SE542320C2

SE542320C2 - A control arrangement and a method for organizing and monitoring transport assignment in a transport management system

Info

Publication number: SE542320C2
Application number: SE1850270A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Esbjörn Franzén; Magnus Adolfson
Original assignee: Scania Cv Ab
Priority date: 2018-03-12
Filing date: 2018-03-12
Publication date: 2020-04-07
Also published as: SE1850270A1; DE102019001187A1

Abstract

A method in a control arrangement and a control arrangement for organizing and monitoring transport assignment in a transport management system. The method comprising obtaining (S1) a destination position and desired time of arrival to the destination position for a transport assignment assigned to a vehicle, receiving (S2), via a user interface provided on a display, user input defining a selected time delay limit for the transport assignment, for when a selected transport organizer should be notified; receiving (S3) real time position information of the vehicle; determining (S4) an estimated time of arrival, ETA, to the destination position for the transport assignment based on the position information using a routing engine; determining (S6) whether the time delay limit is exceeded based on the ETA, the desired time of arrival and the time delay limit; and notifying (S7) the selected transport organizer upon the time delay limit being exceeded.

Description

A control arrangement and a method for organizing and monitoring transport assignment in a transport management system Technical field The present disclosure relates to technology for managing transport assignments using vehicles for executing the assignments. In particular, the disclosure relates to a method for organizing and monitoring transport assignment of a transport assignment management system, and a control arrangement for organizing and monitoring transport arrangement. The present disclosure also relates to a computer program and a computer program product.

Background A haulage contractor often uses an off-board fleet management system (FMS) to manage the vehicles in its fleet. The vehicles of the fleet each send their position to the FMS, and the positions of the vehicles are displayed on a digital map of the FMS. The operator of the FMS will then continuously know where each vehicle is in relation to the map.

When planning transport assignments, a transport planner or organizer of the haulage contractor matches suitable vehicles and drivers with assignments. The drivers are informed of their respective assignment, typically via a terminal, and starts driving in accordance with the assignment. The transport organizer might spend a lot of time figuring out if each transport assignment is executed as desired by looking at the map in the FMS, locating the vehicle and estimating if it is on time or not. This is very time consuming if the haulage contractor has more than a few vehicles. It is also very hard to know if the assignment is on time or not, especially for transports to new locations. Further, the transport organizer builds up a lot of experience about the transport network and becomes a resource with knowledge that is difficult to replace for the haulage contractor.

US2016217399A1 discloses a system for tracking shipments in a supply chain. The route and shipment statuses are displayed to the user. Any delay in shipment is detected and a description of the delay and an alternate transport object node is presented on a user interface presented on a display. A delay is detected by comparing the estimated arrival time with a prior estimate of the arrival time, and the user is alerted.

Summary It is thus an object of the present disclosure to provide a method for organizing and monitoring transport assignments, with respect to the circumstances of the transport assignments such as distance and desired timing of delivery or pickup, such that the transport organizer is facilitated in keeping track of any delay and has time to react on the delay. It is a further object to provide a tool for the transport organizer to enable action upon delayed transport assignments.

These objects, and others, are at least partly achieved by the method and control arrangement according to the independent claims, and by the embodiments of the dependent claims.

According to a first aspect, the disclosure relates to a method for organizing and monitoring transport assignment of a transport management system. The method comprises obtaining a destination position and desired time of arrival to the destination position for a transport assignment assigned to a vehicle and receiving, via a user interface provided on a display, user input defining a selected time delay limit for the transport assignment, for when a selected transport organizer should be notified. The method also comprises receiving real time position information of the vehicle, determining an estimated time of arrival, ETA, to the destination position for the transport assignment based on the position information using a routing engine, determining whether the time delay limit is exceeded based on the ETA, the desired time of arrival and the time delay limit, and notifying the selected transport organizer upon the time delay limit being exceeded.

With the method, the transport organizer can monitor their transport assignments in real time and become notified of any deviation so that they can take action in time and thereby, in some cases, mitigate the delay. Thereby, the transport organizer will be noticed upon delays, and does not have to constantly monitor if there is a delay. The transport organizer can focus on transport assignments with delays that are not neglectable. Further, as a specific or individual time delay limit for the transport assignment can be selected, the transport planner can tailor or adapt timing for when a selected transport organizer should be notified.

Circumstances of the transport assignments, such as distance, destination and desired timing of delivery or pickup, may then be taken into account, such that the transport organizer is facilitated in keeping track of any delay and has time to react on the delay. For example, if it is desired that the delivery or pickup is exactly on time, the time delay limit may be set to a small amount, such as 10 to 15 minutes, but if the time widow for the delivery or pickup is larger, for example 1 to 4 hours, the time delay limit may be set to a larger amount such as 30 minutes to 2 hours.

