Abstract:
A method and system for electronically matching shipper user requests for motor vehicle transport companies (carriers) who meet the criteria needed for transporting such motor vehicles via a web-based application utilizing web structures (visitor and referral tracking, membership and account management, billing and invoicing, electronic commerce, and back-office management tools) and a unique post-bid mechanism that functions similar to a reverse electronic auction. Shippers create an account and enter load details into the system for carriers to bid on. Each load can be set with an expiration date and deadline for bid submission. Carriers create an account and pre-determined profile describing their services, at which point the system will match carriers with the shipper&#39;s load details (based on their profile) and notify each carrier that it can place a bid to transport that load of motor vehicle(s). Any qualified carrier can then place one bid on each load of automobiles it is qualified to carry. The shipper of the automobiles will, either at the expiration date and time or upon terminating the bidding early, select the most qualified bid from the list of resulting bids and enter into an agreement with the carrier submitting the bid. Should that carrier accept the agreement, the load of automobiles is then awarded to that carrier for transport.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     This invention related to an Internet-based system for electronically matching loads of motor vehicles between those who wish to ship them and those who might transport them. Based on a ‘reverse auction’ concept, the loads will be bid on by carriers and the lowest or best bid will be accepted by shippers.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     Description of the Related Art: In the field of motor vehicle transporting, a typical transaction between a shipper, e.g., one who wishes to ship vehicle(s), and a carrier, e.g., one who may be hired to transport the motor vehicle(s), usually requires the shipper to have direct communication with many different carrier sales representatives or dispatchers by phone, facsimile, electronic mail and/or in person to determine the carrier&#39;s rate and schedule, e.g., date of pick up. This is because carriers have varying rates and irregular routes with no set schedules, and shipper information on available carriers is not widely available to bring the parties together. Similarly, shippers generally have no marketplace for publicizing their motor vehicle transport needs to motor vehicle carriers on the open market. This situation exists for both business and individual private shippers to carrier.  
         [0005]     A shipper typically spends endless hours matching a carrier to the motor vehicle(s) to be shipped. Once the shipper has matched their motor vehicle(s) to a carrier, transfer of data details from shipper to carrier quite often are transposed, presenting costly and timely errors for both the shipper and the carrier. With no marketplace for the carrier to view, quite often the carrier must relocate its equipment, incurring high costs and loss of time. This poor equipment utilization also contributes to environmental pollution as well. Additionally, when a shipper hires a carrier, the shipper has no easy way of finding information regarding the carrier&#39;s ability to perform the transaction in a safe and timely manner. After the carrier has been given authorization from the shipper to handle the transaction, the shipper does not have the ability to simply track the whereabouts of their motor vehicle(s). For individual private shippers to acquire the use of a motor vehicle transport carrier, they usually unknowingly end up contacting a broker listed under the ‘Auto Transport’ section in the Yellow Pages of the phonebook as opposed to an actual carrier, which results in the private shipper incurring a large broker fee—anywhere from  10  to  50  Percent of the cost of the transport. And once the broker has placed the motor vehicle(s) with a carrier, the private shipper—in most cases—is not able to track their motor vehicle(s) through the broker and does not know how to contact the carrier directly.  
         [0006]     If similar information were to become available to the vehicle shipping industry on a large-scale, significant savings in time and expense to both shippers and carriers could be realized. In addition, shippers would have carrier statistics available to them prior to assigning motor vehicle(s) to a carrier and would have the ability to track their motor vehicle(s) available to them.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     Briefly, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, carriers register in the system and must meet certain criteria to be accepted in the system for opportunities to bid on a load of automobiles to be transported. Carriers can manage certain aspects of their accounts online through a web-based interface.  
         [0008]     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, shippers register in the system and must meet certain criteria to be accepted as an organization that has automobiles to ship from one location to another. Shippers receive bids from automobile carriers to ship those loads. Shippers can manage certain aspects of their accounts online through a web-based interface.  
         [0009]     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, shippers post loads of one or more automobiles in the system using an online web-based interface. Loads have a start and end bid date and time. Once a load is posted, the database searches the carrier records for carriers that match the criteria of the load including start and end destinations and date and time ranges of pickup and delivery. Frequent searches will be conducted daily between the start date and time, and the end date and time for bids. When matching carriers are found in the database, each matching carrier will be notified by electronic mail that there are loads requesting a bid.  
