Management of vehicular traffic at a facility having allocable space resources

Abstract

Disclosed systems, methods, and computer program products address issues of parking and vehicular traffic at a facility, such as a warehouse or a merchandise distribution hub, and provide improved supply chain logistics for transportation and distribution of goods. Disclosed systems include a processor circuit that is configured to generating schedules for a plurality of shipments, to receive location tracking information regarding positions of vehicles, to perform shipping operations, and to dynamically update schedules based on received input. Received input may include information regarding warehouse labor and equipment availability, location tracking information, and/or information regarding weather and traffic conditions. Systems may be configured to send alerts to vehicle drivers provided updated scheduling information and instructions regarding shipments and to send alerts to warehouse workers provided updated scheduling information and instructions regarding shipments. The system may further receive information from drivers and dock workers and may use such information to optimize schedules.

What is claim is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for generating and updating schedules for the delivery and pickup of goods from a loading/unloading facility, in which at least one processor executes a dynamic scheduling software application to perform steps comprising:
 receiving requests to schedule the delivery of goods to a loading/unloading facility and requests to schedule the pickup of goods from the loading/unloading facility;   generating schedules for a plurality of deliveries to the loading/unloading facility and for a plurality of pickups from the loading/unloading facility based on the received requests;   receiving location information messages that are indicative of the locations of a plurality of conveyances that will make at least some of the scheduled deliveries and/or that will make at least some of the scheduled pickups, wherein location information messages for each of the conveyances are received periodically while the conveyances are enroute to the loading/unloading facility;   receiving information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability at the loading/unloading facility;   changing an aspect of one or more scheduled deliveries and/or pickups based on the received location information messages and/or the received information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability; and   causing instruction messages to be sent to conveyance operators of conveyances that are enroute to the loading/unloading facility, each instruction message instructing the conveyance operator:
 to proceed to an off-site location remote from the loading/unloading facility to wait for further instructions, or 
 to proceed to an assigned loading dock at the unloading facility at a time when the assigned loading dock is available. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein when an aspect of a scheduled delivery or pickup is changed, the steps performed by the at least one processor further comprise causing a message to be sent to a conveyance operator of the conveyance that is to make the changed scheduled delivery or pickup, the message informing the conveyance operator of the changed aspect. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the steps performed by the at least one processor further comprise receiving a delay message from a conveyance operator indicating that a conveyance enroute to the loading/unloading facility to make a scheduled delivery or pickup will be delayed, wherein the updating step comprises updating one or more schedules for the plurality of deliveries and/or for the plurality of pickups based on the received delay message. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the received delay message indicates that a conveyance enroute to the loading/unloading facility will be delayed because of a factor other than weather or traffic. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the steps performed by the at least one processor further comprise receiving information regarding weather conditions, wherein the updating step comprises updating one or more schedules for the plurality of deliveries and/or for the plurality of pickups based on the received weather information. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the steps performed by the at least one processor further comprise receiving information regarding traffic conditions, wherein the updating step comprises updating one or more schedules for the plurality of deliveries and/or for the plurality of pickups based on the received traffic information. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least some of the received location information messages are indicative of the real-time current locations of conveyances enroute to the loading/unloading facility. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least some of the received location information messages are messages received from mobile computing devices operated by conveyance operators. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the steps performed by the at least one processor further comprises determining when a first conveyance enroute to the loading/unloading facility is less than a predetermined distance from the loading/unloading facility based on received location information messages regarding the first conveyance, and wherein causing instruction messages to be sent to conveyance operators comprises causing an instruction message to be sent to an operator of the first conveyance only after the first conveyance is determined to be less than a predetermined distance from the loading/unloading facility. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability at the loading/unloading facility comprises receiving an electronic message sent from a portable computing device used by an employee of the loading/unloading facility, where the electronic message indicates that a specific loading dock is open and ready to receive a conveyance for loading/unloading. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability at the loading/unloading facility comprises receiving an electronic message sent from a portable computing device used by an employee of the loading/unloading facility, where the electronic message indicates that a conveyance has arrived at a specific loading dock. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability at the loading/unloading facility comprises receiving an electronic message sent from a portable computing device used by an employee of the loading/unloading facility, where the electronic message indicates that loading/unloading of a conveyance at a specific loading dock is complete. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability at the loading/unloading facility comprises receiving an electronic message sent from a portable computing device used by an employee of the loading/unloading facility, where the electronic message indicates a conveyance that just finished loading/unloading at a specific loading dock has left the specific loading dock. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability at the loading/unloading facility comprises receiving an electronic message sent from a portable computing device used by an employee of the loading/unloading facility, where the electronic message indicates that all goods associated with a scheduled pickup are present at a specific staging location and are ready to be loaded on a conveyance. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability at the loading/unloading facility comprises receiving an electronic message sent from a portable computing device used by an employee of the loading/unloading facility, where the electronic message indicates that all employees required to perform loading/unloading for a scheduled delivery or pickup are present at a specific loading dock. 
     
