
is not later
than pickup time at a pickup node 206 plus the drive time and service and wait
time
associated with the route between the pickup node and the delivery node, for
all nodes
except for the home depot. The time window constraint may be implemented
numerically
as follows (where M may be chosen to be a sufficiently large number that
ensures that the
inequality is satisfied on arcs where xuk is zero):
s, + tv + tswv ¨ sj ¨ M (1¨ 0 V (i, j) E routes ,i #1, j # 2 and k e v,
(Equation 13)
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[0121] In the Model 1 implementation, with the exception of the home depot
108
(e.g., described as both node 1 and node 2), each node 206 may be visited only
once for
each vehicle for each route, thus the above time window constraint works
properly for all
pickup and delivery nodes 206. However, home depot nodes 1 and 2 are the
exceptions to
this rule, and dedicated fleet vehicles may be allowed to follow routes that
leave/arrive at
these home depot nodes at different times within the time window, and thus a
vehicle
index for each of these two home depot nodes are provided, which are treated
separately
in a different constraint associated with a different time window (e.g., one
day or one
shift). In particular, home depot visit times can be recorded for current,
past, or proposed
routes for home depot nodes 1,2 respectively as W,
W2k = During real-time vehicle
routing and assignment operations, tivik,w2k can be used to represent the home
depot visit
times for nodes 1 and 2 to allow these nodes to be visited multiple times
within a delivery
window without violating the above time window constraint.
[0122] Another group of dedicated carrier constraints not only accounts for
travel,
service and wait times, but also, when applied during vehicle routing and
assignment
operations, helps reduce or eliminate sub-tours for dedicated fleet vehicles
110 by
assigning a time to each visited node 206. If a first node 206 is visited once
by a
dedicated fleet vehicle 110, then a time s will be assigned to that node and,
after departure
of the dedicated fleet vehicle 110 to another node 206, a positive travel time
t will be
added to that value s. Thus, a route that causes a dedicated fleet vehicle 110
to return to
the same node 206 will cause a contradiction that violates the constraint,
thus preventing
assignment of that route.
[0123] During operation of each dedicated fleet vehicle 110, communications
circuitry such as communications circuitry 150 of FIG. 1 may provide vehicle
status
information, including a time at which a node has been visited, to dedicated
fleet control
system 104 for updating constraints and corresponding (e.g., real time)
updating of routes,
if desired. A suitable large M for the above time window constraint can be
chosen such
that a small M is avoided that might not fulfill the goal and very large M is
avoided that
may cause round out errors.
[0124] A maximum working time constraint may be applied that prevents, for
any
dedicated fleet vehicle 110, the working time for that vehicle from exceeding
a
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predetermined threshold WT (e.g., a threshold of 14 hours or other company-
based or
regulatory threshold). The maximum working time constraint may help ensure
that no
routes or assignments are selected that cause the difference between the home
depot
return time and the home depot departure time for any dedicated fleet vehicle
to be larger
than the working time threshold WT and may be implemented numerically as
follows:
wik w2k ,Vkev (Equation 14)
[0125] Pick-up and delivery time constraints may be also applied that
ensure that each
shipment, whether by a dedicated fleet vehicle or a common carrier vehicle, is
picked up
after or at a pickup time and delivered at or before a delivery time. The pick-
up and
delivery time constraints may be implemented numerically as follows:
s (Equation 15)
¨s, ¨pickup time,,, (Equation 16)
[0126] Dedicated fleet control system 104 (e.g., server 114) may operate to
distribute
and route each of a plurality of shipments among the vehicles of a dedicated
vehicle fleet
102 and one or more common carrier fleets 132 by computing (e.g., nearly
instantaneously) an overall cost to deliver all shipments, and simultaneously
evaluating
each dedicated carrier constraint, for tens, hundreds, thousands, millions,
tens of millions,
hundreds of millions, or more combinations of assignment distributions and
dedicated
vehicle routes to identify a shipment plan that contains dedicated fleet
routes and
dedicated/common carrier assignments that provide the lowest overall cost; all
without
scheduling any routes that violate any of the dedicated carrier constraints.
These tens,
hundreds, thousands, millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, or more
combinations of assignment distributions and dedicated vehicle routes may all
be
evaluated and selected automatically and with sufficient speed (e.g., within a
timeframe
of seconds, minutes, or hours) that tens, hundreds, thousands, or millions of
shipping
orders can be received, distributed, and routed without causing any delay to
the
commencement of shipping operations (e.g., between receiving a shipping order
from a
client at 5 a.m. and commencing shipping operations at 5:30 a.m. on the same
day in one
illustrative scenario).
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[0127] In some implementations, real-time vehicle and driver status
information as
discussed herein may be received from communications circuitry 150 of vehicles
110 and
incorporated into the tens, hundreds, thousands, millions, tens of millions,
hundreds of
millions, or more combinations of assignment distributions and dedicated
vehicle route
evaluations in real time (e.g., at a time between the first evaluated route
and assignment
distribution evaluation and the last evaluated route and assignment
distribution evaluation
of a single vehicle routing and carrier assignment operation in one
illustrative example).
[0128] In this way, a dedicated fleet control system can distribute a
plurality of
shipments among dedicated fleet vehicles 110 and common carrier vehicles 134
for
transportation of a plurality of shipments from respective pickup locations to
respective
delivery locations based on a determination of routes 204/208 for the
dedicated fleet
vehicles 110 and a concurrent minimization of an overall cost of a resulting
distribution
using the common carrier constraints and the dedicated carrier constraints, in
which the
concurrent minimization of the overall cost of the resulting distribution may
include a
minimization based on a cost model that excludes fixed costs for the dedicated
fleet
vehicles 110.
[0129] FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram of an example process for distributing
a
plurality of shipments among dedicated fleet vehicles 110 and common carrier
vehicles
132 using the Model 1 implementation described above (e.g., by performing a
simultaneous routing operation and minimization of the overall cost of the
resulting
distribution may include a minimization based on a cost model that excludes
fixed costs
for the dedicated fleet vehicles 110), according to various aspects of the
subject
technology. For explanatory purposes, the various blocks of the example
process of FIG.
are described herein with reference to the components and/or processes
described
herein. The one or more of the blocks of the example process of FIG. 5 may be
implemented, for example, by one or more processors, including, for example,
server 114
of FIG. 1 or one or more components or processors of server 114. In some
implementations, one or more of the blocks may be implemented apart from other
blocks,
and by one or more different processors or controllers. Further for
explanatory purposes,
the blocks of the example process of FIG. 5 are described as occurring in
serial, or
linearly. However, multiple blocks of the example process of FIG. 5 may occur
in
parallel. In addition, the blocks of the example process of FIG. 5 need not be
performed
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in the order shown and/or one or more of the blocks of the example process of
FIG. 5
need not be performed.
[0130] In the depicted example, at block 500, shipment load and delivery
node
information may be obtained (e.g., by a dedicated fleet control system 104).
Shipment
load information may include shipment orders received from a client or
customer at
dedicated fleet control system 104. Delivery node information related to nodes
such as
nodes 206 of FIG. 2 may include various potential or actual delivery locations
and/or
home depot identification for each dedicated fleet vehicle 110 as discussed
herein.
[0131] At block 502, driver and/or vehicle status information from
dedicated fleet
vehicle communications circuitry (e.g., communications circuitry 150 of FIG.
1) may be
received. Driver and/or vehicle status information may be received at the
dedicated fleet
control system 104. Because the driver and/or vehicle status information may
be
constantly changing, the vehicle communications circuitry can provide the
driver and/or
vehicle status information continuously or nearly continuously, in some
implementations.
[0132] At block 504, dedicated fleet information such as dedicated carrier
constraints
as discussed herein may be obtained by the dedicated fleet control system 104.
For
example, one or more of the dedicated carrier constraints may be generated by
server 114
of dedicated fleet control system 104 based on the ever-changing received
driver and/or
vehicle status information. For example, control system 104 may receive
identifier of a
home depot 108 for one of the dedicated fleet vehicles 110. Server 114 may
then
generate a constraint that the vehicle 110 depart from and return to the
identified home
depot within a period of time (e.g., each day). Other non-limiting examples of
dedicated
carrier constraints that may be generated by server 114 include the time
window
constraint, working time constraint, pickup and delivery time constraints, and
fulfillment
constraint discussed above, any or all of which may be calculated, in real
time, based on
the ever-changing driver and/or vehicle status information.