         [0010]     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, carriers who are notified about loads to be bid on can enter the system and place one bid for each load requesting a bid using a web-based interface. When a bid is submitted, the shipper of the load will be notified by electronic mail that a bid has been submitted for the load. That shipper can then return to the system to check the status of the bidding for any of the shipper&#39;s posted loads. Shippers can let the bid auction continue until it is finished or may elect to end the bidding opportunities early.  
         [0011]     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, once the auction period is expired or otherwise ended by the shipper, any carrier that had been notified about the bidding opportunity will be notified by the system in an electronic mail that the time period has expired. Those carriers who posted bids will be informed that their bid has been received and is being reviewed by the shipper. The shipper will analyze each bid using a web-based interface and select the winning bid based on price and pickup and delivery timeframes. The selected carrier will be notified by electronic mail that its bid is the selected bid.  
         [0012]     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the selected carrier must return to the system and, using a web-based interface, either accept or decline the agreement to transport the shipper&#39;s load. This is done because there may be an extended timeframe between submission of the bid against the load and the award, and this can give the carrier an opportunity to ‘overbook’ its transport. If the agreement is accepted, the shipper is again notified with an electronic mail that the carrier has agreed to transport the load. An agreement is put in place and all shipping documents are generated so the carrier can print them out and use them in its process. If the agreement is declined, the shipper is notified that the selected carrier is overbooked and has declined the load; the bid is then removed from the list of bids; and the shipper must return to the system to select another bid from the remaining bids that were submitted. This process continues until either the load is accepted by a carrier or there are no longer any valid bids in the list. If this should occur, the shipper uses the web-based interface to re-post the load for possibly a different length of time to gather more bids to select from.  
         [0013]     Briefly in accordance with another aspect of the invention, carriers can return to the system and indicate a running status of the shipper&#39;s load once it has been awarded to them. The status will allow the shipper to track the load as it travels from the pickup point to the delivery point.  
         [0014]     Briefly in accordance with another aspect of the application, shippers and carriers (users) are provided a feedback tool that will result in a grade or rating for each user. The system will combine grade reports against each user that will result in a current grade for that user based on feedback from other users who have also done business with the graded user.  
         [0015]     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, both shippers and carriers (customers) receive monthly invoices for the service, depending on their account types and the billing cycles associated with those account types. Billing is handled on a base rate plus a per-automobile basis with the base rate covering a pre-determined number of automobiles in each load posted per month. The database job engine determines which accounts are due an invoice, how the customer wants to be invoiced (paper, electronic mail, facsimile, etc.), and then generates the appropriate invoices. In the event of paper invoices, a batch will be set up and the proper administrative personnel will be notified by electronic mail that a batch of invoices is awaiting printing. Invoices can be collected either by the customer sending a check or card information in the mail or by the customer paying online with a credit/debit card or electronic check, transaction using a web-based interface. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]     The foregoing features and advantages of the disclosed embodiments of the invention will be more readily appreciated as the same become better understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0017]      FIG. 1  illustrates the general operation and architecture of the Internet, across which the disclosed embodiments of the invention are implemented.  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  illustrates a block diagram of the system operating using the Internet to deliver the application to users in accordance with the entire invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 3  illustrates the major entities included and addressed in accordance with the entire invention.  
         [0020]      FIG. 4  illustrates the account management system in accordance with one aspect of the invention  FIG. 5  illustrates the Auction/Bid/Agreement/Award system in accordance with one aspect of the invention.  
         [0021]      FIG. 6  illustrates an extension of the Auction/Bid/Agreement/Award system in accordance with one aspect of the invention.  
         [0022]      FIG. 7  illustrates the invoicing process in accordance with one aspect of the invention.  
         [0023]      FIG. 8  illustrates the load tracking process in accordance with one aspect of the invention.  
         [0024]      FIG. 9  illustrates the user grading system in accordance with one aspect of the invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0025]      FIG. 1  is a diagram depicting in general an overview of one system  10  formed in accordance with the present system. As shown therein, the system  10  includes a plurality of hosting servers  11  coupled to the Internet  12  through an internal routed network  13  and thence to the requesting client&#39;s computer system  14 . It is to be understood that while this embodiment of the invention is described for use with the Internet  12 , the system can be implemented on a private IP routed network.  
