SE538875C2 - Detecting vacant load capacity in a delivery vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

19 ABSTRACT Methods (500, 600) and system (400) in a vehicle (100) and a vehicle external entity (360)for assisting a vehicle external entity (360) in providing a delivery service to a third party(410). The method (500) comprises detecting (501) vacant load capacity in the vehicle (100); 5 determining (502) size of the detected (501) vacant load capacity; determining (503) geo- graphical position of the vehicle (100); determining (504) destination (220) of the vehicle(100); and transmitting (507) a message comprising an identification reference of the vehicle(100), the determined (502) size of the vacant load capacity, the determined (503) geograph-ical position of the vehicle (100) and the determined (504) destination (220) of the vehicle 10 (100), to be received by the vehicle external entity (360). (Pubi. Fig. 2)

Description

DETECTING VACANT LOAD CAPACITY IN A DELIVERY VEHICLE TECHNICAL FIELD This document discloses a method and a system in a vehicle, and a vehicle external entityand a method therein. More particularly, a mechanism is provided for assisting a vehicleexternal entity in providing a delivery service to a third party.

BACKGROUND There are many situations where it is desired to transport a relatively small cargo while theown usual means of transportation is unavailable. At the same time, there are probably manyvehicles carrying cargo only in one direction and then return back empty. There may also bemany vehicles having an additional load capacity also when driving in the first direction.

Some examples of such vehicles may comprise a truck, a distribution truck, a bus or similarvehicle.

Thus there is an enormous potential for saving energy by better using the additional loadcapacity of vehicles. However there is no present solution to get in contact with a truck onthe road passing nearby to find out if it has load capacity and if it will drive in the desireddirection towards the desired destination, in a convenient way. lt thus appear that further development in this field may reduce energy consumption of thevehicles and reduce pollution caused by vehicle combustion engines. Also the number ofvehicles on the road may be reduced, potentially leading to reduced traffic congestion, trafficnoise and perhaps even less traffic accidents. lt may in total be more profit for the transport company if the trucks run with higher averageload and/ or cheaper for the customer who order the additional transports.

SUMMARY lt is therefore an object of this invention to solve at least some of the above problems andproviding a delivery service to a third party.

According to a first aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a method in a vehiclefor assisting a vehicle external entity in providing a delivery service to a third party. Themethod comprises detecting vacant load capacity in the vehicle. Further the method com-prises determining size of the detected vacant load capacity. The method also comprises determining geographical position of the vehicle. Additionally, the method further comprisesdetermining destination of the vehicle. The method also comprises transmitting a messagecomprising an identification reference of the vehicle, the determined size of the vacant loadcapacity, the determined geographical position of the vehicle and the determined destinationof the vehicle, to be received by the vehicle external entity.

According to a second aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a system in avehicle for assisting a vehicle external entity in providing a delivery service to a third party.The system comprises at least one sensor, configured for detecting vacant load capacity inthe vehicle and also configured for determining size of the detected vacant load capacity.Further the system comprises a positioning device, configured for determining geographicalposition of the vehicle. The system furthermore comprises a navigation unit, wherein thedestination of the vehicle is stored. ln addition, the system also comprises a computing unit,configured for collecting information from the sensor, the positioning device and the naviga-tion unit and composing a message comprising an identification reference of the vehicle, thedetermined size of the vacant load capacity, the determined geographical position of thevehicle and the determined destination of the vehicle, to be received by the vehicle externalentity. The system also comprises a wireless transmitter, configured for transmitting the com-posed message, to be received by the vehicle external entity.

According to a third aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a method in a vehi-cle external entity, configured for providing a delivery service to a third party. The methodcomprises receiving a message comprising an identification reference of a vehicle, a deter-mined size of a vacant load capacity of the vehicle, a determined geographical position ofthe vehicle, and the determined destination of the vehicle, from the vehicle. Further themethod also comprises storing data comprised in the received message in a database, as- sociated with time information.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a vehicle externalentity, configured for providing a delivery service to a third party. The vehicle external entitycomprises a receiver configured for receiving a message comprising an identification refer-ence of a vehicle, a determined size of a vacant load capacity of the vehicle, a determinedgeographical position of the vehicle, and the determined destination of the vehicle, from thevehicle. Further the vehicle external entity comprises a database configured for storing datacomprised in the received message, associated with time information.

