Patent Application
20250061411
This invention relates to tracking the location and movement of shipping containers overseas and on land and railways. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method that uses QR codes affixed to each shipping container that allows for scanning, location tracking and other identification of any particular shipping container and without the need for battery powered tracking devices attached to the containers or other specialized and complex devices and components.
Most goods are shipped across country and overseas in steel or aluminum shipping containers that are carried by merchant ships, trucks and trains from their point of origin to the final destination. The need to constantly identify and track the location of shipping containers has become an increasing concern to shipping companies, manufacturers, merchants, shipping container owners and government agencies, including homeland security. In the United States, 36% of heavy-duty cargo vehicles on the road are empty. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, this usually happens because there are no nearby loads accessible for the driver to pick up that are heading in the same direction as the driver (otherwise known as a “backhaul”). These miles are referred to as empty miles, non-revenue miles, or deadhead miles in the freight business. When determining how much they charge for any given cargo, carriers account for their own expectations of empty miles. So, everyone from shippers to end-users, as well as the environment, pays the price for empty miles in the end. If shippers were to get loads on their backhaul drive, they would be competing with brokers to provide equivalent services by facilitating those loads. These shippers would need to implement a system to address insurance, risk, and contracts, along with payment collection and management. To secure backload, trucking companies typically work with brokers or with multiple customers who may have delivery requirements in nearby locations. Fleet operators typically use fleet management and cargo delivery tools to plan trips and identify backload opportunities. However, due to the inability to cost effectively and reliably track all available shipping containers using universal and readily available devices and technology, there remains a high percentage of empty containers on the road and empty miles in the freight transportation industry.
More than two-thirds of the world's trade is seaborne, and the number of shipping containers on the seas and roadways is exploding. In 2014, the United States alone imported over $1.73 trillion worth of goods through its shipping ports. The world shipping container market in 2022 was valued between $8.6B and $61.3B. The great majority of containers are owned by either maritime shipping companies or container leasing companies. At the beginning of the 2020s, about 60% of the equipment available for location was controlled by five leasing companies having fleets exceeding 1 million TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit). If the 13 largest leasing companies are considered, they account for 90% of the global container leasing market and control the equivalent of 10.7 million TEU arriving in a market as imports that must eventually leave, either empty or full.
There are few opportunities to load empty containers on the backhaul trip, and an efficient repositioning system must be in place to ensure the overall productivity of the distribution system. There is an urgent need for improving the efficiency of existing cargo rotation with a better link between import and export activities by synchronizing flows. Instead of returning directly to the rail or maritime terminal, an empty container can be brought immediately to an export location to be loaded. However, an asymmetry between import and export-based logistics makes this a difficult proposition.
Beyond the maritime and rail transportation industries, movement of shipping containers and cargo in the trucking industry has its challenges. When it comes to logistics, over 72% of all freight tonnage in the United States is moved via the nation's highways, according to the American Trucking Association; making inland transportation a crucial element of logistics for businesses in the US market. But today, the trucking industry is facing a capacity crisis. It's being driven by a shortage of drivers and made worse by the ripple effect of other pressures and disruption being seen across global supply chains and logistics, including:
Backhaul trucking is a great way for truckers and fleet owners to make money on return trips, while providing shippers with another opportunity to move their products where they need to go at a lower freight rates.
In the rail transportation industry, more than one-third of a railroad's car miles are due to empty car movements. The cost of empty rail car movements is thus a significant portion of a railroad's variable cost. The cost of these empty movements must be allocated to movements of loaded cars to determine the full cost of each loaded move.
In the past, others have proposed various devices and methods for identifying the location of shipping containers and, in some cases, tracking the movement of shipping containers within a shipyard, on highways, and overseas. Some of these proposed methods involve the use of radiofrequency identification devices (RFID) that are attached to the shipping container. This method has been proven to be unsatisfactory, as it is limited by poor scalability, RF noise and interference, lack of real-time alerting, as well as short range of the infrastructure that is required to read and communicate with the RFID devices. Others have proposed the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology that requires use of GPS receivers, processors and batteries. Still others have proposed use of battery powered radio transmitting devices that are attached to the containers. The problem with GPS and radio transmission devices is that the devices on the containers require battery operation and eventually the battery power is depleted, requiring replacement and/or recharging of the batteries in each of these devices on each individual container. This constant need to replace or recharge batteries is not practical and results in a large percentage of containers being moved around the world having no battery power in the tracking devices attached to the containers. Additionally, the use of these devices requires a clear path for signal reception and transmission. When containers are stacked, one upon another, or located in cargo holds on a ship, the signal transmission is blocked and, therefore the container cannot be identified or tracked. Moreover, these devices, which are typically affixed to the exterior of containers, are easily damaged and destroyed.