[0133] At block 506, dedicated fleet driver information such as a maximum
working
hours threshold, a maximum driving hours threshold, a current working hours
value,
and/or a current driving hours value may be obtained (e.g., received and/or
generated) at
the dedicated fleet control system 104. For example, some or all of the
dedicated fleet
driver information may be generated based on the received driver and/or
vehicle status
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information. In another example, the dedicated fleet driver information may be
received
in real time from communications circuitry 150 of a vehicle 110 for that
driver. For
example, dedicated fleet control system 104 may receive a real-time current
working
hours total from a dedicated fleet vehicle 110 for a driver of that vehicle
110. Server 114
may determine, based on the real-time current working hours total, a remaining
available
hours total for the driver (e.g., an available working hours value for the
driver). Server
114 may then generate a dedicated carrier constraint that prevents assigning
any
shipments to the driver that would cause the driver to work beyond the
remaining
available hours total.
[0134] At block 508, a cost model may be obtained by dedicated fleet
control system
104. The cost model may be generated at dedicated fleet control system 104 to
include or
exclude fixed costs as described herein in accordance with various
implementations as
desired.
[0135] At block 510, common carrier information such as common carrier
constraints
as discussed herein may be obtained at the dedicated fleet control system 104
(e.g., over a
network from a common carrier control system 130).
[0136] At block 512, the dedicated fleet control system (e.g., server 114
of FIG. 1)
may distribute loads, each including one or more shipments from the shipment
load
information among the dedicated fleet 102 and the common carrier fleet 132 by
simultaneously determining routes for the dedicated fleet and minimizing an
overall cost
of the resulting distribution based on the cost model, the nodes 206, the
dedicated carrier
information (e.g., dedicated carrier constraints), the status information, and
the common
carrier information (e.g., common carrier constraints). The cost model may,
for example,
include the Model 1 cost model described herein.
[0137] Any or all of the dedicated carrier information (e.g., dedicated
carrier
constraints), the status information, the common carrier information (e.g.,
common carrier
constraints), and the cost model can change based on incoming, real-time, and
constantly
changing data. The operations of block 512 may include adjusting and
determining, in
real time and without human intervention the distribution of loads based on
the received
data with sufficient speed (e.g., within hours, minutes, or seconds) that
changes in the
constantly changing data do not affect the resulting distribution. In this
way, a dedicated
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fleet control system can be provided that integrates vastly distributed and
varied systems
(e.g., distributed networked vehicles, servers, and other information sources)
to provide a
result that cannot be achieved merely by human effort.
[0138] As noted above, in various implementations, dedicated carrier
vehicles may be
designated to a specific home depot (see, e.g., home depots 108 of FIG. 1) in
one or more
distribution networks. Thus, it may be desirable to provide the ability to
perform routing
and carrier assignment operations for each home depot 108 separately without
having to
solve for the entire network of loads in some scenarios. In one
implementation, delivery
locations such as delivery nodes 206 may be assigned to a given home depot 108
using
geographical zones such as US postal zip codes (e.g., based on a distance
between the
depot's zip code and zip codes in the network of potential delivery locations
206).
[0139] Zip code clustering may be performed to make the number of potential
routes
and carrier assignment distributions to be evaluated during each routing and
assignment
operation even smaller relative to unclustered assignment distribution
operations. For
dedicated fleet controllers that want their dedicated drivers to return home
each night
(e.g., controllers 104 that implement a home depot constraint on a daily
basis), although
the home depot constraint can be applied to account for this strategy, zip
code clustering
can also be used for this consideration in addition to making the number of
potential
evaluations smaller relative to unclustered assignment distribution
operations.
[0140] The zip code assignment process may begin by clustering zip codes in
the
distribution network into groups around a centralized home depot 108 based on
time
constraints. For example, this clustering can be set to ensure that a home
depot 108 is
within a certain coverage driving distance to deliver to a given destination
206 and return
to the home depot 108 within a given time window (e.g., within a given day),
if desired.
The result of this operation may form a dictionary that can be stored for
future route
assignment and carrier distribution runs, and thus may only be executed once
for all zip
codes (and not in every assignment/distribution run). The zip code dictionary
may be
stored at the dedicated fleet control system (e.g., in storage or memory of
server 114 of
FIG. 1 or other local or remote storage). During load assignment and carrier
distribution
operations, if both the pickup and delivery zip codes are within a cluster,
the load may be
qualified and considered for dedicated carrier selection. Otherwise, if at
least one of the
pickup or delivery zip codes is outside the cluster then the common carrier
may be
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selected for the load. Thereby, all the loads assigned for dedicated carrier
vehicles
associated with a particular home depot 108 may have pickup and delivery
locations
clustered around, or within a range of, that home depot 108.
[0141] As previously noted, in some scenarios, carrier assignment and
routing
operations may, in some implementations, include fixed costs and/or multi-
objective
models. A fixed-cost multi-objective approach may increase the utilization of
assigned
fleet in comparison to single objective models (e.g., models that only
consider costs,
without any weighting toward utilization of dedicated carrier vehicles), but
also separates
the transportation mode assignment and routing decisions. In the operations
described
above in connection with FIG. 5 and Model 1, dedicated fleet preferences are
considered
in the model, which allows carrier selection to be addressed concurrent with
the routing
problem based on cost minimization in a single objective problem.
[0142] A comparison of dedicated versus common carrier assignments using
Model 1
and two other models are now provided. In the comparison, the same dedicated
carrier
constraints have been considered with different objective functions in order
to create a
fair comparison of results. The three compared models are described below.
[0143] Model 1: The single objective model described above, which considers
travel
cost using the cost model described above, while excluding fixed costs, to
compare
carrier choices and solves routing at the same time as carrier selection.
[0144] Model 2: In the second single objective model, the fixed costs
associated to
each dedicated fleet truck are only added to vehicles that are selected for
shipment
deliveries. No additional multi-objective constraints may be added.
[0145] Model 3: Model 3 adds various different weights for
dedicated/private and
common carrier assets for carrier selection operations. Assigning a higher
weight to
dedicated fleet vehicles 110 can result in larger utilization for these
vehicles 110.
Weightings can be obtained by multi-criteria decision making tools like the
Analytic
Hierarchy Process (AHP) or based on experience. In this example, a weighted
sum multi-
objective model may be used by assigning a priority of 2 to dedicated fleet
vehicles 110
relative to common carrier vehicles 134. As described below, Model 2 may
result in
underutilization of the dedicated/private fleet relative to Models 1 and 3.
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[0146] An overview of the comparison of Models 1, 2, and 3 is shown in
Table 3
below. Table 3 demonstrates that using Model 1 results in a much more balanced
decision process for minimizing costs and utilizing the dedicated fleet. Model
1 achieves
the lowest travel cost compared to the other two models and, in this example,
62.3% of
loads are allocated to dedicated fleet vehicles 110. In contrast, Model 2 over-
utilized
common carriers, a solution that may be unacceptable to some transportation
providers
based on low utilization of dedicated fleet vehicles 110. The additional
weighting in
Model 3 for assigning routes increases utilization of dedicated fleet
resources relative to
Model 2, but at a higher cost relative to Model 1. Finally, Model 1 combines
the decision
making into a single model. It is shown that automating the process into a
single
optimization model may achieve efficiencies and cost reductions that multi-
objective
(weighting) process of Model 3 may not be able to consistently achieve, even
based on
expert judgment.
Table 3: Summary results of model comparison.
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
Total loads 105 105 105
Number of loads carried by common carrier 39 102 10
Number of loads carried by dedicated 66 3 95
% carried by dedicated 62.9% 3.0% 90.48%
Overall cost $ 81,993 $ 96,389 $ 83,957
[0147] Moreover, the comparison in Table 3 shows that even a moderate
preference
of 2 (weight of .5) in multi-objective optimization may over-utilize dedicated
fleet and
consequently raise overall cost. For multi-objective based operations,
operators may enter
preference based on their experience and, in some circumstances, may adjust
the results
based on expert judgment. However, this multi-objective approach is still
dependent on
exogenous inputs from transportation managers and may not result in an optimal
solution
if care is not taken.
[0148] This comparison shows that a company can save a substantial direct
cost, even
in only one depot per year, by using Model 1 and still gain a high number of
loads carried
by dedicated fleet 102. An advantage of the subject technology, e.g., Model 1,
may be
that a high number of loads may be assigned to dedicated fleet vehicles 110
due the cost
structure (e.g., excluding fixed costs) being more representative of what is
driving the
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actual decision in practice. Since the results of multi-objective models may
incentivize
post-optimization analysis, there may also some other indirect costs (e.g.,
engineering,
time, etc.) that can be saved by utilizing Model 1.