Hereby, thanks to the disclosed aspects, a service is provided for matching a customer witha certain need for transportation with an appropriate vehicle passing by towards the same,or almost the same destination, e.g. when returning empty or anyhow with additional availa-ble load capacity from a delivery. The price for such transportation may become cheaperthan any comparable alternative for the customer. For the engaged vehicle owner, the pro-vided service brings an additional income. Further, the total amount of fuel consumption andpollution caused by vehicle combustion engines is reduced, in comparison with engagingseparate vehicles for the respective transportations, which both would return empty afterhaving made the respective delivery. Also, in a large scale implementation, the number ofvehicles on the road may be reduced, potentially leading to reduced traffic congestion, trafficnoise, environmental impact and perhaps even less traffic accidents.

Other advantages and additional novel features will become apparent from the subsequentdetailed description.

FIGURES Embodiments of the invention will now be described in further detail with reference to theaccompanying figures, in which: Figure 1 illustrates a side view of a vehicle; Figure 2 illustrates an example of route planning of a vehicle; Figure 3 illustrates an example of a vehicle interior according to an embodiment of theinvenfion; Figure 4 illustrates a system in a vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method in a vehicle; Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method in a vehicle externalentity; Figure 7 is an illustration depicting a vehicle external entity according to an embodi- ment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the invention described herein are defined as a method and a system in avehicle, and a vehicle external entity and a method therein, which may be put into practicein the embodiments described below. These embodiments may, however, be exemplifiedand realised in many different forms and are not to be limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these illustrative examples of embodiments are provided so that this disclosure willbe thorough and complete.

Still other objects and features may become apparent from the following detailed description,considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. lt is to be understood, however,that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition ofthe |imits of the herein disclosed embodiments, for which reference is to be made to theappended claims. Further, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and, unless oth-en/vise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and pro-cedures described herein.

Figure 1 illustrates a scenario with a vehicle 100 driving in a driving direction 105.

The vehicle 100 may be e.g. a truck, a bus, a van, a car, a boat, a train, an aeroplane, or anyother similar type of vehicle running on wheels, rails, air or water. The vehicle 100 may be configured for running on a road, in terrain or in water, for example.

The vehicle 100 may be driver controlled or driverless autonomously controlled vehicles indifferent embodiments. However, for enhanced clarity, the vehicle 100 is subsequently de-scribed as having a driver.

According to some embodiments of the disclosed method, the present weight of the vehicle100 may be measured, e.g. by dedicated weight sensors, and it may thereby be estimatedhow much additional load it is able to carry. The positioning system in the vehicle 100 knowwhere the vehicle 100 is situated at any moment. Further, a navigator in the vehicle 100 hasthe destination of the vehicle 100 entered. Also, further information concerning e.g. the kindof vehicle 100 such as e.g. a truck, a car transporter, a milk truck, a dumper truck etc., and/or load may be retrieved from a database. This information may be collected by an entityexternal to the vehicle 100 such as e.g. a server collecting various data from various vehicles.An example of such vehicle external entity may be the Scania Fleet Management system.

Further, a third party customer with a certain transportation requirements may make a re-quest to the vehicle external entity concerning if any vehicle is available to carry the loadfrom a certain point to the destination. lf the additional load is accepted by the vehicle 100,the transport may be cheaper for the third party customer, while the additional load may bringan additional income for the transport company/ vehicle owner. Reducing the energy con-sumption, when the vehicle 100 is using fossil fuel, other fuel or electric power, leads to not only cheaper transport, but also reduced emissions of harmful exhaust gas such as carbondioxide or less energy consumption. Also, by compacting load and avoiding travels withempty vehicles, less vehicles are required to traffic the road, leading to reduced traffic con-gestion, less generated noise from the traffic.

