Electronic Run Tickets With Claimed Tank-Run Assignment Logic
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The coordination and optimization of truck dispatching for oil or gas related facilities are challenging due to the complexity of factors involved in selecting and scheduling tank runs, including unknown load-specific and drop-off location-specific factors, which often lead to sub-optimal choices by truck drivers.
Innovation Solution
A dispatch server system that receives tank-nearly-full messages, creates tank-run records, and sends them to mobile devices of truck drivers, confirming unclaimed runs and designating them, while considering geolocation, fluid levels, and drop-off facility constraints to optimize route selection and scheduling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If truck drivers independently select tank runs without a dispatch system, then drivers have operational autonomy, but coordination efficiency deteriorates and sub-optimal choices occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a dispatch server as an intermediary between tank facilities and truck drivers. The server receives tank-nearly-full messages, creates tank-run records, and communicates with drivers' mobile devices, enabling coordinated dispatch while maintaining driver autonomy in accepting or declining runs.
2Ease of operation
If drivers make independent tank run selections, then decision-making is simplified for drivers, but information completeness deteriorates leading to sub-optimal choices
Solution Approach 1:
The dispatch server implements feedback by providing drivers with comprehensive information about tank runs including facility capacity, current fluid levels, drop-off constraints, and route optimization data. This feedback loop enables drivers to make informed decisions with complete information.
3Device complexity
If manual coordination methods are used for tank runs, then system complexity is reduced, but labor intensity and coordination time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service automation where the dispatch server automatically receives tank-nearly-full messages from facilities, generates tank-run records, and pushes notifications to drivers' mobile devices. This automated self-service eliminates manual coordination labor while reducing coordination time.
4Speed
If no confirmation mechanism is implemented, then system responsiveness is improved, but reliability of tank run assignment deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary confirmation by checking whether a tank run has already been claimed by another driver before finalizing the assignment. This preliminary action ensures reliable one-to-one matching between drivers and tank runs while maintaining rapid system responsiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a process including: receiving a tank-nearly-full message indicating that a tank at an oil or gas related facility is or will be ready for a truck to unload and transport fluid accumulating in the tank; in response to the tank-nearly-full message, creating a tank-run record; sending a description of the tank-run to a mobile device of a driver of an oilfield truck; receiving, from the mobile device of the driver of the oilfield truck, a tank-run claimed message indicating that the driver will drive to the oil or gas related facility and transport at least some of the fluid accumulating in the tank; and after the tank-run claimed message, performing steps including: confirming that the tank-run has not yet been claimed; after the confirmation, designating the tank-run as claimed by the driver; and sending confirmation to the mobile device of the driver.