According to some embodiments, the method comprises calculating an estimated time delay for the transport assignment using the ETA and the desired time of arrival, and providing, via a user interface provided on a display, the estimated time delay and identification information of the transport assignment. The estimated time delay and identification information of the transport assignment are provided to a user via the user interface. Thus, a user such as the transport organizer, can see the real delay relating to an identifiable transport assignment and the vehicle used for the transport assignment.

According to some embodiments, the method comprises performing the previous method steps for a plurality of transport assignments, and providing, via the user interface provided on the display, the estimated time delay and an identification of the transport assignment in an order depending on the size of the respective estimated time delay of the transport assignment. Thereby, the assignments will be presented to the transport organizer in an order of importance or delay, such that he or she does not have to spend time sorting them. The risk of missing any delay is thereby decreased.

According to some embodiments, the method comprises providing, via the user interface provided on the display, the transport assignment with the greatest estimated time delay in an uppermost position of all the transport assignments. Thereby, the transport organizer will know that the uppermost is the most important one that he or she should pay attention to.

According to some embodiments, the method comprises receiving, via a user interface provided on a display, user input defining a selected transport organizer of the transport assignment to be notified in the notifying step. Thereby, one particular transport organizer from several can be selected. This is beneficial for example when changing time shifts for the transport organizers or during vacation etc., as a transport organizer not on duty does not have to be disturbed.

According to some embodiments, the method comprises receiving, via a user interface provided on a display, user input defining a client to be notified in the notifying step and notifying the client upon the time delay limit being exceeded. Thereby, the client may have time to change their process and for example unload another vehicle first.

According to some embodiments, the method comprises determining the ETA for each transport assignment also based on drive time parameters for a driver assigned with the transport assignment. Thereby, a more accurate ETA can be determined.

According to some embodiments, the method comprises determining the ETA for each transport assignment also based on parameters such as vehicle maintenance parameters, available driving energy parameters, weather condition parameters, and/or traffic condition parameters. Thereby, a more accurate ETA can be determined.

According to some embodiments, the method comprises collecting data describing transport progress of the transport assignment(s). This data can be used to retrieve information to improve the transport organizing.

According to a second aspect, the disclosure relates to a computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method according to any one of the embodiments as described herein.

According to a third aspect, the disclosure relates to a computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method according to any one of the embodiments as described herein.

According to a fourth aspect, the disclosure relates to a control arrangement for organizing and monitoring transport assignment. The control arrangement is configured to obtain a destination position and desired time of arrival to the destination position for a transport assignment assigned to a vehicle, and to receive, via a user interface provided on a display, user input defining a selected time delay limit for the transport assignment for when a selected transport organizer should be notified. The control arrangement is also configure to receive real time position information of the vehicle and to determine an estimated time of arrival, ETA, to the destination position for the transport assignment based on the position information using a routing engine. The control arrangement is further configured to determine whether the time delay limit is exceeded based on the ETA, the desired time of arrival and the time delay limit and to notify a selected transport organizer upon the time delay limit being exceeded.

According to some embodiments, the control arrangement is configured to calculate an estimated time delay for the transport assignment using the ETA and the desired time of arrival, and to provide, via a user interface provided on a display, the estimated time delay and identification information of the transport assignment.

According to some embodiments, the control arrangement is configured to monitor a plurality of transport assignments and to provide, via the user interface provided on the display, the estimated time delay and an identification of the transport assignment in an order depending on the size of the respective estimated time delay of the transport assignment of the plurality of transport assignments.

According to some embodiments, the control arrangement is configured to provide, via the user interface provided on the display, the transport assignment with the greatest estimated time delay in an uppermost position of all the transport assignments.

Brief description of the drawings Fig. 1 illustrates a transport planning system including a control arrangement according to some embodiments.

Fig. 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method for organizing and monitoring transport assignment of a transport management system.

Fig. 3 illustrates a user interface for receiving user input defining information of a transport assignment.

Fig. 4 illustrates a user interface for providing information of estimated time delays and identification information of transport assignments.

Fig. 5 illustrates a user interface for providing information of estimated time delays and identification information of transport assignments on a map.

Fig. 6 illustrates a control arrangement according to some embodiments.

Detailed description The disclosure presents a method and a control arrangement for organizing and monitoring transport assignments, with respect to the circumstances of the transport assignments, such that the transport organizer is facilitated in keeping track of any delay and has time to react on the delay. When organizing a transport assignment, the transport organizer defines a time limit of the delay of the assignment. If the delay becomes greater than the limit, the transport organizer is notified. Thereby, the transport organizer may avoid getting notified of, for example small delays, that has low impact on the transport assignment. The transport organizer does not have to keep track on the progress off the transport assignment or assignments on a map, instead he or she can focus on handling delays that are considered relevant.

