Patent Publication Number: US-2020293993-A1

Title: Package delivery bid system and method

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is related to and claims priority from earlier filed provisional patent application No. 62/818,275 filed on Mar. 14, 2019, entitled “PACKAGE DELIVERY SYSTEM DATA PUBLISHING,” hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure relates to a system and method of bidding out package shipment costs to lower the costs for the sender and the shipping companies. 
     In the package logistics industry, there are a large number of inherent inefficiencies that exist. These inefficiencies tend to increase costs for both the logistics companies and their customers. For example, if a logistics company has an established shipping route between two destination cities that is underutilized, the company may increase the cost of shipment between the two cities. The end customer likely does not know the capacity and utilization of a given logistics company&#39;s routes and is thus unable to adequately judge the relative value of the shipment costs. Moreover, the customer is unlikely to judge whether company A or company B would provide lower costs, as the time equity to research a one off shipment is relatively high. Similarly, the logistics company may be unaware that there are a number of customers looking to make shipments using shipping routes which are not at capacity—thus representing lost revenue. 
     Additionally, as the number of logistics companies has largely remained the same for many years—there is little incentive for the logistics companies to lower costs or compete for customers. Thus, the end costs for customers remains high, with little to no alternatives present for those customers and customers are left paying the price a given vendor demands—with little to no alternatives. 
     For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a system and method which can aid in driving down costs for customers and vendors alike, thereby benefiting the customer by providing a bid system for new packages. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The instant bid system seeks to remedy many of the above noted deficiencies in the prior art by collecting customer shipping needs (e.g. item weight, item size, destination, and/or speed of delivery) and allowing the various logistics companies to view and then bid on each package—against each other—to provide the customer with the lowest cost option. 
     For example, a customer may not have the benefit of knowing that a particular logistics company may have available space for their shipment on a vehicle that is going to be traveling to the local destination center regardless. The logistics company would benefit by accepting an additional package on the aforementioned vehicle, which may represent an already profitable trip between two nodes. As such, the logistics company may want to accept the additional package, maybe at a lower cost to the consumer, to increase the profitability of the overall shipment. Thus, both the consumer and the logistics company may benefit. 
     In some embodiments, a user may download an application, or app, for their portable personal electronic device, e.g. a smartphone, to log into the system. Once logged on, the user can then input the package size (e.g. in cubic volume), the package weight, the origin location, the destination, and the desired delivery date. After inputting the necessary information, the system can then direct user to a local drop off location to deposit the package, having been labeled with at least the destination address, for further processing. Concurrently, or at another time, the system can upload the data from the user to a central server, or repository, for review by partner logistics companies, or vendors. After a predetermined time, the vendors can then provide accurate bids for how much it would cost to ship the package using the respective logistics vendor. Once the user has been notified, by email, SMS text message, or notification from the app, of the available bids from the vendors, they can then determine which vendor to use. Alternatively, the system can determine the best value vendor for the customer automatically. After the vendor selection, the package can then be made available for pick up and shipment according to accepted practices. 
     Other benefits and objectives of the instant disclosure can be understood in view of the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
       The novel features that are characteristic of the present disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. However, the disclosure&#39;s preferred embodiments, together with further objects and attendant advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  shows the basic components of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  shows a schematic of a logistics map; and 
         FIG. 3  shows a schematic view of one implementation of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In the package delivery industry, inefficiencies within logistics systems and market competition between the various players have trended to keep the costs to customers high. The instant system and method seeks to solve this problem through innovative usage of customer data and bidding by vendors. The instant system intends to use efficiencies and advertising revenue from the system to create a radical offer of low, to possibly no cost, shipping for customers. 