In the last few years, a number of US-based IT companies have developed web-based solutions to the problem. These include SynchroNet Marine Inc, International Asset Systems (IAS), and Maersk Data USA Inc, part of the AP Moller-owned Maersk Data Group. The functionality of these software products varies, but all are essentially tools for repositioning or providing visibility of equipment. They also specialize in different aspects of the transport chain, reflecting the wide range of service providers involved. Some web-based tracking products focus on ocean carriage, others on US intermodal road or rail transportation, while others provide ocean carriers and leasing companies with visibility of equipment.
There remains an urgent and definite need for a highly reliable system and method for identifying and tracking shipping containers around the world, in real-time.
The present invention is directed to a system and method for tracking the location and movement of shipping containers. In particular, the present invention relies on identifying and reading the BIC (Bureau International des Containers et du Transport Intermodal) code on each shipping container. The BIC code is the identification code for ocean shipping containers and is crucial for logistics, transportation and security. Every shipping container is assigned a BIC code. The Bureau International des Containers et du Transport Intermodal uses the ISO 6346 standard when assigning the BIC code. The BIC code provides valuable information about cargo, transportation, ownership and condition of the shipping container. Accurate recognition of container BIC codes is essential for efficient import and export processes, as well as authority's ability to intercept illegal goods and allow for safe transportation. The container BIC code consists of 11 characters. These 11 characters consist of the owner code, product group code, container serial number, and check digit. The owner/operator code is three letters. A fourth letter following the three letters is used as the product group code and is an equipment identifier. The container serial number consists of six Arabic numerals. A seventh digit, known as the check digit, provides a means of validating the recording and/or transmission accuracy of data. The invention proposes use of QR codes that are affixed to each shipping container providing extensive data that is particular to each container, including the container BIC code, the size of the container, the weight of the container, as well as the location of the container upon scanning the QR code with a QR scanning device, such as a smartphone. The system and method of the present invention further incorporates the use of a website and software that allows for a setup of automated emails and notifications, as well as communication with the devices that scan the QR code on each container.
There are plenty of online tools that allow customers to track shipments based on reports from each carrier's private individual system that only customers that can login can access. However, this does not solve the problem of thousands of containers traveling on different carrier lines, arriving at different ports, and at different times. Keeping track of a large number of containers is time-consuming and expensive and currently used systems and technologies have proven to be inadequate and unreliable. The system and method of the present invention provides for use of QR codes on each container, thereby allowing all containers to be scanned to update tracking location and data throughout transport, including:
The system of the present invention provides SMS updates with detailed information for each stage in the supply chain. Customers can set up proactive notifications each time one of their containers reaches a milestone. This visibility enables customers to:
A QR code (initialism for quick response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) invented in 1994 by the Japanese automotive company Denso Wave. In practice, QR codes often contain data for a locator, identifier, or tracker that points to a website or application. QR codes use four standardized encoding modes (numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, and kanji) to store data efficiently; extensions may also be used.
An alternative to use of QR codes, is the direct reading of the BIC code on shipping containers using an optical scanner device that is equipped with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software that uses an OCR algorithm. To recognize the container BIC code, the OCR device is used, and is capable of recognizing, isolating and extracting alpha numeric and numeric characters presented in a given image. The ability to extract the BIC code from the scanned image using the OCR scanning device allows for direct reading of the BIC code on the shipping container. This eliminates the process of creating QR codes and pasting decals containing the QR codes on the shipping containers.
For a fuller understanding of the nature of the present invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
The present invention proposes use of QR codes that are affixed to each container providing extensive data that is particular to each container, including the container number, the size of the container, the weight of the container, as well as the location of the container upon scanning the QR code with a QR scanning device, such as a smartphone. The system and method of the present invention further incorporates the use of a website and software that allows for a setup of automated emails and notifications, as well as communication with the devices (i.e., ordinary cellphones or smartphones) that scan the QR code on each container.
A discussion of the technical aspects of QR codes is set forth below. The use of QR codes in the system and method of the present invention provides for a convenient and highly effective means for identifying and tracking shipping containers without the need for any battery power on the containers. Another advantage of using QR codes in the system and method of the present invention is that QR Codes can sustain up to 30% of structural damage and still continue to function and can store up to 7,089 numeric or 4,296 alphanumeric characters.