Figure 2 illustrates an example of an interface where a route for a vehicle 100 from a startingpoint 210 to a destination 220 via a pick-up point 230. The starting point 210 here is thegeographical coordinate where the vehicle 100 currently is situated. This point 210 may bedetermined by a positioning unit in the vehicle 100. The destination 220 may be extractedfrom the navigator of the vehicle 100. The pick-up point 230 is the point where the third partycustomer has cargo that is to be delivered to the destination 220. ln this scenario, a question may be transmitted to the driver, asking if it is possible, or thedriver likes, to stop at the pick-up point 230, load the cargo into the vehicle 100 and continueto the destination 220. This is merely a non-limiting example with one pick-up point 230 andone destination 220. ln other examples there may be a plurality of pick-up points and/ or aplurality of destinations. There may also in some embodiments be a plurality of alternativepick-up points and/ or destinations, and the driver may be encouraged to select among them(when the demand is exceeding the supply).

Figure 3 illustrates an example of how the previous scenario in Figure 1 may be perceivedby the driver of the vehicle 100 when driving towards the destination 220, according to an embodiment.

A computing unit 310 may be comprised in the vehicle 100, configured for assisting a vehicleexternal entity 360 in providing a delivery service to a third party.

The computing unit 310 may be connected to, and configured for collecting information fromone or more sensors 380 in the vehicle 100, e.g. in the cargo area of the vehicle 100.

Furthermore, the computing unit 310 may be connected to a positioning device 330 and anavigation unit 335 in the vehicle 100.

The computing unit 310 may also be connected with a communication device 350, whichmay communicate wirelessly with the vehicle external entity 360. The vehicle external entity360 may comprise, or be connected to a database 370, which database 370 may comprisevehicle related data and/ or geographical map data.

The communication between the communication device 350 and the vehicle external entity360 may be made by a wireless signal such as e.g. a Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) signal, or anyother wireless signal based on, or at least inspired by wireless communication technologysuch as Wi-Fi, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Ultra Mobile Broadband (Ul\/IB), Blue-tooth (BT), or infrared transmission to name but a few possible examples of wireless com- munications.

The geographical position of the vehicle 100 may be determined by a positioning device 330in the vehicles 100, which may be based on a satellite navigation system such as the Navi-gation Signal Timing and Ranging (Navstar) Global Positioning System (GPS), DifferentialGPS (DGPS), Galileo, GLONASS, or the like.

The geographical position of the positioning device 330, (and thereby also of the vehicle 100may be done continuously with a certain predetermined or configurable time intervals ac- cording to various embodiments.

Positioning by satellite navigation is based on distance measurement using triangulationfrom a number of satellites 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4. The satellites 340-1, 340-2, 340-3,340-4 continuously transmit information about time and date (for example, in coded form),identity (which satellite 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4 which broadcasts), status, and where thesatellite 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4 are situated at any given time. GPS satellites 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4 sends information encoded with different codes, for example, but not neces-sarily based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). This allows information from an in-dividual satellite 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4 distinguished from the others' information, basedon a unique code for each respective satellite 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4. This informationcan then be transmitted to be received by the appropriately adapted positioning device 330in the vehicle 100.

Distance measurement can according to some embodiments comprise measuring the differ-ence in the time it takes for each respective satellite signal transmitted by the respectivesatellites 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4 to reach the positioning device 330. As the radio signalstravel at the speed of light, the distance to the respective satellite 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4 may be computed by measuring the signal propagation time.

The positions of the satellites 340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4 are known, as they continuouslyare monitored by approximately 15-30 ground stations located mainly along and near the earth's equator. Thereby the geographical position, i.e. latitude and longitude, of the vehicle100 may be calculated by determining the distance to at least three satellites 340-1, 340-2,340-3, 340-4 through triangulation. For determination of altitude, signals from four satellites340-1, 340-2, 340-3, 340-4 may be used according to some embodiments.

