Network communications for transportation management

Abstract

A network device includes a memory, a display, a user interface, and a network communication module configured to receive vehicle data, driver information, and driver communications, at pre-determined times, from a plurality of portable wireless data transfer and display devices via a long-range wireless network. The network communication module is further configured to send and receive network communications with one or more of the portable wireless data transfer and display devices via the long-range wireless network. The network device is configured to present the vehicle data, the driver information, the driver communication, and the network communications from the plurality of portable wireless data transfer and display devices via the display. The user interface is configured to allow for selection of the drivers presented and is configured to accept user inputs of network communications via the user interface.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A fleet management system, comprising:
 (i) a data acquisition device that is mounted inside a vehicle and is electronically connected to a diagnostic port of an engine control module (ECM) of the vehicle via an input cable which electronically connects to a mating connector of the ECM within the vehicle, wherein the data acquisition device determines a communication protocol to use for communication with the ECM in part by detecting one or more of a configuration of the mating connector of the ECM or the configuration of a converter that is attached to the input cable that connects to the ECM, and
 wherein the data acquisition device captures vehicle data associated the vehicle via the ECM and wirelessly communicates the vehicle data to a portable wireless data transfer and display device via a first short-range wireless communication component embedded within the data acquisition device; 
   (ii) the portable wireless data transfer and display device that includes:
 a user interface; 
 a display; 
 a second short-range wireless communication component; 
 a long-range wireless communication component; 
 a memory configured to store instructions; 
 a processor communicatively coupled with the memory, the processor configured to execute the instructions to:
 input driver information of a driver associated with the vehicle on the user interface; 
 receive, at the second short-range wireless communication component, the vehicle data from the data acquisition device via a short-range communication link, wherein the short-range communication link includes one or more of a Bluetooth, wireless Ethernet (WiFi), ZigBee, near-field communications (NFC), infrared (IrDA), or a block linear turbo equalization (BLTE); 
 store the vehicle data received from the data acquisition device in the memory of the portable wireless data transfer and display device; 
 generate a driver summary electronic report by processing the vehicle data received from the data acquisition device and the driver information input on the user interface; 
 present on the display of the portable wireless data transfer and display device at least one of: the vehicle data, the driver information, or driver summary electronic report to the user via the display; and 
 transmit, via the long-range wireless communication component, one or more of the vehicle data, the driver information, or driver summary electronic report to a remote network device over a wireless network; and 
 
   (iii) the remote network device that receives one or more of the vehicle data, the driver information, or driver summary electronic report from the portable wireless data transfer and display device over the wireless network, wherein the remote network device:
 processes one or more of the vehicle data and the driver information into an electronic driver scorecard with a network processor of the remote network device, wherein the electronic driver scorecard is modifiable based on a set of selected safety and efficiency criteria; and 
 displaying the electronic driver scorecard for the based on the set of selected safety and efficiency criteria. 
   
     
     
         2 . The fleet management system of  claim 1 , wherein the driver summary electronic report includes the driver's hours of service (HOS) information. 
     
     
         3 . The fleet management system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor configured to execute the instructions to:
 alter one of the driver information or the driver summary electronic report via the user interface of the portable wireless data transfer and display device that affects the driver's HOS information.   
     
     
         4 . The fleet management system of  claim 1 , wherein the data acquisition device further includes a global positioning system (GPS) receiver that receives signals from GPS satellites to determine a location of the vehicle. 
     
     
         5 . The fleet management system of  claim 1 , wherein the data acquisition device further includes an accelerometer to detect one or more of a movement of the vehicle, acceleration, deceleration, braking, or lane changes of the vehicle, and store the detected information as the vehicle data in a computer readable memory component of the data acquisition device. 
     
     
         6 . The fleet management system of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic driver scorecard is one or more of an overall numeric rating or an alphanumerical rating. 
     
     
         7 . The fleet management system of  claim 1 , wherein the set of selected safety and efficiency criteria are selected from a group consisting of: a fuel analysis, a speed analysis, a speeding analysis, an accident analysis, a violations analysis, a hard brake analysis, a high-speed brake analysis, an idle analysis, a regulatory compliance analysis, an hours of driving analysis, a vehicle maintenance analysis, a cargo maintenance analysis, a corporate rule compliance analysis, a delivery history analysis, or a delivery time analysis.