A QR code (Quick Response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode). In practice, QR codes often contain data for a locator, identifier, or tracker that points to a website or application. QR codes use four standardized encoding modes (numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, and kanji) to store data efficiently.
1. Contact Data—Data is stored in a contact card and can include a person's name, phone number, email address, website and others.
2. Calendar Data—This can include a calendar appointment that can be saved directly into someone's diary when scanned.
3. URL—This is simply a URL that when scanned would be used by a smartphones browser to take a user a given webpage. (The present invention uses this application of QR codes.)
4. Email Address—This could be used to open a blank email with a predefined subject and recipient ready for the user scanning to add content and send.
5. Phone Number—A phone number that when scanned would appear directly in a phones dialer ready to dial or would be saved to the address book.
6. SMS—A new SMS could be opened ready to send to a predefined recipient. (This is another application that is intended to be used in the present invention.)
7. Plain Text—Text can be included that may not have a predefined function but could be used by a bespoke application to carry out any given task. You can store up to 7,089 characters of numerical data or 4,296 alphanumerical characters in a standard QR Code. Micro QR Codes can hold up to 35 numeric symbols.
8. Geo Location—A link to a location that when scanned, can be processed by the reader and used to give directions to an event. (This is another application that is intended to be used in the present invention.)
The following components listed below convey information.
This contains two pieces of information, the level of error correction chosen, and the index of the mask laid over the original message. Because it is crucial to be able to read this, it is stored in several places. The basic format information is a sequence of bits, 00 through 1414.
These contain the actual message. More information about the message bits component and the other parts of the data bytes is provided hereinafter.
For a given choice of size and error correction level, the number of available words for a message is fixed. But since the message might be somewhat shorter than what is allowed, it is padded with a more or less fixed pattern of bits to fill up space.
These implement one of the standard BCH coding schemes.
Other examples of applications of QR code include:
The four encoding modes of QR codes include the following characters:
Numeric mode is for decimal digits 0 through 9.
Alphanumeric mode is for the decimal digits 0 through 9, as well as uppercase letters (not lowercase!), and the symbols $, %, *, +, −, ., /, and: as well as a space. All of the supported characters for alphanumeric mode are listed in the left column of the alphanumeric table.
Byte mode, by default, is for characters from the ISO-8859-1 character set. However, some QR code scanners can automatically detect if UTF-8 is used in byte mode instead.
Kanji mode is for double-byte characters from the Shift JIS character set. While UTF-8 can encode Kanji characters, it must use three or four bytes to do so. Shift JIS, on the other hand, uses just two bytes to encode each Kanji character, so Kanji mode compresses Kanji characters more efficiently. If the entire input string consists of characters in the double-byte range of Shift JIS, use Kanji mode. It is also possible to use multiple modes within the same QR code, as described hereinafter.
Extended Channel Interpretation (ECI) mode specifies the character set (e.g. UTF-8) directly. However, some QR code readers do not support ECI mode and will not understand QR codes that use it.
Structured Append mode encodes data across multiple QR codes, up to a maximum of 16 QR codes.
FNC1 mode allows the QR code to function as a GS1 barcode.
It is possible to use multiple modes in a single QR code by including the mode indicator before each section of bytes that uses that mode. The QR code specification explains how to switch modes in the most optimal way.
Before encoding the data, select an error correction level. QR codes use Reed-Solomon error correction. This process creates error correction code words (bytes) based on the encoded data. A QR code reader can use these error correction bytes to determine if it did not read the data correctly, and the error correction code words can be used to correct those errors. There are four levels of error correction: L, M, Q, H. The following table lists the levels and their error correction capabilities.
Error correction requires more bytes, so the higher the error correction level, the larger the QR code will have to be.
Static QR Codes are QR Codes that can't be changed once they are created. These are, for example, email and text Codes, which don't gather any tracking metrics.
While Static QR Codes contain fixed information, Dynamic QR Codes have the possibility to be edited after completion. Both the type of QR Code and the content are editable as many times as needed. They use a short URL to send users to the landing page of your desire as well as monitor statistics for information such as the number of scans, location and operating system used.
Static vs Dynamic QR Code, using the latter allows for QR Code tracking. Scan metrics include time scanned, location scanned by city or country, operating device used, and unique vs. total scans. This information not only enables you to use QR Codes for product inventory management and/or container templates, it also allows you to compare them across different time periods and locations.