     In general, with respect to  FIG. 1 , the instant system and method seeks to optimize package  10  delivery from retailers  20  or customers  30 , to a destination address by a delivery vendor  40 . The instant system provides for local drop-off stations  50  to allow the retailers  20 , or customer  30 , to have a centralized drop-off location for all packages  10  to the various delivery vendors  40 . The system seeks to make use of an innovative mobile, internet, or local application and local stations to function as a distributed network of customer facing package pick up and drop off locations  50  to facilitate low cost shipping options for customers. The functionality of the system relies on existing delivery vendors  40  (e.g. USPS, UPS, FEDEX, etc.) to move the customer packages  10  from their points of origin to the intended destinations. However, the instant system provides a novel approach to increase efficiency within the existing delivery industry and pass those cost savings on to customers  30 . By “publishing” the data (size, weight, destination) collected from the users (e.g. from the mobile application or local stations) for each package  10  in the system, many potential delivery vendors  40  will be able to integrate that data into their logistics systems and optimize the cost as a function of pick up locations, timing, volume, weight, and transit. Once the data is collected from the system it would be transmitted to all member vendors  40 . Any delivery vendor could then “bid” on a package by quoting cost and speed. Because, now known, efficiencies reduce costs, the quotes from delivery vendors to customers are below market rate. 
     In one embodiment of this scheme, the lower cost can be derived from lower operating costs for the delivery vendors  40 . As the individual vendors  40  reduce their operating costs, they can in turn pass, all or a portion, of the cost savings along to customers  30 . In effect, because the vendors  40  are able to bid on those packages which would increase usage of existing routes, they can more efficiently transport goods through a logistics system. For example, if a delivery truck  42  is only half full, the vendor would still need to transport those goods over long distances. However, increasing the volume of goods in that vehicle would increase the profit from that specific delivery to a destination for a vendor. Thus, where a vendor may have been operating at a loss due to the low packing density of the vehicle, it can now increase the number of paid packages being transported. While there may be increased energy costs associated with a larger weight of goods being transported, it is understood that an increase in volume of customers will likely offset the increase in energy costs to operate the vehicle. 
     In another embodiment of this scheme, the system can additionally introduce advertising. For example, the individual kiosks, or drop-off locations,  50  can include a large screen which can be used as outward facing advertising when the kiosks are not being used by customers. As the screens are intended to be relatively large, they function as still, video, or even interactive advertisements on what would otherwise be a static street furniture (e.g. newspaper vending machines, bus stops, or benches). In some embodiments, the kiosks can offer the public local coupons which can be transmitted, electronically, to a user&#39;s personal electronic device. The revenue derived from the video advertising and coupons can then, in turn, be used to partially offset the customer costs of shipping, so that even lower costs are passed along to customers. In one embodiment, the revenue from advertising can fully offset the costs of shipping so that the cost to the customer is free. It is envisioned that the revenue from advertising, e.g. via an advertising contract with the logistics vendors or others, on the drop-off kiosks will be so high that it will offset the underlying shipping costs to the customers. This version is the most radical, but the most attractive since no cost shipping will act as a strong attraction and build the user base quickly. 
     The instant system, as shown in  FIG. 3 , additionally, or alternatively, allows many delivery vendors  40   a ,  40   b ,  40   c ,  40   d  to compete for the packages  10  going through the system  52  to reduce the cost to the customer  30 . Because the package delivery vendors  40   a - d  are independent, there are no efficiencies possible in terms of optimizing their logistics with all the potential packages that are in the system. As the system  52  collects important points of data from the customers  10 , publishing that data (destination address, size and weight) of each package to multiple delivery vendors, the vendors  40   a - d  can run their logistics system to determine which packages optimize their business. 