         [0026]      FIG. 2  illustrates key aspects of a bid engine  22  of the system  10 , which includes a web application server  16  that provides all of the communication from the server, on which the application resides,  11  to the requesting client  14  and back to the server. The system delivers the assembled application to the client  14 , compiles and executes server-side application code, and handles communication from between the client  14  and to the server  10  via (HyperText Transfer Protocol) HTTP version 1.1. The database server  18  provides the database management engine and stores all of the application data, including user records, system logs, and bid data, that the system uses. The scheduler  20  is an integral part of the database server  18  and will handle all of the scheduled tasks required by the system  11 . The bid engine  22  handles all bidding against posted loads and is a combination of code compiled and executed by the web application server  16  and tasks run by the scheduler  20 .  
         [0027]      FIG. 3  illustrates, in industry standard entity relationship notation, what major entities participate in the system. A visitor  24  is any visitor to the system&#39;s web-based application—or website. Visitors  24  are people operating web browsers via a client computer. An entity  30  is a human or a non-human entity that plays a role, other than just the casual visitor  24 , in the system. All entities  30  are registered within the system through the system&#39;s registration process. A person  26  is a human entity  30  and a place  28  is a non-human entity  30  such as a company. Each person  26  has a role  32  in the system. An account  34  is a combination of one non-human entity  30  and one or more human entities  30 . The account  34  is the core of the system and that upon which everything is based upon. An account  34  can be invoiced  48  and can post a load  36 —made up of one or more load items  38 , and can bid  40  on posted loads  36 . When an account  34  selects a bid  40  for the load  36  the account  34  has posted, the account  34  posting the load  36  and the account  34  bidding on the posted load  36  will enter into an agreement  42  for the bidding account  34  to handle the load  36  and the account  34  that has posted the load  36  will award  44  the load  36  to the winning account  34 . After the account  34  handling the load  36  picks it up, that account  34  will ensure that it maintains load status  46  in the system so that the account  34  owning the load  36  can determine by using the system where the load  36  is currently located at any given time. Finally, if the account  34  is a paying account, an invoice  48  is generated on the desired schedule and provided to the account  34  by the desired method (physical mail, electronic mail, or facsimile). The account  34  responsible for satisfying the invoice  48  can make payment  50  by check (physical paper or electronic) or with a debit/credit card using one or more transactions  51 .  
         [0028]      FIG. 4  illustrates, in industry standard flow charting notation, how a visitor  24  registers for an account  34  using the system. Depending on the type of visitor  24 , they will provide different types of identifying information to the system. Upon submission of the visitor&#39;s information into the system, the database will be queried to see if this visitor  24  might already have an account  34  in the system. If it is found that the visitor  24  is already a registered account  34  holder, he or she will be offered the opportunity to log on to the system. If the visitor&#39;s company is already registered but the visitor  24  is not a registered user under that company&#39;s account  34 , the visitor  24  will be offered an opportunity to become a member of that company&#39;s account  34 . Should the visitor  24  agree to become a member of the existing company&#39;s account  34 , the visitor  24  will complete the registration information form and submit it to the system. The system will make that visitor  24  an inactive member of the company&#39;s account  34  and an email will be sent to the company account  34  administrator asking him or her to validate this new visitor  24 . Once validated, the visitor  24  will be sent an email welcoming him or her to the company&#39;s account  34  as a user.  
         [0029]     Visitor&#39;s  24  will find the system&#39;s website through various means such as online search engines, word of mouth, or corporate direction  54 . If the visitor  24  is a shipper of motor vehicles the visitor  24  will provide the company name and DUNS number to the system through the registration process  56 . If the visitor  24  is a carrier of motor vehicles the visitor  24  will provide a US DOT Number, and MC Number, and a company name to the system through the registration process  56 . Once the visitor  24  submits the information to the system, the system&#39;s database will search  58  for a company with a matching set of criteria (DUNS number or MC Number depending on whether the visitor  24  is from a shipper or from a carrier) and company name. Should the database find that the visitor  24  is from a company that does not exist in the system  60 ; a new account  34  will be established with the visitor  24  as the account  34  administrator  80 . Both the account  34  and the visitor  24  will be suspended  82 ,  83  until the account  34  background can be investigated and determined, through a manually performed process  100 , to be from a valid source. If the account  34  type is a paid account type  84 , payment will be collected either online  86 ,  88  or through an invoice  168  depending on the visitor&#39;s  24  selected payment and billing preference. If, through the manually performed process  100  the visitor  24  and the company are validated, the account  34  will be activated, removing the suspension from the account and the visitor.  FIG. 7  indicates, in industry standard flow charting notation as a continuation of  FIG. 4 , the invoice and payment process that services the entire scope of the system. After the account has been validated, a payment process will be executed following the steps outlined in  FIG. 7 .  