In the present invention, the QR code provides the following benefits:
The following is an example sequence of operation of the system and method of the present invention:
1. When a container arrives at a port the receiving vehicle (truck, rail) operator scans the QR codes printed on the containers with a standard cell smart phone which can then be tracked by GPS. Scan metrics include container ID and the particulars of origin-destination time scanned, location scanned by port-city and operating device used.
2. Information is uploaded to a URL which allows SMS automated emails notifications. This includes container type, size, and other particulars and ETA at destination. This software is a Web-based asset tracking software that can be integrated with a number of other business software.
3. Dynamic QR codes that contain URLs to entire container location management websites. Scanning Dynamic QR codes that contain URLs to entire container location management websites to automatically open up a website or even a specific page within the site in the system's cloud.
4. Third party login to server with container characteristics wanted so that an automatic match can be made with the dynamic inventory of container-type layered over a geographic area collected per shipping cycle.
5. An automated email notification is sent when a match is made between equipment query and equipment availability.
6. Generate automated notifications to the carriers-owners of a container-match so that a freight rate and a booking can be made for return voyage.
7. The entire process is repeated for the new booked cargo applying and using the same methodology.
8. Identifying containers by type and function, i.e. dry container and temperature control. Non-standard size, high cube and open top and other functions as it applies.
9. Classifying by functionality for cargo type, volume, packaging, bulk i.e. steel or aluminum containers, and floor density loading per square area. The restrictions listed on the container placard for safety.
10. Backhaul container cargo users can fill up a template of wanted features with booking dates and shipping requirements.
11. Automatically send a SMS to advise the user of a match on the geographic location and dates requirements with contact information of carrier owner or broker.
12. Repeating the process as the new origin/destination is initiated to any location in the world using the cell phone protocol to start a new shipping cycle.
Referring to
Referring to
Dynamic QR codes applied to each shipping container contain URLs to entire container location management websites. Scanning the dynamic QR code on a shipping container will automatically open up a website or even a specific page within the site in the cloud.
An alternative to use of QR codes, is the direct reading of the BIC code on shipping containers using an optical scanner device that is equipped with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software that uses an OCR algorithm. More particularly, the present invention uses an object detection algorithm CNN (Convolutional Neural Network) to generate bounding boxes and isolated characters that allows the BIC code to be extracted from scanned images. To recognize the container BIC code, the OCR device is used, and is capable of recognizing, isolating and extracting alpha numeric and numeric characters presented in a given image. Since the container BIC code consists of four alpha numeric characters, six numeric characters, and one check digit (i.e., a numeric character), the OCR device must be able to recognize and classify this pattern to extract the corresponding container BIC code appearing on the CSC plate.
The ability to extract the BIC code from the scanned image using the OCR scanning device allows for direct reading of the BIC code on the shipping container. This eliminates the process of creating QR codes and pasting decals containing the QR codes on the shipping containers. The ability to read the BIC codes directly from the CSC plate on the container, using the OCR scanning device, allows for scanning and obtaining the BIC code in poor lighting, bad weather conditions or when the BIC code is blurred, partially covered or worn, or just incomplete. In this instance, the invention proposes use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) software that compares the reading of the BIC code obtained by the OCR scanning device with the database of the tracking and location system of the present invention. The AI software is then able to make corrections and encrypt the data for secure transfer to a PDF format online. A particular benefit of the present invention is the fact that most smartphones are now equipped with OCR scanning capabilities, thereby allowing the BIC code to be captured directly from the shipping container using a smartphone or other OCR scanning device equipped with the character recognition algorithm.
A third-party user can login to the server and enter the container characteristics desired. An automatic match is made with the dynamic inventory of container-type layered over a geographic area based on collected data per shipping cycle. An automated email notification is sent to the inquiring party when a match is made (i.e., the particular shipping container is identified, including all tracking information). Referring to
Additionally, the system generates automated email notifications to the carriers-owners of a container-match so that a freight rate and a booking can be made for return voyage. The entire process is repeated for the new booked cargo applying and using the same methodology.
Since many modifications, variations and changes in detail can be made to the described embodiments of the invention, it is intended that all matters in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
This non-provisional patent application is a Continuation-In-Part of non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 18/431,694 filed on Feb. 2, 2024, which is a Continuation-In-Part of non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 18/203,589 filed on May 30, 2023, which is based on provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/346,724 filed May 27, 2022.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63346724 | May 2022 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 18431694 | Feb 2024 | US |
| Child | 18935037 | US | |
| Parent | 18203589 | May 2023 | US |
| Child | 18431694 | US |