Having determined the geographical position of the positioning device 330, or having deter-mined the position of the vehicle 100 in another way like e.g. input from the driver, it may bepresented on a map, where the position of the vehicle 100 may be marked for example on ascreen or display 320, as illustrated in Figure 2. The display 320 may comprise a touchscreen or similar in some embodiments, i.e. thereby also configured for user input. Also,various information for the driver may be displayed on the display 320.

The vehicle external entity 360 may, when a request is received from any third part, transmita request to the driver of the vehicle 100, asking the driver to confirm additional capacity topick up an additional piece of cargo. Possibly, a time delay estimation may be calculated andpresented to the driver. The driver may reject the additional cargo if the original delivery is time sensitive, for example.

Figure 4 illustrates an embodiment of a system 400 in a vehicle 100, for assisting a vehicleexternal entity 360 in providing a delivery service to a third party 410.

The third party 410 may be any entity that desire transportation of cargo from the pick-uppoint 230 to the destination 220.

The system 400 in the vehicle 100 comprises at least one sensor 380, configured for detect-ing vacant load capacity in the vehicle 100 and also configured for determining size of thedetected vacant load capacity. The system 400 further comprises a positioning device 330,configured for determining geographical position of the vehicle 100. Furthermore, the vehicle100 comprises a navigation unit 335, wherein the destination of the vehicle 100 is stored. ln addition the system 400 comprises a computing unit 310, configured for collecting infor-mation from the sensor 380, the positioning device 330 and the navigation unit 335 andcomposing a message comprising an identification reference of the vehicle 100, the deter-mined size of the vacant load capacity, the determined geographical position of the vehicle100 and the determined destination 220 of the vehicle 100, to be received by the vehicle external entity 360.

The system 400 also comprises a wireless transmitter 350, configured for transmitting thecomposed message, to be received by the vehicle external entity 360. ln some embodiments, the computing unit 310 may further be configured for estimating timeof arrival of the vehicle 100 to the determined destination of the vehicle 100. The computingunit 310 may further be configured for providing the estimated time of arrival in the composedmessage to be received by the vehicle external entity 360.

The transmitted message may be transmitted by means of a wireless signal. The wirelesssignal may be e.g. a Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) signal, or any other wireless signal based on,or at least inspired by wireless communication technology such as Wi-Fi, Wireless LocalArea Network (WLAN), Ultra Mobile Broadband (Ul\/IB), Bluetooth (BT), or infrared transmis- sion, to name but a few possible examples of wireless communications.

Figure 5 illustrates an example of a first method 500 according to an embodiment. The flowchart in Figure 5 shows the method 500 in a vehicle 100, for assisting a vehicle externalentity 360 in providing a delivery service to a third party 410.

The vehicle external entity 360 may comprise a server providing e.g. fleet management ser-vices. Fleet management is a function which allows companies which rely on transportationin business to e.g. remove or reduce the risks associated with vehicle investment, improvingefficiency, productivity and reducing their overall transportation and staff costs, providingcompliance with government legislation etc. These functions may be dealt with by either anin-house fleet-management department or an outsourced fleet-management provider in dif- ferent embodiments.

The vehicle 100 may be any arbitrary kind of means for conveyance, configured for trans-portation of e.g. cargo, such as a truck, a bus, a car, or similar. The vehicle 100 may be driven by a driver, or be autonomous in different embodiments. ln order to correctly be able to assist a vehicle external entity 360 in providing a deliveryservice to a third party 410, the method 500 may comprise a number of steps 501-507. How-ever, some of these steps 501-507 may be performed solely in some alternative embodi-ments, like e.g. step 505 and/ or step 506. Further, the described steps 501-507 may beperformed in a somewhat different chronological order than the numbering suggests. Step504 may be performed before step 503, step 502 and/ or 501 for example in some embodi-ments, just as an example. The method 500 may comprise the subsequent steps: Step 501 comprises detecting vacant load capacity in the vehicle 100.