[0149] Table 4 below shows the number of dedicated fleet vehicles 110
operated on
each of eight days in a simulation based on each of the three models Model 1,
Model 2,
and Model 3. The maximum number of vehicles operated on any given day, based
on
each implementation, are also listed. In some implementations, after
operating, over a
period of time, a dedicated vehicle fleet 102 based on an implementation of
Models 1, 2,
and 3, a fleet size for a dedicated fleet 102 may be determined based on the
maximum
number of vehicles operated over the period of time.
Table 4: Number of dedicated/private vehicles utilized by day.
Day Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
1 8 0 9
2 7 0 10
3 9 0 12
4 4 0 17
3 1 8
6 7 0 12
7 1 0 1
8 4 0 4
Fleet size 9 1 17
[0150] FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram of an example process for determining
a
dedicated fleet size based on the maximum number of vehicles operated over a
period of
time, according to various aspects of the subject technology. For explanatory
purposes,
the various blocks of the example process of FIG. 6 are described herein with
reference to
the components and/or processes described herein. The one or more of the
blocks of the
example process of FIG. 6 may be implemented, for example, by one or more
processors,
including, for example, server 114 of FIG. 1 or one or more components or
processors of
server 114. In some implementations, one or more of the blocks may be
implemented
apart from other blocks, and by one or more different processors or
controllers. Further
for explanatory purposes, the blocks of the example process of FIG. 6 are
described as
occurring in serial, or linearly. However, multiple blocks of the example
process of FIG.
6 may occur in parallel. In addition, the blocks of the example process of
FIG. 6 need not
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be performed in the order shown and/or one or more of the blocks of the
example process
of FIG. 6 need not be performed.
[0151] In particular, as shown in FIG. 6, fleet sizing operations by a
dedicated fleet
control system 104 may include, at block 600, distributing loads such as loads
200 and/or
200P of FIG. 2 among a dedicated fleet 102 and a common carrier 132. The loads
may be
distributed by simultaneously (a) determining routes such as routes 204 and
208 for the
dedicated fleet 102 and (b) minimizing an overall cost of the resulting
distribution based
on routing constraints, common carrier information, and a cost model that
excludes fixed
costs for the dedicated fleet over a period of time (e.g. over a week, over
nine days, over a
month, over a quarter, over a year, over a shipping season, etc.).
[0152] In some implementations, at least one of the dedicated carrier
constraints may
be determined in real time during the distributing of the plurality of loads.
The real-time
determination may be performed, based on and while receiving the vehicle
status
information throughout the period of time. The vehicle status information may
be
received by the dedicated fleet server 114 from communications circuitry 150
disposed in
at least one vehicle 110 of the dedicated carrier fleet 102.
[0153] In some implementations, the dedicated carrier constraints may
include a
constraint that each vehicle 110 of the dedicated carrier fleet 102 depart
from and return
to a respective home depot each 108 day within a first predetermined window of
time
within the period of time.
[0154] In some implementations, the dedicated carrier constraints may
include a
constraint that each of the plurality of loads 200/200P be picked up from the
corresponding pickup location for that load and delivered to the corresponding
delivery
location for that load within a time second window of time within the period
of time.
[0155] In some implementations, the common carrier constraints can include
an
indication of a number of available common carrier vehicles 134 and associated
common
carrier costs for the second window of time and one or more routes associated
with at
least one of the plurality of loads.
[0156] In the example process of FIG. 6, fleet sizing operations may
include, at block
602, determining a maximum number of dedicated fleet vehicles 110 used (e.g.,
nine
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vehicles) within a predetermined window of time (e.g., on one day such as on
day 3 in the
example of Table 4) within the period of time (e.g., within the eight days in
the example
of Table 4), and at block 604, modifying the number of vehicles 110 in the
dedicated fleet
102 based on the determined maximum number (e.g., by reducing the size of the
dedicated fleet to 9 vehicles) for an upcoming additional period of time
(e.g., for an
upcoming week, an upcoming month, an upcoming quarter, an upcoming year, or an
upcoming shipping season). Reducing the total number of vehicles 110 in the
dedicated
vehicle fleet 102 may include moving at least one of the vehicles in the
dedicated vehicle
fleet to a different dedicated vehicle fleet that, for example, is dedicated
to a different
client of the dedicated fleet control system.
[0157] The
operations described above in connection with FIG. 6 may be used to
determine a dedicated fleet size based on historical data. However,
in some
circumstances, a dedicated fleet size may be determined based on projected
data.
[0158] FIG. 7
depicts a flow diagram of an example process for determining a
dedicated fleet size based on projected data, according to various aspects of
the subject
technology. For explanatory purposes, the various blocks of the example
process of FIG.
7 are described herein with reference to the components and/or processes
described
herein. The one or more of the blocks of the example process of FIG. 7 may be
implemented, for example, by one or more processors, including, for example,
server 114
of FIG. 1 or one or more components or processors of server 114. In some
implementations, one or more of the blocks may be implemented apart from other
blocks,
and by one or more different processors or controllers. Further for
explanatory purposes,
the blocks of the example process of FIG. 7 are described as occurring in
serial, or
linearly. However, multiple blocks of the example process of FIG. 7 may occur
in
parallel. In addition, the blocks of the example process of FIG. 7 need not be
performed
in the order shown and/or one or more of the blocks of the example process of
FIG. 7
need not be performed.
[0159] In the
depicted example, at block 700, known or expected load information,
dedicated fleet information, dedicated fleet driver information, routing
constraints, and
common carrier information for a projected period of time may be obtained by a
dedicated fleet control system 104. The known or expected load information may
include
actual future shipment orders or projected shipment orders based on historical
data.
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[0160] At block 702, a planned distribution of the known or expected loads
over the
projected period of time among a dedicated fleet 102 and a common carrier 132
may be
determined by the dedicated fleet control system 104 by simultaneously
determining
routes such as routes 204 and 208 of FIG. 2 for the dedicated fleet 102 and
minimizing an
overall cost of the resulting distribution based on routing constraints,
common carrier
information, and a cost model that includes fixed costs for the dedicated
fleet 102 as
described above in connection with Model 1 and FIG. 6. For example, the
planned
distribution may be determined by performing the minimization described above
in
connection with Equation 8 and applying one or more of the constraints
described above
in connection with Equations 9-16.
[0161] At block 704, a maximum number of dedicated fleet vehicles 110
projected to
be used in one day within the projected period of time may be determined by
the
dedicated fleet control system 104.
[0162] At block 706, the number of vehicles 110 in the dedicated fleet 102
may be
modified by the dedicated fleet control system 104 based on the determined
maximum
number. Modifying the number of vehicles 110 in the dedicated fleet 102 may
include
moving one or more vehicles 110 from the dedicated vehicle fleet 102 to
another
dedicated vehicle fleet (e.g., another dedicated fleet operated by the same
control system
104 for another client), moving one or more vehicles 110 from another
dedicated vehicle
fleet to the dedicated vehicle fleet 102, purchasing additional vehicles 110
for the
dedicated vehicle fleet, or selling dedicated fleet vehicles 110 (as
examples).
[0163] As previously noted, a pick-up and delivery time window may be
associated
with each load. Providing a higher flexibility in time windows may give more
freedom in
scheduling the dedicated vehicle fleet. In some implementations, a flexibility
factor
%Flexibility may be applied to the time window as shown below:
Delivery time = Pickup time +(Travel time + Service time)* (1 +%Flexibility)
(Equation 17)
[0164] The time window may, for example, be a maximum amount of allowable
time
between a pickup time and a delivery time for a particular load as described
by the
equation above. The flexibility factor may be applied to the maximum allowable
time
difference between the pickup time and the delivery time as shown. The
flexibility factor
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may, for example, be a user-specified (e.g., customer specified) variability
in the
maximum allowable time difference that facilitates a reduction in size for the
dedicated
carrier fleet 102. In wider time frames (e.g., with a larger flexibility
factor), fewer
dedicated fleet vehicles 110 can be utilized to carry the same number of
loads. In this
condition, transportation providers such as a dedicated fleet control system
104 can
dedicate fewer assets 110 to the customer without compromising quality of
service.
