System and method for processing shipment requests using a multi-service shipping platform

Abstract

Systems and methods for processing shipment request by using a multi-carrier shipping services platform.

1 . A method for identifying a shipping carrier service for delivering a parcel comprising: with a multi-tenant, multi-carrier shipping services platform:
 accessing multi-service tracking data for delivered shipments from shipping carrier computing systems of a plurality of shipping carriers, wherein the multi-service tracking data includes tracking data for a plurality of shipping carrier services for the plurality of shipping carriers, wherein the multi-service tracking data comprises carrier-specific data which is non-standardized between carriers;   converting and storing the multi-service tracking data to universal data;   receiving, from a client computing system, a shipment request for a new shipment via a public REST (Representational State Transfer) Application Programming Interface (API) of the shipping services platform;   using the universal data, generating a predetermined set of metadata for each delivered shipment, the predetermined set of metadata comprising time-in-transit data;   for at least one shipping carrier service associated with the shipment request, determining statistically significant time-in-transit data for a corresponding shipping lane based on the time-in-transit data, wherein the statistically significant time-in-transit data for the corresponding shipping lane comprises bi-directional time-in-transit data associated with aggregated historical shipment records from both directions of the corresponding shipping lane;   based on the statistically significant time-in-transit data, automatically generating a response to the shipment request identifying the at least one shipping carrier service; and   providing the response to the client computing system.   
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein generating time-in-transit data by using the accessed multi-service tracking data comprises: generating time-in-transit data for shipping lanes at different levels of granularity,   wherein each shipping lane is identified by an origin and a destination, and   wherein for each shipping lane, the origin and destination are identified by partial addresses at differing respective levels of granularity.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein generating time-in-transit data for a shipping lane comprises: aggregating data for historical shipment data records, for delivered shipments, in accordance with at least one aggregation rule. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein generating time-in-transit data for a shipping lane comprises: aggregating data for historical shipment data records having a same origin and destination partial address. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein generating time-in-transit data for a shipping lane comprises: aggregating data for historical shipment data records having a same origin distribution center and destination distribution center. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein generating time-in-transit data for a shipping lane comprises: aggregating data for historical shipment data records matching either direction of the shipping lane. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 3 ,
 wherein determining statistically significant time-in-transit data for a carrier service related to the shipment request comprises:
 accessing time-in-transit data for at least one shipping lane for the carrier service, 
 for the carrier service, identifying a matching shipping lane that is associated with the accessed time-in-transit data for the carrier service and that matches the shipment request, and 
 selecting, from the accessed time-in-transit data for the carrier service, time-in-transit data for the identified matching shipping lane. 
   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 3 ,
 wherein determining statistically significant time-in-transit data for a carrier service related to the shipment request comprises:
 accessing time-in-transit data for at least one shipping lane for the carrier service, 
 for the carrier service, identifying a plurality of matching shipping lanes that are associated with the accessed time-in-transit data for the carrier service and that match the shipment request, 
 selecting one of the identified plurality of matching shipping lanes that satisfies a selection rule, and 
 selecting, from the accessed time-in-transit data for the carrier service, time-in-transit data for the selected matching shipping lane for the carrier service. 
   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein, for a carrier service, selecting one of the identified plurality of matching shipping lanes that satisfies the selection rule comprises:
 selecting a matching shipping lane that is associated with a number of historical shipments that is greater than a shipment threshold requirement amount, and that is the closest match to the origin and destination of the shipment request.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein generating the response using statistically significant time-in-transit data for at least one carrier service related to the shipment request comprises:
 identifying matching carrier services whose accessed time-in-transit data satisfies time-in-transit requirements identified in the shipping request.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein generating the response using statistically significant time-in-transit data for at least one carrier service related to the shipment request further comprises:
 identifying shipping rates for matching carrier services whose time-in-transit data satisfies time-in-transit requirements identified by the shipment request, and   including information that identifies at least one matching carrier service and a corresponding shipping rate in the response.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein generating the response using statistically significant time-in-transit data for at least one carrier service related to the shipment request further comprises:
 identifying shipping rates for matching carrier services,   selecting matching carrier services whose time-in-transit data satisfies time-in-transit requirements identified by the shipment request and whose identified shipping rate is below a threshold rate amount, and   including information in the response that identifies at least one selected matching carrier service whose rate is below the threshold rate amount.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein generating the response using statistically significant time-in-transit data for at least one carrier service related to the shipment request further comprises:
 selecting a fastest matching carrier service whose time-in-transit data satisfies time-in-transit requirements identified by the shipment request, and   including information in the response that identifies fastest matching carrier service.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein generating the response using statistically significant time-in-transit data for at least one carrier service related to the shipment request further comprises:
 identifying shipping rates for matching carrier services,   selecting a cheapest matching carrier service whose time-in-transit data satisfies time-in-transit requirements identified by the shipment request, and   including information in the response that identifies cheapest matching carrier service.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 ,
 wherein, for a carrier service, identifying a plurality of matching shipping lanes that are associated with the accessed time-in-transit data and that match the shipment request comprises: identifying at least one matching shipping lane segment that is associated with the accessed time-in-transit data and that matches the shipment request,   wherein identifying at least one matching shipping lane segment that is associated with the accessed time-in-transit data and that matches the shipment request comprises:
 identifying at least a first distribution center and a second distribution center for the shipment request, and 
 matching the at least first and second distribution centers with endpoints of one or more shipping lane segments. 
   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 :
 further comprising: with the shipping services platform:
 generating training data by using the accessed multi-service tracking data, 
 training a predictive model by using the generated training data, 
   wherein generating the response to the shipment request based on the multi-service tracking data comprises:
 providing data included in the shipment request to the trained predictive model as model input, wherein data included in the shipment request identifies time-in-transit requirements for the shipment request, 
 using the trained predictive model to identify carrier services that satisfy the time-in-transit requirements, and 
 including in the response:
 information that identifies each carrier service identified by the trained predictive model, and 
 a shipping rate for each carrier service identified by the trained predictive model. 
 
   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 ,
 further comprising augmenting the training data using additional data accessed form additional data sources,   wherein the predictive model is trained by using the augmented training data.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein generating the response to the shipment request based on the multi-service tracking data comprises further comprising:
 accessing additional data; and   providing the accessed additional data to the trained model as additional model input.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the accessed additional data includes at least one of weather data and traffic data. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein for at least one shipping lane, the origin and the destination are identified at a first and second level of granularity, respectively, wherein the first and second levels of granularity are different.