     In one exemplary method of use, as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a single customer  30 , or a plurality, may each desire to send a package. The customer  30  can take the package  10 , labeled with a destination address, to a machine or storefront  50  that can accept the package from the customer, scans the delivery address, weighs it, documents the dimensions and generates a digital transaction record. The digital transaction record can then be transmitted to a central system server  52  via known electronic transmission systems (e.g. a wired or wireless network). Alternatively, the user can input that transaction record via a mobile application and transmit that data to the central system server ahead of dropping off the package. The central system server  52  can then publish the record to multiple delivery vendors  40   a - d  via electronic transmission. The various delivery vendors  40   a - d  can then integrate the data into their logistic systems and then offer a bid of a price and timing quote for each package that increases efficiency for both the delivery vendor and the customer. Once a bid is offered by a vendor and accepted by the customer, the system can release packages to the chosen delivery vendor  42  that meet relevant criteria. The delivery vendors can then dispatch vehicles to retrieve package and the package can continue through the logistic system according to known methods. 
     Further, as shown in  FIG. 3 , it is understood that a given vendor  40  can receive packages directly from retailers  20 , customers  30 , and drop-off locations  50 . Similarly, the vendors can deliver packages to retailers  20 , or customers  30 , via current existing methods and similarly drop off packages at drop-off locations  50  for customer  30  pickup. 
     The present system relies on creating back end efficiencies between the central system  52  and the systems of multiple delivery vendors  40   a - d , then passing on the gain of those efficiencies to customers  30 . For example, the back end efficiencies can include optimization APIs which are run by individual logistics companies. 
     When a customer  30  desires to send a package  10 , whether using a current delivery vendor or the instant system, a label that describes the intended destination address is applied to the package. However, using the instant system, the customer  10  can then locate the closest drop-off station  50  by using a downloaded app. The app can additionally allow the user to create an account so that customer information is saved to the central server for later use (e.g. for a new package at a later date). At the drop-off station  50 , the customer can be identified by a wireless connection between the drop-off station and the mobile app, for example via BLUETOOTH or near field communications (NFC). In one example, the drop-off station  50  can be fully automatic and a station screen can welcome the customer  30  and prompts them to respond to several on screen queries. For example, the queries can include identification of the user via code or scanning a QR code, or a user can be identified via an account created on their personal electronic device. The automated drop-off station  50  can then open a delivery door and the customer  30  can then insert the package  10  into the machine. For example, the drop-off station  50  can be the same as the kiosk disclosed in co-pending U.S. application No. TBD, entitled “SCALABLE DISTRIBUTED DELIVERY STATIONS,” attorney docket no. G079 P03614-US1, filed on an even date, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The automated drop-off station  50  can then scan the address or can retrieves it from data input into the app used to set up delivery. After, or before, the scan, the system can weigh and measures the dimensions of the package  10 . Finally, the drop-off station  50  can then create a digital transaction record. Alternatively, the drop-off locations  50  can employ people to process packages in the same, or similar fashion. 
     The digital transaction record can then be transmitted to the central system  52  server which is a configuration of computers and communications hardware designed to quickly receive, process, and transmit data from the multitude of drop-off stations to a plurality of delivery vendors. Once the digital transaction is processed, the central system server can publish the data to a multitude of delivery vendors. Using known digital technologies for database sharing, the instant system can establish a protocol to create a new channel of communication between the drop-off stations and the vendors. The data for each package is shared using an industry wide protocol. 
     Each of the delivery vendors  40   a - d , advantageously, integrates the digital transaction data into their logistics systems to look for efficiencies including, destination, volume and weight. For each package  10  that fits into its plan, the delivery vendor  40  can submit a quote including cost and timing to the central system  52 . In one embodiment, the central system can evaluate the many quotes and selects a delivery vendor based on cost, timing, and reliability and then releases that digital transaction record to the selected delivery vendor for shipping. Alternatively, the various bids can be transmitted to the customer for selection. 
     The selected delivery vendor can then dispatch a vehicle to pick up the package from the drop-off station and then integrates the package into its delivery network. The delivery vendor then delivers the package to the final destination. 
     While the instant system is described as a part of the package delivery network, it is contemplated that there is application in other networks that rely on multiple players to function optimally. 
     It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. All such modifications and changes are intended to be covered by the appended claims.