[0165] Selecting a flexibility factor that relaxes the time window by a
factor of twice
the travel time may, for example, result in the number of assigned trucks 110
utilized
being reduced by 30-40%. Each truck may have a cost per day for maintenance,
capital
investment, overhead, etc. and reducing the number of assigned trucks may save
the
dedicated fleet 102 in contrast to 0% flexibility. This may raise an
opportunity to consider
wider and more flexible time windows in dedicated fleet contracts, and shows
that while
the assignment of routes to common carriers 132 influences costs, there are
also other
opportunities to reduce cost by influencing time windows desired by customers.
[0166] The Model 1 implementation and the summary results presented above
provide advantages for operation of distributed vehicle fleets as discussed
below
including resulting opportunities to improve the tactical decision-making
process of
assigning and routing different types of transportation resources on a daily
basis.
[0167] As previously noted, cost models that rely on direct costs may not
accurately
reflect how private and dedicated transportation providers accrue costs when
they are
periodically assigning resources to customers or depots. However, a periodic
allocation
process can make the fixed cost of assigned resources almost a sunk cost that
is going to
be incurred regardless of the trucks actually being utilized after the
assignment decision.
Thus, the cost model of Model 1 of this disclosure may be a more authentic
reflection of
how these organizations may desire to base the dedicated resource versus
common carrier
assignment and routing decision in practice.
[0168] In addition to the updated cost model, the dedicated carrier
constraints in
Model 1 described above integrate VROs with time windows and carrier
comparison into
a single formulation. Both of these may be important factors to be considered
for the
assigned asset versus common carrier decision-making process. Thus, VROs are
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provided that allow comparison of assigned versus common carrier resources for
specific
routes within time windows in a distribution network.
[0169] The cost minimization objective function using the updated cost
model of
Model 1 above along with direct carrier constraints leads to the assignment
and routing of
assigned versus common carrier resources in a single objective model. As
illustrated
herein, the solutions from this single objective model are improvements upon
multi-
objective models that rely on manual interventions and/or expert judgment. The
ability to
assign carrier type and route in a single objective model thus provides a tool
for a
decision in which firms prioritize the utilization of increasingly scarce
transportation
resources at their disposal.
[0170] This tool that can be used by practitioners to assign and route a
mixture of
private or dedicated fleets with common carriers in a manner that reflects the
decision-
making criteria they value has numerous advantages. One advantage is a
reduction or
elimination of the gap between automated assignments and desired results that
may create
an incentive to manually intervene in the performance the automated
assignments. In
some scenarios, these manual interventions could be incentivized to be
performed
multiple times per day. Further, relying on decision processes that require or
even
incentivize manual intervention or other multi-objective processes can greatly
inhibit the
efficiency and many times the effectiveness of the assignment and routing
process in
comparison with the real-time simultaneous routing assignment and cost
minimization
operations described in connection with Model 1.
[0171] The Model .1 implementation provides a single objective model that
considers
cost in a consistent manner to real-world technological and other pressures to
make the
assignment and routing decisions along with a set of constraints that
integrates to properly
control a dedicated fleet. In addition to savings on a transportation network,
this model
can also save transportation managers considerable employee time that is
required to
manually impose preferences for assigned resources versus common carriers for
shipments in a distribution network.
[0172] This disclosure provides a commercial tool that works within an
existing
networked transportation management system to automate and improve the
assignment
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and routing decision for providers that utilize a mixture of assigned assets
and common
carriers.
[0173] As noted above, in some implementations, evaluating the potential of
a
backhaul on a specific route (e.g., by determining and applying a backhaul
probability
constraint in the model) in the assigned asset versus common carrier decision
process
may provide additional efficiencies in operating the dedicated fleet. As
described above,
a backhaul probability may be a probability, for each fleet vehicle, of
carrying a load or
shipment on a return portion of a route. Applying backhaul probability
constraints may
be implemented by storing, at the dedicated fleet control system server, a
separate
dictionary of backhaul probabilities by route to include in the formulation of
the model.
[0174] Additionally, special equipment constraints may be applied in some
implementations, for shipments that require specialized transportation assets.
Additionally, the ability to pass shipments between depots in a single routing
step may be
provided in some implementations.
[0175] Various aspects of Model 3 described above will now be described in
connection with FIGS. 8-10 in accordance with various implementations. In
various
implementations, a dedicated fleet control system may receive a shipment plan
referencing one or more shipments associated with shipment carriers. As
described
above, the shipment plan may include a route for each dedicated fleet vehicle
to be
operated and an assignment either to a dedicated fleet vehicle 110 or a common
carrier
132 for each shipment. The shipment plan may be implemented as a group of data
fields
pertaining to one or more shipments. The shipment plan may be stored at the
dedicated
fleet server 114. As an example, an initial shipment plan may be received from
a
transportation management application operated by a shipping carrier.
[0176] For example, the shipment carriers referenced in the shipment plan
may
include at least one common carrier fleet 132 and at least one dedicated fleet
102 (see,
e.g., FIG. 1). The dedicated fleet 102 may be owned or operated by a shipment
customer
or client and may be controlled by dedicated fleet control system 104. One or
more real-
time constraints associated with the one or more shipment carriers included in
the
shipment plan may then be determined. The constraints can include one or more
of:
driver hours of service (e.g., based on real-time driver status information
received from
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communications circuitry 150), dedicated fleet equipment availability(e.g.,
based on real-
time vehicle status information received from communications circuitry 150),
backhaul
loads or shipments (e.g., based on real-time vehicle status information
received from
communications circuitry 150), the dedicated fleet's fixed cost and the
dedicated fleet's
shipment cost, or the common carrier fleet's shipment cost. The driver hours
of service
can reflect driver availability to service the shipment and may be updated
(e.g., in real
time) as status information is received at the dedicated fleet control system
104 from
communications circuitry 150. The dedicated fleet's fixed cost may be a cost
that the
owner or operator of the dedicated fleet 102 pays to keep or maintain the
fleet. These
fixed costs may include, for example, maintenance, parking, information
technology (IT),
overhead, driver benefits, management team, etc. The shipment costs for the
dedicated
fleet 102 and the shipment costs for the common carrier fleet 132 may be based
on their
respective lane rates, which may include both fixed costs and variable costs.
In some
cases, the common carrier fleet's shipment costs may be less than the
dedicated fleet's
shipment costs (or vice versa). The disclosed implementations may generate an
updated
shipment plan based on selectively assigning the one or more shipments to the
dedicated
fleet 102 or the common carrier fleet 132 based on the determined constraints.
Shipping
customers may use the updated plan to achieve a more efficient and cost
effective
operation.
[0177] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating example architecture for vehicle
fleet control.
Local carrier server 880 (e.g., an implementation of server 114 of dedicated
fleet control
system 104 or an implementation of server 140 of common carrier control system
130)
includes processor 812, memory 820, storage 826, bus 824, input/output module
828,
input device 816, output device 814 and communications module 818 (e.g., an
implementation of communications devices 116). Memory 820 may include
operations
analyzer 832, preliminary plan generator 834, and plan optimizer 836 in some
implementations that perform operations associated with Model 3. Memory 820
may
include a shipment assignment application such as route controller and cost
optimizer 800
configured to simultaneously determine routes such as routes 204 and 208 of
FIG. 2 for
dedicated fleet vehicles 110 while distributing shipments among the dedicated
fleet
vehicles and a common carrier fleet 132 in accordance with implementations of
Model 1.
Memory 820 may also include fleet size optimizer application 802 configured to
generate
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modifications to the size of dedicated carrier fleet 102 based on projected
information
and/or past fleet operations based on outputs from route controller and cost
optimizer 800.
[0178] Local carrier server 880 may also communicate with remote carrier
server 891
(e.g., an implementation of common carrier server 140 or server 114),
dedicated fleet
vehicles 892 (e.g., one or more of vehicles 110 of FIG. 1), and/or a client
device such as
client computing device 890. For example, shipping orders may be received at
server 880
from client computing device 890. In another example, communications circuitry
150 of
dedicated fleet vehicles 110 may periodically, continually, or otherwise
provide vehicle
and/or driver status updates to communications module 818 during delivery
operations,
while driving, while idling, and/or while turned off between, after, and/or
before delivery
operations.
[0179] For example, communications circuitry 150 of a particular dedicated
fleet
vehicle 110 may electronically transmit (e.g., via a cellular data network) a
real-time
working hours value for a driver of that vehicle to communications module 818
that
indicates an amount of time that the driver has been working during a current
shift, during
a current week, during a current month, or during a current year. As another
example,
communications circuitry 150 of a particular dedicated fleet vehicle 110 may
electronically transmit (e.g., via a cellular data network) a real-time
driving hours value
for a driver of that vehicle to communications module 818 that indicates an
amount of
time that the driver has been driving the vehicle during a current shift,
during a current
week, during a current month, or during a current year. Local carrier server
880 may,
during shipment assignment operations generate dedicated carrier constraints
that prevent
assignments to that driver that would cause the driver's working hours and/or
driving
hours to exceed a threshold such as a threshold determined by a regulation
such as a
union regulation, a company, a state regulation, or a federal regulation.