Vacant load capacity in the vehicle 100 may be detected by one or more sensors 380 in thevehicle 100, such as weight sensors for detecting load capacity in weight. The sensor 380may comprise a camera arranged in the cargo area of the vehicle 100, and appropriate soft-ware for detecting free volume space and/ or floor area in the vehicle 100 in some embodi-ments. The vacant load capacity may be calculated based on measurements made by thevehicle sensors 380 without input from the driver. However, in some other embodiments,vacant load capacity may be detected and/ or confirmed by input from the driver.

Step 502 comprises determining size of the detected 501 vacant load capacity. Step 502and step 501 may be seen as one conjunct method step in some embodiments, or be per- formed simultaneously.

The size of the detected vacant load capacity may be determined by at least one sensor 380in the vehicle 100 in some embodiments. Such sensor 380 may comprise a camera arrangedin the cargo area of the vehicle 100, and appropriate software for detecting free volumespace and/ or floor area in the vehicle 100 in some embodiments. The size of the detectedvacant load capacity may be in weight, in volume or in floor area of the cargo area of thevehicle 100.

The weight of the vehicle 100 may thus be determined by one or more weight sensors 380in the vehicle 100 in some embodiments. However, the vehicle weight may be approximatedto a static value in some embodiments, or determined to one value in a set of static values(no cargo/ half loaded/ loaded). ln other embodiments, for example when the vehicle 100 isa bus, the number of passengers on the bus may be counted, and an estimated averageweight of each passenger may be added to the weight of the vehicle 100. However, in someembodiments the number of passengers on e.g. a bus may be estimated based on statistics,or estimated based on the time of the day, the day of the year etc., as it is known that the number of passengers will increase during rush hours.The size of the detected vacant load may be calculated by the vehicle sensors 380 withoutinput from the driver in some embodiments. However, in some other embodiments, vacant load capacity may be determined and confirmed by input from the driver.

Step 503 comprises determining geographical position of the vehicle 100.

The current vehicle position 210 may be determined by a geographical positioning unit 330in the vehicle 100, such as e.g. a GPS.

However, the current vehicle position 210 may aiternatively be determined by the driver ofthe vehicle 100 and inserted by him/ her, e.g. by writing an address or any other convenientway of determining the vehicle position, such as distance from a reference point measuredby the trip meter and a reference to the road.

Step 504 comprises determining destination 220 of the vehicle 100.

The destination 220 of the vehicle 100 may e.g. be extracted from the geographical position-ing unit 330 or navigator of the vehicle 100, or obtained from the driver, or by determining ascheduled route of the vehicle 100.

Step 505, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises estimating timeof arrival of the vehicle 100 to the determined 504 destination 220 of the vehicle 100.

The expected arrival time may be estimated, based on the determining 503 geographicalposition of the vehicle 100 and the distance between the vehicle position and the determined504 destination. However, the expected arrival time may be estimated based on time table information in some alternative embodiments. ln some embodiment, the time of arrival of the vehicle 100 may be determined based onhistorical statistics, using time of the day, season of the year etc., as input values.

Further, knowledge about any possible ahead traffic jam, accident, road work etc. may be taken into account when estimating the time of arrival.

Step 506, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises extracting drivetime information from a tachograph 305 in the vehicle 100.

The tachograph 305 keeps a record over the driving time and resting periods of the driver,who is obliged by law in some jurisdictions to limit the number of driving hours in a row and/or per day. By extracting this information, it may be avoided to make the driver exceed theallowed amount of driving hours when suggesting new driving orders. Also, the tachograph 11 information may be used for estimating 505 time of arrival, e.g. when the driver has to takea resting break.

Step 507 comprises transmitting a message comprising an identification reference of thevehicle 100, the determined 502 size of the vacant load capacity, the determined 503 geo-graphical position of the vehicle 100 and the determined 504 destination 220 of the vehicle100, to be received by the vehicle external entity 360.

