Patent ID: 8799182

Claim:
A method for estimating a cost for moving fuel, the method comprising: forming, by a processor, a group of vehicles for moving the fuel from a starting location to a destination location using user input, wherein the group of vehicles is selected from a plurality of heterogeneous vehicles in a vehicle database; identifying, by the processor, operations for moving the fuel from the starting location to the destination location using the user input; identifying, by the processor, a set of additional vehicles for the group of vehicles to form a current group of vehicles; identifying, by the processor, personnel for the current group of vehicles, wherein identifying the personnel comprises identifying first personnel to operate a first vehicle in the current group of vehicles and second personnel to perform maintenance on the first vehicle in the current group of vehicles; identifying, by the processor, the cost for moving the fuel from the starting location to the destination location using the current group of vehicles and the personnel; providing, by the processor, an interactive graphical user interface containing display fields, the interactive graphical user interface allowing a user to enter user input into the display fields; in response to the user input being entered, determining by executing an analysis module associated with the processor, whether the user input meets vehicle ability parameters and safety requirements, the analysis module further configured to warn the user when the user input fails to meet vehicle ability parameters or safety requirements; providing, by the processor, a vehicle group module generating a vehicle group interface for display in the graphical user interface, the vehicle group interface displaying potential vehicles to the user on the vehicle group interface in the graphical user interface, the vehicle group module forming groups of vehicles in response to receiving the user input; and providing, by the processor, a new vehicle module displaying a new vehicle interface in the graphical user interface, the new vehicle module receiving user input consisting of identifying information about a new vehicle, the identifying information including at least one of the group consisting of a fuel burn rate, a cost of maintenance, a weight of raw vehicle, a standard number of personnel needed to operate new vehicle, and a cost for needed personnel.