[0180] As another example, communications circuitry 150 of a particular
dedicated
fleet vehicle 110 may electronically transmit (e.g., via a cellular data
network) real-time
vehicle status information for that vehicle to communications module 818. The
real-time
vehicle information may include a location of the vehicle, a speed of the
vehicle, a fuel
level of the vehicle, a maintenance reminder for the vehicle, a maintenance
alert for the
vehicle, a distance travelled during a particular period of time (e.g., a day,
a driver shift, a
week, a month, a year, or a vehicle lifetime), and/or other vehicle status
information.
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[0181] The vehicle maintenance reminder may include, for example, a service
due
reminder for one or more services (e.g., an oil change or inspection, a belt
change or
inspection, a brake fluid change or inspection, a brake pad change or
inspection, a
transmission fluid change or inspection, a tire rotation, change or
inspection, or the like).
[0182] The vehicle maintenance alert may include a driver detected or
automatically
detected problem with the vehicle. For example, an automated tire-pressure
monitor may
determine that one or more of the vehicle's tires are low on air or have lost
air pressure.
Responsively, communications circuitry 150 in that vehicle may send an alert
to
communications module 818 that the vehicle's tires are low on air or have lost
air
pressure. In other examples, communications circuitry 150 may provide vehicle
maintenance alerts or other alerts to communications module 818 related to
events such
as an air bag sensor-detected air bag deployment, an accelerometer or pressure
sensor
detected collision, a fuel sensor-detected fuel leak or other vehicle-sensor
detected events.
[0183] Local carrier server 880 may generate various dedicated carrier
constraints
related to the vehicle and driver status information received by
communications module
818 from communications circuitry 150 as described herein.
[0184] In some implementations, local carrier server 880 includes one or
more
modules for facilitating user interaction via a browser, web application or a
special
purpose application executing on client computing device 890. Local carrier
server 880
may be implemented as a single machine with a single processor, a multi-
processor
machine, or a server farm including multiple machines with multiple processors
(as
examples). Communication module 818 can enable server 880 to send data to
client
computing device 890 and/or other remote systems.
[0185] Client computing device 890 can be a laptop computer, a desktop
computer, a
mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a
netbook, a monitor
with one or more processors embedded therein or coupled thereto, a physical
machine, or
a virtual machine. Client computing device 890 may include one or more of a
keyboard,
a mouse, a display, or a touch screen. Client computing device 890 can include
a browser
or any web application configured to display webpages or any web content.
Alternatively, client computing device 890 may include special-purpose
applications
(e.g., mobile phone or tablet computer applications) for accessing and
displaying content.
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[0186] In some implementations, server 880, remote carrier server 891,
dedicated
fleet vehicles 892, and/or client computing device 890 can communicate with
one another
via network 870. Network 870 may include the Internet, an intranet, a local
area network,
a wide area network, a wired network, a wireless network, or a virtual private
network
(VPN). While only one server 880 is illustrated, the subject technology may be
implemented in conjunction with any number of servers 880 and client computing
devices
390. In some non-limiting implementations, a plurality of servers may
implement the
functions of server 380 and other components illustrated in FIG. 8.
[0187] As discussed above, memory 820 of server 880 can include operations
analyzer 832, preliminary plan generator 834, plan optimizer 836. Server 880
may also
communicate with other external databases such as cloud storage.
[0188] FIG. 9 illustrates an example view of different operational stages
in operations
analyzer 832 in greater detail. Stage 904 is an example operation to determine
driver
available hours of service (HOS). In some implementations, to determine driver
HOS,
operations analyzer 832 assesses both the common carrier fleet and the private
or
dedicated fleet. Referring to FIG. 9, a common carrier fleet operator (or a
dedicated fleet
operator) may determine driver HOS for the planning horizon (stage 904) and
may enter
the driver HOS into, for example, a web-based application or the operations
analyzer 832
may extract from a fleet management system of the common carrier driver
available HOS
for a particular planning horizon (e.g., 1 day, 1 week, etc.) (stage 904).
[0189] The extracted data may then be validated and submitted for storage,
for
example, via a web-based application or a web portal associated with a
transportation
management application (stage 906). In parallel, a dedicated fleet operator
(or a common
carrier fleet operator) may determine driver HOS for the planning horizon
(stage 908) and
may enter the driver HOS into the web-based application and/or receive and/or
update the
driver HOS based on previously received or real-time status information
received from
vehicle communications circuitry 150 (stage 910) or extract from a Fleet
Management
System. Operations analyzer 832 may then store a combined driver HOS schedule
into
storage 826 or another remote database (stage 912). Although some of the
operations
described herein are described as being performed at a dedicated carrier
server or at a
common carrier server, it should be appreciated that, in various
implementations, any of
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the operations described herein can be performed at the dedicated carrier
server or the
common carrier server as desired.
[0190] Stage 916 is an example operational process to determine daily asset
(e.g.,
truck, vehicle, etc.) availability. In some implementations, stage 916 may be
performed
by operations analyzer 832 in parallel with stage 904. Stage 916 may include
one or
more substages. For example, in stage 916, operations analyzer 832 may display
available
assets for a day. The assets for a day may be generated based on a scheduled
return to
domicile (or a point of shipment origin) and/or based on previously received
or real-time
status information received from vehicle communications circuitry 150.
[0191] The available asset count may then be confirmed by the operations
analyzer
(stage 918). For example, the available asset count may be confirmed via the
web-based
application or web portal described above. The confirmed asset availability
may then be
sent to preliminary plan generator 834 (stage 920). As an example, the
confirmed asset
availability may be provided as a database table (e.g., a carrier capacity
table) including
one or more rows and columns identifying assets and their respective
availability. The
carrier capacity table may be provided by updating one or more existing tables
in a
database of preliminary plan generator 834 or a common database of preliminary
plan
generator 834 and operations analyzer 832, sending one or more new carrier
capacity
tables to a database of preliminary plan generator 834 or a common database of
preliminary plan generator 834 and operations analyzer 832, or sending one or
more files
containing the carrier capacity table to the preliminary plan generator.
[0192] Stage 924 is an operational process that generates lane rate
pricing. In some
implementations, stage 924 may include one or more sub-stages. For example, in
stage
924 operations analyzer 832 may generate fleet lane rates (e.g., a flat lane
rate or a cost
per mile for movement of a load along a particular route 204/208). Lane rates
may be
generated (e.g., in real time) based on asset availability, shipment order
volume, or other
external factors such as fuel prices, road conditions, etc. The generated
rates can then
populated to a tariff template that may be provided to or imported by the
preliminary plan
generator 834 for use in the calculations of the cost for various shipping
plans.
[0193] FIG. 10 illustrates preliminary plan generator 834 in greater detail
according
to some implementations. In some implementations, preliminary plan generator
834 may
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perform one or more pre-planning activities 1002 that may include receiving
(or
activating) one or more fleet lane rates (stage 1004) for routes such as
routes 204 and 208
of FIG. 2. The fleet lane rates may be received from stage 926 of the
operations analyzer
832 discussed above with reference to FIG. 8.
[0194] Carrier capacity tables (e.g., tables that summarize asset
availability as
described above in connection with stages 918 and 920) may be updated by the
preliminary plan generator 834 based on confirmed asset availability
determined by
operations analyzer 832 in stage 920. Preliminary plan generator 834 may then
start the
planning process 1006. During the planning process 1008, preliminary plan
generator
834 may select one or more shipments for optimization (stage 1008). The
shipments may
include previously built loads or shipments such as loads/shipments 200/200P
of FIG. 2.
For example, the previously built loads or shipments may be individual
shipments that
form a full load or groups of shipments scheduled for transportation between
common
locations based on a received shipment order. Preliminary plan generator 834
may then
initiate an optimization process to select assets (e.g., dedicated fleet
vehicles 110 and/or
common carrier vehicles 134) associated with lowest lane rates (stage 1010).