     
         16 . A method for communicating information to a conveyance operator, in which at least one processor of a mobile computing device associated with a conveyance or a conveyance operator executes a software application to perform steps comprising:
 sending real-time electronic location information messages to a delivery and pickup scheduling system while the conveyance is enroute to a loading/unloading facility for a scheduled pickup or delivery at the loading/unloading facility, each real-time electronic location information message indicating the then-current location of the conveyance;   receiving an electronic instruction message from the scheduling system, wherein the electronic instruction message is generated by the scheduling system based on the real-time electronic location information messages; and   displaying a message on a display screen of the mobile computing device based on the received electronic instruction message, wherein the message instructs the conveyance operator:
 to proceed to a first location that is remote from the loading/unloading facility to wait for further instructions, or 
 to proceed to an assigned loading dock at the loading/unloading facility. 
   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the steps performed by the at least one processor further comprise:
 receiving an electronic update instruction message from the scheduling system, wherein the electronic update instruction message is generated by the scheduling system because an aspect of the scheduled pickup or delivery at the loading/unloading facility has been changed; and   displaying an update message on a display screen of the mobile computing device based on the received electronic update instruction message, wherein the update message communicates to the conveyance operator at least the changed aspect of the scheduled pickup or delivery.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the steps performed by the at least one processor further comprise sending a delay message to the scheduling system, wherein the delay message indicates that the conveyance is not likely to arrive at the loading/unloading facility in time to make the scheduled pickup or delivery. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein an operator of the conveyance causes the delay message to be sent from the mobile computing device to the scheduling system. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the delay message is sent to the scheduling system because an aspect other than traffic or weather will cause the likely delay. 
     
     
         21 . A non-transitory computer readable medium bearing instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method of generating and updating schedules for the delivery and pickup of goods from a loading/unloading facility, the method comprising:
 receiving requests to schedule the delivery of goods to a loading/unloading facility and requests to schedule the pickup of goods from the loading/unloading facility;   generating schedules for a plurality of deliveries to the loading/unloading facility and for a plurality of pickups from the loading/unloading facility based on the received requests;   receiving location information messages that are indicative of the locations of a plurality of conveyances that will make at least some of the scheduled deliveries and/or that will make at least some of the scheduled pickups, wherein location information messages for each of the conveyances are received periodically while the conveyances are enroute to the loading/unloading facility;   receiving information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability at the loading/unloading facility;   changing an aspect of one or more scheduled deliveries and/or pickups based on the received location information messages and/or the received information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability; and   causing instruction messages to be sent to conveyance operators of conveyances that are enroute to the loading/unloading facility, each instruction message instructing the conveyance operator:
 to proceed to an off-site location remote from the loading/unloading facility to wait for further instructions, or 
 to proceed to an assigned loading dock at the unloading facility at a time when the assigned loading dock is available. 
   
     
     
         22 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein when an aspect of a scheduled delivery or pickup is changed, the method performed by the at least one processor further comprises causing a message to be sent to a conveyance operator of the conveyance that is to make the changed scheduled delivery or pickup, the message informing the conveyance operator of the changed aspect. 
     
     
         23 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the method performed by the at least one processor further comprises receiving a delay message from a conveyance operator indicating that a conveyance enroute to the loading/unloading facility to make a scheduled delivery or pickup will be delayed, wherein the updating step comprises updating one or more schedules for the plurality of deliveries and/or for the plurality of pickups based on the received delay message. 
     
     
         24 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein the received delay message indicates that a conveyance enroute to the loading/unloading facility will be delayed because of a factor other than weather or traffic. 
     
     
         25 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the method performed by the at least one processor further comprises receiving information regarding weather conditions, wherein the updating step comprises updating one or more schedules for the plurality of deliveries and/or for the plurality of pickups based on the received weather information. 
     
     
         26 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the method performed by the at least one processor further comprises receiving information regarding traffic conditions, wherein the updating step comprises updating one or more schedules for the plurality of deliveries and/or for the plurality of pickups based on the received traffic information. 
     
     
         27 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein at least some of the received location information messages are indicative of the real-time current locations of conveyances enroute to the loading/unloading facility. 
     
     
         28 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein at least some of the received location information messages are messages received from mobile computing devices operated by conveyance operators. 
     
     
         29 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the method performed by the at least one processor further comprises determining when a first conveyance enroute to the loading/unloading facility is less than a predetermined distance from the loading/unloading facility based on received location information messages regarding the first conveyance, and wherein causing instruction messages to be sent to conveyance operators comprises causing an instruction message to be sent to an operator of the first conveyance only after the first conveyance is determined to be less than a predetermined distance from the loading/unloading facility. 
     
     
         30 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein receiving information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability at the loading/unloading facility comprises receiving an electronic message sent from a portable computing device used by an employee of the loading/unloading facility, where the electronic message indicates that a specific loading dock is open and ready to receive a conveyance for loading/unloading. 
     
     
         31 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein receiving information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability at the loading/unloading facility comprises receiving an electronic message sent from a portable computing device used by an employee of the loading/unloading facility, where the electronic message indicates that a conveyance has arrived at a specific loading dock. 
     
     
         32 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein receiving information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability at the loading/unloading facility comprises receiving an electronic message sent from a portable computing device used by an employee of the loading/unloading facility, where the electronic message indicates that loading/unloading of a conveyance at a specific loading dock is complete. 
     
     
         33 . The non-transitory computer readable medium  claim 21 , wherein receiving information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability at the loading/unloading facility comprises receiving an electronic message sent from a portable computing device used by an employee of the loading/unloading facility, where the electronic message indicates a conveyance that just finished loading/unloading at a specific loading dock has left the specific loading dock. 
     
     
         34 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein receiving information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability at the loading/unloading facility comprises receiving an electronic message sent from a portable computing device used by an employee of the loading/unloading facility, where the electronic message indicates that all goods associated with a scheduled pickup are present at a specific staging location and are ready to be loaded on a conveyance. 
     
     
         35 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein receiving information regarding real-time labor, loading dock and equipment availability at the loading/unloading facility comprises receiving an electronic message sent from a portable computing device used by an employee of the loading/unloading facility, where the electronic message indicates that all employees required to perform loading/unloading for a scheduled delivery or pickup are present at a specific loading dock.