According to some embodiments, the detected 501 vacant load capacity in the vehicle 100and the determined 502 size of the detected 501 vacant load capacity may be confirmed bythe driver in the vehicle 100 before transmitting the message. ln some embodiments, the transmitted message may comprise the estimated 505 time ofarrival. Further, in some embodiments, the transmitted message comprises the extracted 506 drive time information.

The transmitted message may be transmitted by means of a wireless signal. The wirelesssignal may be e.g. a Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) signal, or any other wireless signal based on,or at least inspired by wireless communication technology such as Third Generation Part-nership Project (3GPP 3G), 4G, Wi-Fi, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Ultra MobileBroadband (Ul\/IB), Bluetooth (BT), or infrared transmission, to name but a few possible ex- amples of wireless communications.

Figure 6 illustrates an example of a second method 600 according to an embodiment. Theflow chart in Figure 6 shows the method 600 in in a vehicle external entity 360, configuredfor providing a delivery service to a third party 410.

The vehicle external entity 360 may comprise a server providing e.g. fleet management ser-vices. Fleet management is a function which allows companies which rely on transportationin business to e.g. remove or reduce the risks associated with vehicle investment, improvingefficiency, productivity and reducing their overall transportation and staff costs, providingcompliance with government legislation etc. These functions may be dealt with by either anin-house fleet-management department or an outsourced fleet-management provider in dif-ferent embodiments. An example of such vehicle external entity may be the Scania FleetManagement. 12 Further information concerning e.g. the kind of vehicle 100 such as e.g. a truck, a car trans-porter, a milk truck, a dumper truck etc., and/ or load may be retrieved from a database 370,together with information such as driver, haulier information, contact information to the haul- age company etc.

The vehicle 100 may be any arbitrary kind of means for conveyance, configured for trans-portation of e.g. cargo, such as a truck, a bus, a car, or similar. The vehicle 100 may be driven by a driver, or be autonomous in different embodiments. ln order to correctly be able to provide the delivery service to the third party 410, the method600 may comprise a number of steps 601-609. However, some of these steps 601-609 maybe performed solely in some alternative embodiments, like e.g. step 603, 604, 605, 606, 607,608 and/ or step 609. Further, the described steps 601-609 may be performed in a somewhatdifferent chronological order than the numbering suggests. The method 600 may comprisethe subsequent steps: Step 601 comprises receiving a message comprising an identification reference of a vehicle100, a determined size of a vacant load capacity of the vehicle 100, a determined geograph-ical position of the vehicle 100, and the determined destination 220 of the vehicle 100, fromthe vehicle 100.

The received message may be received over a wireless interface by a wireless signal. Thewireless signal may be e.g. a Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) signal, or any other wireless signalbased on, or at least inspired by wireless communication technology such as Wi-Fi, WirelessLocal Area Network (WLAN), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Bluetooth (BT), or infrared transmission, to name but a few possible examples of wireless communications.

Step 602 comprises storing data comprised in the received 601 message in a database 370, associated with time information.

The database 370 may comprise further information related to the vehicle 100 such as typeof vehicle, contact information to the driver, and/ or vehicle owner, etc.

Step 603, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises detecting dis-tances and time information where vehicles 100 regularly drive with vacant load capacity. 13 ln these embodiments, a candidate vehicle for transportation may be detected, based onhistorical information stored in the database 370.

Step 604, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises extracting storeddata information associated with the received identification reference of the vehicle 100 fromthe database 370.

Such stored data information may comprise e.g. kind of vehicle 100 driver, haulier infor-mation, contact information to the haulage company, driver, etc.

Step 605, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises providing infor-mation associated with the detected 603 distances, time information and vehicle related in-formation to the third party 410.

Thereby the third party 410 is provided with information concerning transportation time, inorder to determine to whether to use the transportation service or not.

Step 606, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises receiving a re-quest for a delivery service from the third party 410, from a pick-up point 230 to a destination220.

