History timeline display for vehicle fleet management

Abstract

A vehicle management system can generate a vehicle management user interface that depicts vehicle history information in timelines or graphical timelines. These history timelines can include information regarding vehicle location, speed, and idling, among other useful information. The graphical nature of the history timelines can quickly convey vehicle tracking details and potential problems, such as idling and congregation, to an administrator. Further, history timelines for multiple vehicles can be displayed in parallel, allowing comparison between histories for different vehicles.

1 . A vehicle history user interface for providing history information for a plurality of vehicles, the user interface comprising:
 a first vehicle history timeline comprising first vehicle status data corresponding to a first vehicle, the first vehicle status data reflecting first location data obtained from the first vehicle;   a second vehicle history timeline comprising second vehicle status data corresponding to a second vehicle, the second vehicle status data reflecting second location data obtained from the second vehicle;   wherein the first and second vehicle history timelines are configured to be displayed together on the same time scale; and   wherein the vehicle history user interface is configured to be generated by a computer system comprising computer hardware.   
     
     
         2 . The vehicle history user interface of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second timelines are each further configured to include an indication reflecting a congregation of the first and second vehicles at a particular location, the indication being correlated in time on each of the first and second timelines. 
     
     
         3 . The vehicle history user interface of  claim 2 , wherein the indication comprises coloring of each of the first and second timelines with the same color for a selected time period reflected on the first and second timelines. 
     
     
         4 . The vehicle history user interface of  claim 1 , wherein a selected one of the first and second timelines is further configured to depict idling of one of the first and second vehicles. 
     
     
         5 . The vehicle history user interface of  claim 4 , wherein the selected timeline comprises a graph configured to depict idling using a first color, vehicle movement using a second color, and vehicle stoppage without idling using a third color. 
     
     
         6 . The vehicle history user interface of  claim 1 , wherein a selected one of the first and second timelines is further configured to depict a policy violation by one of the first and second vehicles. 
     
     
         7 . The vehicle history user interface of  claim 6 , wherein the policy violation comprises a speed limit violation. 
     
     
         8 . The vehicle history user interface of  claim 7 , wherein a speed of the vehicle is depicted as a graph over time on the selected timeline. 
     
     
         9 . The vehicle history user interface of  claim 8 , wherein the graph is normalized with respect to a speed limit, thereby graphically depicting the speed limit violation as a deviation from a normalized speed limit. 
     
     
         10 . The vehicle history user interface of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second timelines are arranged in parallel with respect to each other in either a horizontal or vertical orientation. 
     
     
         11 . Non-transitory physical computer storage comprising instructions stored thereon for implementing, in one or more processors, a method of providing history information for a plurality of vehicles, the method comprising:
 presenting a vehicle management user interface to a user, the vehicle management user interface comprising vehicle data representing a plurality of vehicles;   receiving a user selection of the vehicle data for at least two vehicles;   in response to receiving the user selection, obtaining vehicle status data over a given time period for each of the at least two vehicles;   constructing vehicle history timelines for each of the at least two vehicles, where each vehicle history timeline includes the vehicle status data corresponding to one of the at least two vehicles; and   outputting the vehicle history timelines for display to the user, wherein the vehicle history timelines are configured to be displayed together on the same time scale.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory physical computer storage of  claim 11 , wherein said constructing the vehicle timelines comprises generating an indication reflecting a congregation of the at least two vehicles at a particular location, the indication being correlated in time on the vehicle history timelines. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory physical computer storage of  claim 11 , wherein said constructing the vehicle timelines comprises generating an indication of idling by any of the at least two vehicles. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory physical computer storage of  claim 11 , wherein said constructing the vehicle timelines comprises generating an indication of a policy violation by any of the at least two vehicles. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory physical computer storage of  claim 11 , wherein the vehicle management user interface comprises a map, the map depicting the vehicle data for selection by the user. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory physical computer storage of  claim 15 , wherein the vehicle management user interface provides functionality for selecting the plurality of vehicles on the map to thereby simultaneously request that the vehicle history timelines by constructed for the plurality of vehicles. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory physical computer storage of  claim 11 , wherein the vehicle management user interface comprises a list of vehicles, the list of vehicles depicting the vehicle data for selection by the user. 
     
     
         18 . A system for providing history information for a plurality of vehicles, the system comprising:
 a computer system comprising computer hardware programmed to implement a history module configured to at least:
 obtain first vehicle status data for a given time period corresponding to a first vehicle, the first vehicle status data reflecting telematics data obtained from the first vehicle; 
 obtain second vehicle status data for the same time period corresponding to a second vehicle, the second vehicle status data reflecting telematics data obtained from the second vehicle; 
 construct a first history timeline comprising the first vehicle status data; 
 construct a second history timeline comprising the second vehicle status data; and 
 output the first and second history timelines together for presentation to a user. 
   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the history module is further configured to output a timeline selection bar for presentation to the user, the timeline selection bar configured to provide functionality for the user to select the first and second history timelines simultaneously. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein selection of the first and second history timelines using the timeline selection bar is configured to cause a map to display locations of each of the first and second vehicles in time corresponding to a position of the timeline selection bar. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the history module is further configured to provide functionality for the user to view a location of one of the first and second vehicles in time by selecting a portion of one of the first and second history timelines. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein said functionality comprises mouse-over functionality. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein said construction of the first and second history timelines comprises automatically assigning a different color to each of the first and second vehicles, each of the colors being associated with a selected one of the first and second history timelines and with a route of each of the first and second vehicles, each of the routes configured to be depicted on a map. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein said construction of the first history timeline comprises providing an icon in the first history timeline representing a marker of a location on a map, a position of the icon on the first history timeline being correlated in time with a visit by the first vehicle to the location.