         [0030]      FIG. 7  illustrates, in industry standard flow charting notation, the process followed for all invoicing and invoice payments in the system. The account type is checked  164  to determine if there is a charge for it. If there is a charge for the account type  166  and invoice is generated based on the account  34  holder&#39;s invoicing preference. Depending on invoice type preference, the invoices are distributed  170 .  
         [0031]     When the payment is received against the invoice the system checks to see if the payment terms have been met  172 . If the terms have not been met the account  34  is suspended  186  and email is sent to the system management  188  and the account  34  holder  190  indicating what needs to happen to ensure the account  34  is paid in full and the suspension lifted. If the terms have been met and an online payment is used  174  the selected online payment process component will be employed to complete the transaction  176  and the system&#39;s database is updated  178  to reflect the current payment. In the event a manual payment is received  180 , it will be deposited in the bank manually  182  and the database will be updated  178  to reflect the current payment.  
         [0032]     Once the database is updated  178  the account  34  will be looked at by the database to determine if it is paid on full or not  184 . If the account has not been paid in full  184 , the account  34  is suspended  186  and email is sent to the system management  188  and the account  34  holder  190  indicating what needs to happen to ensure the account  34  is paid in full and the suspension lifted. If the account  34  has been paid in full and the account has been suspended  192 , the database will activate the account  194  and email is sent to the system management  196  and the account  34  holder  198  indicating that the account has been activated, and email is sent to the system management  200  and the account  34  holder  202  indicating that the account has been paid in full.  
         [0033]      FIG. 5  illustrates, in industry standard flow charting notation, the process for placing loads  36  of motor vehicles on the system and bidding  40  to carry said loads  36  of motor vehicles from a start point to a destination. A shipper will visit the system through the web-based interface, log on with his or her credentials, and assemble  104  one or more loads  36 , each containing one or more motor vehicles or load items  38 . Using the system&#39;s user interface, the visitor  24  will enter the location the load  36  will be picked up and the location the load  36  is destined for, and a range of times and dates that the load  36  can be picked up and delivered. The visitor  24  will then enter one or more vehicles, up to ten, into each load  36  by selecting make, model, year, number of doors, trim package, and entering the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of each vehicle in the load along with a unique reference number of the shipper&#39;s choice e.g., rental car number, auction number, dealership stock number, etc.  36 . Once the load is assembled  104 , the visitor will set how long the bidding  40  will remain active  106  on this load  36 . Finally, the visitor  24  will submit the load to the system&#39;s database for advertisement and bidding on by carriers of motor vehicles who are also registered users of the system. Preferably, several times over the course of each hour of each day the database scheduler  20  will start a search of the records for qualified carriers  108  who have the right capabilities and qualifications to carry the submitted load  36  of motor vehicles. Matching criteria include whether the carrier services both the start point and the destination, if the carrier has the proper type of carrier requested by the shipper, and if the carrier has a valid insurance certificate. Each matching motor vehicle carrier that is found during the search  110  will be notified  112  by email that they are invited to bid  40  on the load  36 .  
         [0034]      FIG. 6 , in industry standard flow charting notation, continues this notification process and shows the notified carrier clicking a link provided in the notification email  148  that will carry him or her back to the system via the Internet as a visitor  24 . After logging on with his or her credentials, the load that the visitor  24  is being asked to bid on will be displayed. If a bid  40  already exists from the visitors company  150  at the time of the visit the visitor  24  will be unable to place a bid  40  but can view the bid currently against the load  36  and the visitor  24  will be notified on the screen that only one bid  40  is allowed per carrying company. If a bid  40  has not yet been placed by the visitor&#39;s  24  company  150 , the visitor will have the opportunity to place a monetary bid  40  against the load  36 . If the visitor  24  elects to submit a bid  40 , the bid is submitted  154  through a form on the system and then it is stored in the system&#39;s database  156 . Upon receipt of a bid  40  from a carrier, the system&#39;s database will again analyze the bid  40  and the bidding carrier&#39;s profile (ensuring nothing has changed) since the bid was offered  114 . If the bid still meets the original criteria then the bid is stored in the database  116  and the shipper is notified by email that a bid has been received for his or her load  117 .  