The request further may comprise information, e.g. coordinates or address of the pick-uppoint 230 and the destination 220. Also other information such as kind of goods to be deliv-ered, contact information to the third party 410 or a contact person may be provided.

Step 607, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises comparing thereceived 606 request for the delivery service with the stored 602 data in the database 370.

By making a comparison, a vehicle 100 may be detected that is available and appropriatefor delivering the goods.

Step 608, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises detecting a vehi-cle 100 having vacant load capacity and is driving on a route passing the pick-up point 230,to the destination 220.

Step 609, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises presenting infor-mation related to the detected 608 vehicle 100 for the third party 410. 14 The information to be presented may comprise contact information to the driver of the vehicle100 and/ or the haulage company, and/ or information concerning the vehicle 100, such askind of vehicle, amount of vacant capacity of the vehicle 100 etc.

Figure 7 illustrates an embodiment of a vehicle external entity 360, configured for providinga delivery service to a third party 410, which vehicle external entity 360.

The vehicle external entity 360 may comprise a receiver 710 configured for receiving a mes-sage comprising an identification reference of a vehicle 100, a determined size of a vacantload capacity of the vehicle 100, a determined geographical position of the vehicle 100, andthe determined destination 220 of the vehicle 100, from the vehicle 100.

The receiver 710 may also be configured for receiving a request for a delivery service fromthe third party 410, from a pick-up point 230 to a destination 220 in some embodiments.

Furthermore, the vehicle external entity 360 may comprise, or be connected to a database370 configured for storing data comprised in the received message, associated with timeinformation. The database 370 is configured for storing data comprised in the received mes-sage, associated with time information. ln some embodiments, the vehicle external entity 360 in addition may comprise a computingunit 720, configured for detecting distances and time information where vehicles 100 regu-larly drive with vacant load capacity, based on stored data in the database 370, such ashistorical data.

Further the computing unit 720 according to some embodiments may be configured for de-tecting distances and time information where vehicles 100 regularly drive with vacant loadcapacity. The computing unit 720 may also be configured for providing information associ-ated with the detected distances, time information and vehicle related information to the thirdparty 410.

The computing unit 720 may in some embodiments comprise extracting stored data infor-mation associated with the received identification reference of the vehicle 100 from the da-tabase 370.

Furthermore, the computing unit 720 may in addition be configured for comparing a receivedrequest for the delivery service with the stored data in the database 370. The computing unit720 may also be configured for detecting a vehicle 100 having vacant load capacity and isdriving on a route passing the pick-up point 230, to the destination 220. Further the compu-ting unit 720 may be configured for presenting information related to the detected vehicle100 for the third party 410.

The computing unit 720 may comprise a processor configured for performing at least someof the previously described steps 601-609 according to the method 600, in some embodi- mentS.

Such processor may comprise one or more instances of a processing circuit, i.e. a CentralProcessing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, a processing circuit, a processor, an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processing logic that may in-terpret and execute instructions. The herein utilised expression “processor” may thus repre-sent a processing circuitry comprising a plurality of processing circuits, such as, e.g., any,some or all of the ones enumerated above.

Furthermore, the vehicle external entity 360 in addition may comprise a transmitter 730 con-figured for providing information associated with the detected distances, time informationand vehicle related information to the third party 410.

The previously described steps 601-609 to be performed in the vehicle external entity 360may be implemented through the one or more computing unit 720, together with computerprogram product for performing at least some of the functions of the steps 601-609. Thus acomputer program product, comprising instructions for performing the steps 601-609 in thevehicle external entity 360 may perform the method 600 comprising at least some of thesteps 601-609 for providing a delivery service to a third party 410 by when the computerprogram is loaded into the computing unit 720 of the vehicle external entity 360.