[0195] In other words, preliminary plan generator 834 may, in real time,
optimize a
shipping plan using lane rates for routes 204/208 as a metric (stage 1010). In
various
implementations, preliminary plan generator 834 may evaluate, periodically or
in real
time, ideal consolidations of shipments as well as modal and carrier
assignments. Fleet
capacity considerations for the optimization may be managed through carrier
specific
equipment constraints (e.g., one or more constraints as described above in
connection
with Equations 9-16) applied within preliminary plan generator 834 (e.g., for
shipping
days in the future).
[0196] If it is determined, based on the applied real-time constraints,
that there are un-
routable shipments 200/200P (stage 1014), preliminary plan generator 834 may
correct
the un-routable shipments and select the corrected shipments for re-
optimization (stage
1018). If it is determined that there are no un-routable shipments (stage
1014),
preliminary plan generator 834 can generate a preliminary shipping plan (stage
1016). As
an example, the preliminary plan may have a table format (e.g., a database
table). The
database table may include in one or more rows and columns of shipment origin
information, customer name, customer code, city name, state name, zip code,
distance
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between origin and destination node 206, transit time between origin and
destination
nodes 206, destination zip code, shipment characteristics, freight class
special handling
requirements, assigned carrier (e.g., dedicated carrier 102 or common carrier
132), lane
rates for each available carrier, etc. The preliminary plan can indicate a
mapping between
orders and one or more carriers (e.g., dedicated carrier 102 or common carrier
132). The
one or more carriers (e.g., dedicated carrier 102 or common carrier 132) may
be selected
based on the lowest lane rate while fulfilling shipment characteristics and/or
various
dedicated carrier constraints and common carrier constraints.
[0197] In some implementations as shown in FIG. 11, plan optimizer 836
receives
(e.g., from stage 1016) a shipment plan referencing one or more shipments
200/200P
associated with shipment carriers (e.g., dedicated carrier 102 or common
carrier 132). As
an example, the shipment carriers can include at least one common carrier
fleet 132 and at
least one dedicated fleet 102. Plan optimizer 836 can determine (e.g., in real
time) one or
more constraints associated with the one or more shipment carriers included in
the
shipment plan, where the constraints include one or more of: driver hours of
service, the
dedicated fleet equipment availability, backhaul loads or shipments, the
dedicated fleet's
fixed cost and the dedicated fleet's shipment cost, or the common carrier
fleet's shipment
cost, where the dedicated fleet's shipment cost and the common carrier fleet's
shipment
cost are based on their respective lane rates. Plan optimizer 836 may then
generate, by
performing some or all of the operations described below in connection with
FIG. 11, an
updated shipment plan based on selectively assigning the one or more shipments
to the
dedicated fleet or the common carrier fleet based on the determined
constraints in real
time while updating and/or receiving updated status information for the
dedicated vehicle
fleet and/or the common carrier fleet.
[0198] In some implementations and as discussed in further detail below in
connection with FIG. 11, plan optimizer 836 computes a cost comparison between
a
shipment with a common carrier fleet 132 versus the dedicated fleet 102. For
example, if
the common carrier fleet rate (e.g., $1000) is less than the dedicated fleet
rate (e.g.
$1200), the preliminary plan generator (934) would choose the common carrier
as the
lowest lane rate option. Plan optimizer 836 may compute and choose the carrier
with the
lowest penalty cost. However, as described in further detail below in
connection with
FIG. 11, in some implementations, two different penalty costs may be computed
and/or
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compared. The first penalty cost can be derived by comparing the common
carrier fleet
lane rate (e.g., $1000) and the dedicated fleet lane rate (e.g., $1200) to
compute a first
penalty cost (e.g., $200), that may be incurred if, for example, the plan
optimizer assigned
a particular shipment or load to the dedicated fleet. A second penalty cost
may be derived
by first adding the common carrier fleet lane rate (e.g., $1000) and the fixed
cost portion
of the dedicated fleet lane rate (e.g., $500) to derive a total cost (e.g.,
$1500) that may be
incurred if, for example, the plan optimizer assigned the particular shipment
or load to the
common carrier. Then, the total cost (e.g., $1500) may be compared to the
dedicated fleet
lane rate (e.g., $1200) to derive a second penalty cost (e.g., $300) that may
be incurred if,
for example, the plan optimizer assigned the particular shipment or load to
the common
carrier. The plan optimizer 836 may then perform the selective assignment
based on a
comparison of the first penalty cost and the second penalty cost.
[0199] In some implementations, plan optimizer 836 may compare the first
penalty
cost to the second penalty cost and when it its determined that the first
penalty cost is
lower than the second penalty cost, keep the shipment assigned to the
dedicated fleet. In
some implementations, plan optimizer 836 may compare the first penalty cost to
the
second penalty cost, and when it its determined that the first penalty cost is
higher than
the second penalty cost, assign the shipment to the common carrier fleet.
[0200] In some implementations, plan optimizer 836 provides the updated
shipment
plan to a shipment tendering system. The shipment tendering system negotiates
one or
more tenders to assign the shipment to the common carrier. Plan optimizer 836
may also
provide the updated shipment plan to a fleet management system for assignment
to the
dedicated fleet. Plan optimizer 836 or operations analyzer 832 may then
execute the
updated shipment plan, where the execution includes transmitting one or more
notifications to drivers, the notifications including instructions regarding
the shipments.
[0201] FIG. 11 illustrates plan optimizer 836 in greater detail. In some
implementations, plan optimizer 836 may operate in three parallel phases A, B
and C.
For example, operations associated with each of phases A, B, and C may be
performed
concurrently such that feedback from the operations of one or more of phases
A, B, and C
may be provided into the operations of any other of the phases A, B, and C to
inform
those operations and modify, in real time, the assignments between the
dedicated and
common carriers. The phases A, B, and C, and/or their component parts may be
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performed in real time and without user intervention. This parallel operation
can be
particularly useful in incorporating real-time information received from one
or more of
the dedicated fleet vehicles 110 during the operations of phases A, B, and C.
[0202] In some implementations, and as an example overall operation, in
phase A
plan optimizer 836 reviews shipments that have been assigned to a fleet and
reviews fleet
hours of service (e.g., based on real-time updated vehicle status information
received
from communications circuitry 150 of each of vehicles 110) to ensure that
loads are not
overcommitted with regard to driver HOS even as the driver HOS evolves during
shipping operations. In some implementations, phase B determines whether a
particular
shipment can stay assigned to a dedicated fleet or whether it may need to be
shifted to a
common carrier fleet (or vice versa). Phase C makes a determination of what
assets (e.g.,
vehicles) are available (e.g., based on real-time updated vehicle status
information
received from communications circuitry 150 of each of vehicles 110) and
provides the
determination to Phase B. Real-time updated information (e.g., vehicle and/or
driver
status information) provided to server 114 from communications circuitry 150
of each of
dedicated fleet vehicles 110) can be incorporated in real time and without
user
intervention, during the operations of any or all of phases A, B, and/or C.
[0203] In some implementations, plan optimizer 836 may query, receive or
read the
preliminary plan shipments and assets generated by preliminary plan generator
834 (stage
1102). In Phase A, which begins with stage 1104, plan optimizer 836 calculates
transit
hours and stop hours for each load or shipment based on shipment scheduled
dates (stage
1104). Plan optimizer 836 may then store the calculated total in a database
(e.g., storage
826) as, for example, load hours of service (HOS) (stage 1106). Driver
available hours of
service by domicile, or by day may be queried (stage 1108) within a planning
horizon
(stage 1110) or may be received, in real time from communications circuitry
150 of each
of vehicles 110. For loads or shipments without available driver HOS a
reference value
of A may be assigned (stage 1112). The reference value A may represent a load
that a
fleet does not have adequate hours of service to execute. Then, for all loads
with a
reference value A, plan optimizer 836 may rerate the loads to a lowest or
least cost carrier
via an application programming interface (API) associated with the preliminary
plan
generator 834 (stage 1114). Plan optimizer 836 may then commit the load to the
lowest
or least cost carrier (stage 1116). Additionally, plan optimizer 836 may
change the
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reference value of A (assigned in stage 1112) to a value that may be
"ExFleetLdNoHOS"
and may also refresh a value of driver HOS. One or more or all of the
foregoing
operations may be performed without user intervention in real time with
respect to each
other and other phases or component parts thereof.