         [0035]     On a schedule of preferably at least once an hour of each day, and ideally  3  to  6  times an hour, the database scheduler  20  will analyze all of the active bids in the database and determine if the bidding  40  timeframe has expired  118 . If the bidding timeframe has not yet expired, the search process in item  108  will be repeated for all loads  36  where the bidding  40  timeframe has not expired. If the bidding  40  timeframe has expired, the database will close  120  the bidding  40  on all loads  36  where the bidding  40  timeframe has expired. Shippers with loads  36  where bidding  40  is being closed will be notified by email that the bidding period has expired  122 . If bids  40  are not available for a load  36  after the bidding  40  has stopped  124 ,  FIG. 6  shows that the shipper who submitted the load  36  will be notified by email  158  that no carriers have provided a bid  40  on the load  36 . The database-will then mark the status of the load  36  as a no-bid load  36 . The shipper can then elect to repost the load  36  by re-setting the bid timeframe  106 .  
         [0036]     If bids  40  are available for the load  36  after the bidding  40  timeframe has expired  124 , the shipper will be notified by email  126  that one or more bids have been received by the system for the shipper&#39;s load  36 . The shipper will follow a link in the notification email back to the system as a visitor  24  and will then be able to examine all bids and then select  128  one of the submitted bids  40  using the bid selection tool in the system. Once a bid  40  is selected by the visitor  24 , the carrier submitting the bid is notified by email  130  that their bid  40  has been selected by the shipper. The notified carrier will follow a link in the notification email back to the system as a visitor  24 , and the carrier must either accept or decline  132  the load  36 . If the visitor declines the load  36 , the visitor&#39;s bid  40  is removed  144  from the list of bids  40  placed against the load  36  and the shipper of the load  36  is notified by email  146  that the selected carrier has declined the load  36 . If there are other bids  40  available against the load  36 , the email will also instruct the shipper to return to the system, following a link as a visitor  24 , and select another bid  128  from the remaining bids. If the carrier who has followed the link in the notification email back to the system as a visitor accepts  132  the load  36 , then the visitor is asked to agree to the load  36  by executing an agreement  134  with the shipper. Upon execution of the agreement  134 , the system will email  136  all of the other carriers who have submitted bids  40  for the load  36  that the load  36  has been awarded  44 ,  140 , and all of the shipping documents will be created for printing  138  by the visitor  24 . Finally, the system&#39;s database will seal  142  the load  36  from any further change by marking it as awarded  44 .  
         [0037]      FIG. 8  illustrates, in industry standard flow charting notation, the process of the load- 36  carrier keeping a record of where the load  36  is currently at and what the status of the load  36  is. After accepting the award  44  a carrier prepares  206  using his or her own internal procedures to pick up and transport the load  36 . Once the load  36  has been physically picked up at it&#39;s start point the carrier will return to the system as a visitor  24  and set the status  208  fore the load  36  as ‘picked up’. Frequently, throughout the transport the carrier will return to the system as a visitor and update the status  210 ,  208  of the load  36 . When the load is delivered to its destination, the carrier will return to the system as a visitor  24  and set the status  212  for the load  36  as ‘delivered’. Once this status is entered into the system&#39;s tracking system the database will seal the tracking record from any further changes  214 . Sealing this status record will start the process by which both the shipper and the carrier rate each other on their performance.  
         [0038]      FIG. 9  illustrates, in industry standard flow chart notation, how the grading process works. The system will provide a grading system that will show how easy each carrier and shipper is to work with, how prompt payment is, how courteous personnel are, and what the overall quality of the experience was. When the load status  46  for a load  36  has been marked as delivered, this will initiate email notifications to both the shipper and carrier accounts  216  inviting each to return to the system as visitors  24  and grade each other. Following a link in the notification email back to the system  218  as a visitor  24 , the visitor will complete a yet-to-be-determined and always changing set of feedback items that will provide a numerical score for the account  34  being rated  220 . When the visitor  24  submits the grade to the system, the database will calculate a numerical score for the rated account  34  based on previously submitted grades as well as this one and upgrades  222  the account&#39;s  34  grade. Once the account has received it&#39;s new grade, the account being graded will be notified by email  224  that it has been graded by the visitor&#39;s  24  account  34 .  
         [0039]     All of the above U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet, are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety.  
         [0040]     From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.