The computer program product mentioned above may be provided for instance in the formof a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing at least some of the step601 -609 according to some embodiments when being loaded into the computing unit 720 ofthe vehicle external entity 360. The data carrier may be, e.g., a hard disk, a CD ROIVI disc,a memory stick, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device or any other appropri-ate medium such as a disk or tape that may hold machine readable data in a non-transitorymanner. The computer program product may furthermore be provided as computer program 16 code on a server and downloaded to the vehicle, and/ or vehicle external entity 360 remotely, e.g., over an Internet or an intranet connection.

The terminology used in the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the accompa-nying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the described methods 500, 600; the vehicleexternal entity 360; the computer program and/ or the vehicle 100. Various changes, substi-tutions and/ or alterations may be made, without departing from invention embodiments asdefined by the appended claims.

As used herein, the term "and/ or" comprises any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items. The term “or” as used herein, is to be interpreted as a mathematicalOR, i.e., as an inclusive disjunction; not as a mathematical exclusive OR (XOR), unless ex-pressly stated otherwise. ln addition, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are to be inter-preted as “at least one", thus also possibly comprising a plurality of entities of the same kind,unless expressly stated othen/vise. lt will be further understood that the terms "includes","comprises", "including" and/ or "comprising", specifies the presence of stated features, ac-tions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/ or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, actions, integers, steps, operations, ele-ments, components, and/ or groups thereof. A single unit such as e.g. a processor may fulfilthe functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures arerecited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of thesemeasures cannot be used to advantage. A computer program may be stored/ distributed ona suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium suppliedtogether with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms such as via Internet or other Wired or wireless communication system.

Claims (6)

1. A method (500) in a vehicle (100) for assisting a vehicle external entity (360) inproviding a delivery service to a third party (410), which method (500) comprises:detecting (501) vacant load capacity in the vehicle (100);determining (502) size of the detected (501) vacant load capacity;determining (503) geographical position of the vehicle (100);504) destination (220) of the vehicle (100); and507) a message comprising an identification reference of the vehicle determining (transmitting ((100), the determined (502) size of the vacant load capacity, the determined (503) geograph-ical position of the vehicle (100) and the determined (504) destination (220) of the vehicle(100), to be received by the vehicle external entity (360) wherein the vacant load capacity inthe vehicle (100) is detected (501) and the size of the detected (501) vacant load capacity is determined (502) by at least one sensor (380) in the vehicle (100).

2. The method (500) according to claim 1, further comprising: estimating (505) time of arrival of the vehicle (100) to the determined (504) destina-tion of the vehicle (100); and wherein the transmitted (507) message comprises the esti-mated (505) time of arrival.

3. The method (500) according to any of claims 1 or 2, further comprising:extracting (506) drive time information from a tachograph (305) in the vehicle (100);and wherein the transmitted (507) message comprises the extracted (506) drive time infor- mation.

4. The method (500) according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the detected (501 ) vacantload capacity in the vehicle (100) and the determined (502) size of the detected (501) vacantload capacity is confirmed by a driver in the vehicle (100) before transmitting (507) the mes- sage.

5. A system (400) in a vehicle (100) for assisting a vehicle external entity (360) inproviding a delivery service to a third party (410), which system (400) comprises: At least one sensor (380), configured for detecting vacant load capacity in the vehi-cle (100) and also configured for determining size of the detected vacant load capacity; a positioning device (330), configured for determining geographical position of thevehicle (100); a navigation unit (335), wherein the destination of the vehicle (100) is stored; 18 a computing unit (310), configured for collecting information from the at least onesensor (380), the positioning device (330) and the navigation unit (335) and composing amessage comprising an identification reference of the vehicle (100), the determined size ofthe vacant load capacity, the determined geographical position of the vehicle (100) and thedetermined destination (220) of the vehicle (100), to be received by the vehicle external entity(360); and a wireless transmitter (350), configured for transmitting the composed message, tobe received by the vehicle external entity (360).

6. The system (400) according to claim 5, wherein the computing unit (310) is furtherconfigured for estimating time of arrival of the vehicle (100) to the determined destination ofthe vehicle (100); and for providing the estimated time of arrival in the composed messageto be received by the vehicle external entity (360).