Transport chassis and intermodal container logistics management system

Abstract

A method of managing a supply of transport chassis to pick-up intermodal containers at a transshipment point. The method comprises identifying transport chassis stacks located at the transshipment point by an application executing on a computer system, wherein each transport chassis stack comprises at least one transport chassis; analyzing each of the identified transport chassis stacks by the application to determine a count of transport chassis in the transport chassis stack; for each transport chassis, determining an idle time of the transport chassis by the application, wherein the idle time of the transport chassis is determined based on a duration of time from when the transport chassis arrived at the transshipment point and a current time; building a transport chassis idle report by the application based on the idle times of the transport chassis; and transmitting the transport chassis idle report by the application.

Claims

42 CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A method of managing a supply of transport chassis to pick-up intermodal containers at a transshipment point, comprising: defining a boundary area by a user interface executing on a user equipment (UE), wherein the boundary area is co-located with the transshipment point; defining a carrier in-bound to or co-located with the transshipment point by the user interface on the UE, wherein the carrier is carrying a plurality of intermodal containers; in response to receiving an input selection, transmitting a request for a report on a supply of transport chassis by the UE to a transport chassis management application executing on a computer system, wherein the request comprises a boundary area definition and a carrier definition, whereby the transport chassis management application determines a number of transport chassis disposed within the boundary area, determines a number of intermodal containers disposed on the carrier, and returns to the UE the report on the supply of transport chassis that indicates the number of transport chassis disposed within the boundary area and the number of intermodal containers disposed on the carrier; receiving by the UE the report on the supply of transport chassis; and based on the report on the supply of transport chassis, presenting by the user interface of the UE an indication of a correlation between the number of CA 3305804 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-23 43 transport chassis disposed within the boundary area and the number of intermodal containers disposed on the carrier.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transport chassis management application determines the number of transport chassis disposed within the boundary area based on the boundary area definition, based on determining a number of transport chassis stacks disposed within the boundary area, and based on determining, for each transport chassis stack, a number of transport chassis in the transport chassis stack.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining by the transport chassis management application the number of transport chassis disposed within the boundary area comprises determining for each of a plurality of different transport chassis types a number of transport chassis of that type disposed within the boundary area, wherein determining by the transport chassis management application the number of intermodal containers disposed on the carrier comprises determining for each of a plurality of different container types a number of intermodal containers of that type on the carrier, and wherein the report on the supply of transport chassis comprises information on the relationships between the relationship between the numbers of transport chassis of each type and the numbers of containers of each type associated with the transport chassis type.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the carrier is a ship and the transshipment point is a port.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the carrier is a train and the transshipment point is a railyard. CA 3305804 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-23 44 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE is a mobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wearable computer, a headset computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, or an electronic pad.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the intermodal containers each has a securing mechanism that is configured for mating with a corresponding securing mechanism of a transport chassis. CA 3305804 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-23 45 8. A method of managing a supply of transport chassis to pick-up intermodal containers at a transshipment point, comprising: in response to receiving a request for a transport chassis idle report, identifying transport chassis stacks located at the transshipment point by a transport chassis management application executing on a computer system, wherein each transport chassis stack comprises at least one transport chassis; analyzing each of the identified transport chassis stacks by the transport chassis management application to determine a count of transport chassis in the transport chassis stack; for each transport chassis, determining an idle time of the transport chassis by the transport chassis management application, where the idle time of the transport chassis is determined based on a duration of time from when the transport chassis arrived at the transshipment point and a current time; building the transport chassis idle report by the transport chassis management application based on the idle times of the transport chassis; and transmitting the transport chassis idle report by the transport chassis management application.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein each transport chassis stack is disposed in a park stacking configuration.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the request for the transport chassis idle report identifies a period of time over which idle times are to be determined. CA 3305804 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-23 46 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the request for the transport chassis idle report identifies transport chassis stacks located at the transshipment point by identifying an operating company associated with the transport chassis stacks.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the request for the transport chassis idle report identifies a plurality of transshipment points and determining the idle time of the transport chassis by the transport chassis management application comprises determining idle times of transport chassis at each of the plurality of identified transshipment points.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising the transport chassis management application monitoring the locations of a plurality of transport chassis over time and storing the locations of the plurality of transport chassis in a data store.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the transshipment point is one of a railyard or a port. CA 3305804 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-23 47 15. A system for managing a supply of transport chassis to pick-up intermodal containers at a transshipment point, comprising: a processor; a non-transitory memory; and an application stored in the non-transitory memory that, when executed by the processor tracks a status of transport chassis stacks at each of a plurality of transshipment points, tracks movement of intermodal containers en route to the plurality of transshipment points, receives a request for a report on a supply of transport chassis at one of the transshipment points, wherein the request identifies the one of the transshipment points and identifies a carrier of intermodal containers en route to the identified one of the transshipment points determines a number and type of transport chassis disposed at the identified one of the transshipment points, determines a number and type of intermodal containers associated with the identified carrier of intermodal containers en route to the identified one of the transshipment points, for each type of intermodal container associated with the identified carrier of intermodal containers en route to the identified one of the transshipment points, determines if a sufficient number of transport chassis of matching type are disposed at the identified one of the transshipment points, CA 3305804 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-23 48 generates a report about the numbers of transport chassis of matching types at the identified one of the transshipment points versus the numbers of intermodal containers associated with the identified carrier of intermodal containers en route to the identified one of the transshipment points; and transmits the report on the supply of transport chassis at the one of the transshipment points.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the transshipment point is one of a railyard or a port.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the type of transport chassis is associated with a securing mechanism of the transport chassis.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the type of container is associated with a securing mechanism of the container.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the application sends a notification that a shortfall of transport chassis at the identified one of the transshipment points is predicted when the number of transport chassis is not at least equal to the number of intermodal carriers on route to the identified one of the transshipment points.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the application determines the number and type of transport chassis disposed at the identified one of the transshipment points based on both the number of transport chassis currently disposed at one of the transshipment points and CA 3305804 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-23 49 the number and type of transport chassis predicted to be at the identified one of the transshipment points when the identified carrier of intermodal containers is expected to arrive at the one of the transshipment points. CA 3305804 Date reçue / Received date 2026-03-23