[0204] In Phase B, plan optimizer 836 rerates each load via a preliminary
plan
generator 834 API to an alternative carrier type (or moved from dedicated
fleet to
common carrier or vice versa) (stage 1118). As an illustrative example, this
rerated cost
may be defined as "AltCostA." In stage 1120, plan optimizer 836 compares
"AltCostA"
to an analogous cost generated by preliminary plan generator 834 and stores a
difference
(or delta) between these costs. As an example, the difference value may be
defined as
"AltCostDelta." In stage 1122, plan optimizer 836 may evaluate the previously
computed
"AltCostDelta" to a previously defined fleet fixed cost per vehicle asset per
day (e.g.,
"FleetFixedCost"). Then, for loads or shipments where "AltCostDelta" is less
than
"FleetFixedCost," plan optimizer 836 may assign a reference value of "B"
(stage 1124).
[0205] Reference value B may represent a load that when assigned to a
dedicated
fleet would have less financial impact than allowing the dedicated fleet asset
to sit idle
and paying for a fixed cost associated with the dedicated fleet asset.
Reference value B
may sometimes be assigned based at least in part on real-time update
information from
communications circuitry 150 of each of vehicles 110 related to dedicated
fleet driver
and/or vehicle availability. Plan optimizer 836 may then query any load that
is referenced
by a reference value or "B" and "C" (stage 1126). In stage 1128, plan
optimizer 836 may
order loads by a least value of "AltCostDelta."
[0206] In this way, plan optimizer 836 generates a ranking of loads or
shipments that
may be moved from a dedicated fleet to a common carrier fleet based in part,
for
example, on real-time updated status information from communications circuitry
150 of
each of vehicles 110. Plan optimizer 836 may proceed by evaluating each ranked
load
with consideration to real-time updated driver HOS to prevent a load from
being assigned
to a driver without HOS available (stage 1130). Stage 1130 may also receive
input from
stage 1116 from Phase A of plan optimizer 836. Plan optimizer 836 may then
commit
each load to a fleet that have driver HOS available and change the reference
value from
"B" to "ExCCChangeToFleet" (stage 1130) and the planning process may end
(stage
1132). One or more or all of the foregoing operations may be performed without
user
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intervention in real time with respect to each other and other phases or
component parts
thereof.
[0207] In Phase C, plan optimizer 836 may query available capacity of a
dedicated
fleet by day for each day for the planning horizon and/or may receive real-
time updated
vehicle and driver status information from communications circuitry 150 of
each of
vehicles 110 (stage 1134). Plan optimizer 836 may then compare a number of
loads
assigned to a dedicated fleet against the fleet's available capacity for each
day as
determined based on the real-time updated vehicle and driver status
information (stage
1136). Plan optimizer 836 may then assign a reference value of "C" to each non-
fleet
load scheduled on a day where a total load count on a fleet may be less than
an available
capacity (stage 1138). Reference value C may reference a load that may be
eligible for
consideration of change to a dedicated fleet asset in order to maximize
dedicated fleet
performance. In some implementations, the output of stage 1138 may be provided
by
plan optimizer 836 to stage 1126 of phase B as a part of the planning process.
One or
more or all of the foregoing operations may be performed without user
intervention in
real time with respect to each other and other phases or component parts
thereof.
[0208] In some implementations, storage 826 may communicate with plan
optimizer
836. Storage 826 may also communicate with preliminary plan generator 834 and
operations analyzer 832. In some implementations, plan optimizer 836 may store
data
gathered during the optimization process performed by plan optimizer 836. This
data
may include, but is not limited to (i) Daily Driver Hours of Service (e.g.,
the number of
hours of service provided by each driver of each vehicle on each day as
determined from
the real-time updated vehicle and driver status information), (ii) Load ¨
Hours of Service
Required (e.g., a number of hours a driver spent picking up and delivering
each load), (iii)
Alternative cost solution (common carrier or dedicated fleet) for every load
(e.g., a cost
for each load had the other of the common carrier or dedicated fleet been used
instead of
the one of the common carrier or dedicated fleet that was actually used), (iv)
Difference
of cost between common carrier and fleet for all loads (e.g., a cost
difference between use
of the common carrier or dedicated fleet for each load regardless of which of
the common
carrier or dedicated fleet was actually used), (v) Total available physical
assets by day by
domicile (e.g., a total number of dedicated fleet vehicles that was available
on each day
during a period of time, categorized by home depot), (vi) Designation of loads
that were
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changed from common carrier to fleet (e.g., a flag value for each load that
was changed
from an original assignment), (vii) Designation of loads that did not have
enough
available hours of service to execute to fleet (e.g., a flag value for each
load that was not
able to be assigned to the dedicated fleet due to a lack of available hours of
service),
and/or (viii) Designation of loads in which the penalty cost between common
carrier and
fleet is less than the penalty cost of the common carrier cost plus the fixed
cost of vehicle
per day compared to dedicated fleet cost (e.g., a flag value for each load for
which the
penalty cost between common carrier and fleet is less than the penalty cost of
the
common carrier cost plus the fixed cost of vehicle per day compared to
dedicated fleet
cost).
[0209] In some implementations, server 880 may generate new analytics data
based
on an analysis of stored historical data. The analytics may be used to inform
future fleet
sizing decisions and/or to generate additional dedicated fleet constraints
that can be
applied to generate a more desirable distribution of assignments. The new
analytics data
may include (a) Daily Driver Utilization (e.g., one or more summary charts or
metric
values describing the utilization of each driver each day), (b) Daily Asset
Utilization (e.g.,
one or more summary charts or metric values describing the utilization of each
vehicle
each day), (c) Savings ¨ Generated by dedicated fleet or common carrier (e.g.,
one or
more summary charts or metric values describing the cost savings generated by
the use of
the dedicated fleet or the common carrier fleet over a period of time), (d)
Lost opportunity
of under-utilization of fleet (e.g., one or more summary charts or metric
values describing
a cost associated with dedicated fleet vehicles that were not operated within
a given
period of time), (e) Measurement of baseline engineering against actual
execution (e.g.,
one or more summary charts or metric values describing a comparison of the
generated
shipment assignments and/or routes to actual shipment execution assignments
and/or
routes), (0 Future lane opportunity for expansion of the fleet (e.g., one or
more summary
charts or metric values describing unused routes for a period of time that can
be used by
the dedicated fleet, such as routes that are often assigned to a common
carrier fleet for a
particular client), and/or (g) Output for Visual Representation (e.g., one or
more charts,
maps, and/or metric values that visually describe the operation of the
dedicated fleet
and/or the common carrier fleet or the movement of shipments or costs
associated
therewith over a period of time).
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[0210] In various implementations, a method may include receiving, via an
electronic
network such as network 870 of FIG. 8 by one or more computing devices (e.g.,
server
114) operated at a dedicated carrier, a shipment plan referencing one or more
shipments
associated with shipment carriers. The shipment carriers may include at least
one
common carrier fleet 132 operated by a common carrier and at least one
dedicated fleet
102 operated by the dedicated carrier. The shipment plan may include
respective lane
rates for the common carrier fleet 132 and the dedicated fleet 102 as
described above in
connection with, for example, stages 924 and 926 of FIG. 9. The method may
also
include determining, by the one or more computing devices (e.g., server 114),
one or
more real-time constraints (e.g., one or more dedicated carrier constraints as
described
above in connection with Equations 1-9) associated with the one or more
shipment
carriers included in the shipment plan. The method may also include
selectively
assigning, by the one or more computing devices in real-time with the
determining and
without user intervention, the one or more shipments to the dedicated fleet
102 or the
common carrier fleet 132 based on the determined one or more real-time
constraints and
based on the dedicated fleet's shipment cost, the dedicated fleet's fixed cost
for operating
the dedicated fleet 102, and the common carrier fleet's shipment cost.
The dedicated fleet's shipment cost and the common carrier fleet's shipment
cost may be
based on their respective lane rates. The method may also include generating
in real time,
from the received shipment plan without user intervention, an updated shipment
plan
based on the selective assignment of the one or more shipments and providing,
via the
electronic network without user intervention, the updated shipment plan to a
fleet
management system.
[0211] In some implementations, determining the real-time constraints may
include
extracting, from one or more fleet management systems without user
intervention, real-
time parameters such as driver hours of service (HOS) for the at least one
common carrier
fleet 132 and the at least one dedicated fleet 102 for a planning horizon
associated with
the one or more shipments. Determining the real-time constrains may also
include
determining, in response to the extracting without user intervention, whether
the driver
HOS for at least one of the shipment carriers is overcommitted. The assigning
of the one
or more shipments may be based on whether the driver HOS for the at least one
of the
shipment carriers is overcommitted.
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[0212] In some implementations, the method may also include executing, by
the one
or more computing devices (e.g., server 114) without user intervention, the
updated
shipment plan, where the execution includes transmitting one or more
notifications to
drivers, the notifications including instructions (e.g., routes such as routes
204 or 208)
regarding the one or more shipments.
[0213] Returning to FIG. 8, in certain aspects, server 880 may be
implemented using
hardware or a combination of software and hardware, either in a dedicated
server, or
integrated into another entity, or distributed across multiple entities.
[0214] Server 880 includes a bus 824 or other communication mechanism for
communicating information, and processor 812 coupled with bus 824 for
processing
information. Processor 812 may be a general-purpose microprocessor, a
microcontroller,
a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit
(ASIC), a
Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), a
controller, a state machine, gated logic, discrete hardware components, or any
other
suitable entity that can perform calculations or other manipulations of
information.
[0215] Server 880 can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates
an execution
environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes
processor
firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system,
or a
combination of one or more of them stored in memory 820. Memory 820 may
include
Random Access Memory (RAM), a flash memory, a Read Only Memory (ROM), a
Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), registers, a
hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD, or any other suitable storage
device,
coupled to bus 824 for storing information and instructions to be executed by
processor
812. The processor 812 and the memory 820 can be supplemented by, or
incorporated in,
special purpose logic circuitry.
[0216] The instructions may be stored in the memory 820 and implemented in
one or
more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules of computer program
instructions encoded on a computer readable medium for execution by, or to
control the
operation of, the server 880, and according to any method well known to those
of skill in
the art, including, but not limited to, computer languages such as data-
oriented languages
(e.g., SQL, dBase), system languages (e.g., C, Objective-C, C++, Assembly),
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architectural languages (e.g., Java, .NET), and application languages (e.g.,
PHP, Ruby,
Perl, Python). Instructions may also be implemented in computer languages such
as array
languages, aspect-oriented languages, assembly languages, authoring languages,
command line interface languages, compiled languages, concurrent languages,
curly-
bracket languages, dataflow languages, data-structured languages, declarative
languages,
esoteric languages, extension languages, fourth-generation languages,
functional
languages, interactive mode languages, interpreted languages, iterative
languages, list-
based languages, little languages, logic-based languages, machine languages,
macro
languages, metaprogramming languages, multiparadigm languages, numerical
analysis,
non-English-based languages, object-oriented class-based languages, object-
oriented
prototype-based languages, off-side rule languages, procedural languages,
reflective
languages, rule-based languages, scripting languages, stack-based languages,
synchronous languages, syntax handling languages, visual languages, wirth
languages,
embeddable languages, and xml-based languages. Memory 820 may also be used for
storing temporary variable or other intermediate information during execution
of
instructions to be executed by processor 812.
[02171 A computer program as discussed herein does not necessarily
correspond to a
file in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of a file that
holds other
programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language
document), in a
single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated
files (e.g., files
that store one or more modules, subprograms, or portions of code). A computer
program
can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that
are
located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by
a
communication network. The processes and logic flows described in this
specification
can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more
computer programs to perform functions by operating on input data and
generating
output.
[0218] Server 880 further includes a data storage device 826 such as a
magnetic disk
or optical disk, coupled to bus 824 for storing information and instructions.
Server 880
may be coupled via input/output module 828 to various devices. The
input/output module
828 can be any input/output module. Example input/output modules 828 include
data
ports such as USB ports. The input/output module 828 is configured to connect
to a
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communications module 818. Example
communications modules 818 include
networking interface cards, such as Ethernet cards and modems. In certain
aspects, the
input/output module 828 is configured to connect to a plurality of devices,
such as an
input device 816 and/or an output device 814. Example input devices 816
include a
keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which a user
can provide
input to the server 880. Other kinds of input devices 816 can be used to
provide for
interaction with a user as well, such as a tactile input device, visual input
device, audio
input device, or brain-computer interface device. For example, feedback
provided to the
user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory
feedback, or
tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form,
including acoustic,
speech, tactile, or brain wave input. Example output devices 814 include
display devices,
such as a LED (light emitting diode), CRT (cathode ray tube), or LCD (liquid
crystal
display) screen, for displaying information to the user.
[0219] According
to one aspect of the present disclosure, server 880 can be
implemented using a server 880 in response to processor 812 executing one or
more
sequences of one or more instructions contained in memory 820. Such
instructions may
be read into memory 820 from another machine-readable medium, such as data
storage
device 826. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in main
memory 820
causes processor 812 to perform the process blocks described herein. One or
more
processors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed to execute
the
sequences of instructions contained in memory 820. In alternative aspects,
hard-wired
circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions
to
implement various aspects of the present disclosure. Thus, aspects of the
present
disclosure are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry
and software.
[0220] Various
aspects of the subject matter described in this specification can be
implemented in a computing system that includes a back end component, e.g., as
a data
server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g., an application server,
or that
includes a front end component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical
user interface
or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of
the subject
matter described in this specification, or any combination of one or more such
back end,
middleware, or front end components. The components of the system can be
interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a
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communication network. The communication network (e.g., network 870) can
include,
for example, any one or more of a personal area network (PAN), a local area
network
(LAN), a campus area network (CAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide
area
network (WAN), a broadband network (BBN), the Internet, and the like. Further,
the
communication network can include, but is not limited to, for example, any one
or more
of the following network topologies, including a bus network, a star network,
a ring
network, a mesh network, a star-bus network, tree or hierarchical network, or
the like.
The communications modules can be, for example, modems or Ethernet cards.
[0221] Server 880 can be, for example, and without limitation, a desktop
computer,
laptop computer, or tablet computer. Server 880 can also be embedded in
another device,
for example, and without limitation, a mobile telephone, a personal digital
assistant
(PDA), a mobile audio player, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, a
video game
console, and/or a television set top box.
[0222] The term "machine-readable storage medium" or "computer readable
medium" as used herein refers to any medium or media that participates in
providing
instructions or data to processor 812 for execution. Such a medium may take
many
forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media.
Non-volatile
media include, for example, optical disks, magnetic disks, or flash memory,
such as data
storage device 826. Volatile media include dynamic memory, such as memory 820.
Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics,
including the
wires that form bus 824. Common forms of machine-readable media include, for
example, floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other
magnetic
medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any
other
physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH
EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a
computer can read. The machine-readable storage medium can be a machine-
readable
storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a
composition of
matter effecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one
or more
of them.
[0223] As used herein, the phrase "at least one of' preceding a series of
items, with
the terms "and" or "or" to separate any of the items, modifies the list as a
whole, rather
than each member of the list (i.e., each item). The phrase "at least one of'
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require selection of at least one item; rather, the phrase allows a meaning
that includes at
least one of any one of the items, and/or at least one of any combination of
the items,
and/or at least one of each of the items. By way of example, the phrases "at
least one of
A, B, and C" or "at least one of A, B, or C" each refer to only A, only B, or
only C; any
combination of A, B, and C; and/or at least one of each of A, B, and C.
[0224] Furthermore, to the extent that the term "include," "have," or the
like is used
in the description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a
manner similar
to the term "comprise" as "comprise" is interpreted when employed as a
transitional word
in a claim.
[02251 A reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean
"one and
only one" unless specifically stated, but rather "one or more." All structural
and
functional equivalents to the elements of the various configurations described
throughout
this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary
skill in the
art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and intended to be
encompassed by the
subject technology. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be
dedicated to the
public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the
above description.
[0226] While this specification contains many specifics, these should not
be
construed as limitations on the scope of what may be claimed, but rather as
descriptions
of particular implementations of the subject matter. Certain features that are
described in
this specification in the context of separate aspects can also be implemented
in
combination in a single aspect. Conversely, various features that are
described in the
context of a single aspects can also be implemented in multiple aspects
separately or in
any suitable sub-combination. Moreover, although features may be described
above as
acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more
features
from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination,
and the
claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or variation of a sub-
combination.
102271 Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a
particular order,
this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed
in the
particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated
operations be
performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances,
multitasking and
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parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various
system
components in the aspects described above should not be understood as
requiring such
separation in all aspects, and it should be understood that the described
program
components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single
software product
or packaged into multiple software products.
[0228] The subject matter of this specification has been described in terms
of
particular aspects, but other aspects can be implemented and are within the
scope of the
following claims. For example, the actions recited in the claims can be
performed in a
different order and still achieve desirable results. As one example, the
processes depicted
in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require the particular order
shown, or
sequential order, to achieve desirable results. In certain implementations,
multitasking
and parallel processing may be advantageous. Other variations are within the
scope of the
following claims.
[0229] These and other implementations are within the scope of the
following claims.
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