Fig. 1 illustrates a transport planning system 1 including a control arrangement 9 for organizing and monitoring transport assignments. The control arrangement 9 may be thus be implemented as part of a transport planning system. The transport planning system 1 is an off-board system, for example implemented totally or partly in the cloud 8, that is, in one or a plurality of servers. The cloud 8 is in the Fig. 1 illustrated as being in communication with the control arrangement 9, but it should be understood that the control arrangement 9 itself may be implemented in the cloud 8. The transport planning system 1 monitors one or several vehicles 3, typically a fleet of vehicles of a haulage contractor. Each vehicle 3 is, or can be, assigned with a transport assignment. A transport assignment means a transport from a start position (departure position) to a destination position, in order to transport cargo or people. The positions are geographical positions, for example latitude and longitude defining a position on the ground. Each transport assignment also has a desired time of arrival to the destination position. Some destination points are pictured in Fig. 1 as a factory or a shop 11. A transport organizer is a user of the transport planning system 1 that may plan, organize and monitor transport assignments. A client is a company or person that has ordered the transport.

In a typical implementation, the control arrangement 9 comprises control circuitry such as a control unit. The control arrangement 9 may be connected to, or part of, a computer 2A, a mobile device 2B and/or a remote server. The computer may be a computer that a transport organizer has access to. The mobile device 2B may be a mobile phone or tablet accessible by the transport organizer. The control arrangement 9 is further connected to or comprises at least one display 4A, 4B, for example a display 4B of the mobile device 2B and/or a display 4A of the computer 4A.

The control arrangement 9 obtains, via one or several communication interfaces, information from a plurality of different data sources, such as a plurality of vehicles 3 providing information about their positions, a data source 5 providing parameters influencing Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) and a data source 7 providing drive time parameters. Some data sources are in the Fig. 1 pictured as data bases, but the data sources may instead be the vehicles 3 themselves or some kind of service. Information may also be uploaded from the vehicles 3 to a database before it is communicated to the control arrangement 9. The control arrangement 9 is also connected to a routing engine 6 via a communication interface. The interfaces may be wired or wireless connections.

The control arrangement 9 is programmed to implement a method for organizing and monitoring transport assignment of the transport management system. The method is to be used by a transport organizer that has as a task to organize and monitor transport assignments of at least one and mostly a plurality of the vehicles 3. The method may be implemented by the herein described hardware, thus the control arrangement 9. For example, the method may be provided as a web service or cloud service 8. The service is accessible via a computer or mobile device. This setup enables a provider of the service to easily support and manage the service, and a user such as a transport organizer of a haulage contractor can gain access to the service via the computer or mobile device. The method will in the following be described with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 2.

The method comprises obtaining S1 a destination position and desired time of arrival to the destination position for a transport assignment assigned to a vehicle. The destination position and the desired time of arrival to the destination position may be input by a transport organizer to a user interface provided on a display, for example any of the mentioned displays 4A, 4B. Alternatively, the destination position and desired time of arrival may be retrieved from a data base where transport assignments have been saved.

The method also comprises receiving S2, via a user interface provided on a display, user input defining a selected time delay limit for the transport assignment, for when a selected transport organizer should be notified. The selected time delay limit is thus knowingly selected by the transport organizer, such that the transport organizer can be notified at a time when the transport organizer still will have time to re-organize the transport assignment in order to reduce the time delay, without being disturbed by smaller delays. A small delay is thus a delay that does not become greater that the selected time delay limit. The selected time delay limit may thus be adapted to each separate transport assignment.

An example of a user interface 20 is illustrated in Fig. 3. The user interface 20 includes an input box “N” where the Name of the transport assignment can be inputted. The user interface also includes an input box “V” where the Vehicle of the transport assignment can be selected. The Vehicle may be selected by clicking on a vehicle on an interactive map in the same user interface, for example any of the vehicles shown in in the map 40 in Fig. 5. Alternatively, the identification of the vehicle may be a registration number or other identification data, which is inputted by the transport organizer in the input box “V”. The start position may be input into an input box “P1 ”, and the starting time may be input into an input box “T 1 ”. Alternatively, the start position and staring time may be default values and define the present position of the vehicle and the present time. The destination position may be input into an input box “P2”, and the desired time of arrival may be input into an input box “T2”. A selected Client to be notified upon the vehicle being close to the destination position, may be input by user selection in the input box “C”, and a desired Time In Advance for notifying the Client may be input to an input box “TIA”. A selected Transport Organizer to be notified upon a time delay of the transport assignment goes beyond the selected time delay limit may be input by user selection in the input box “TO”, and a desired Delay Time Limit for notifying the Transport Organizer may be input to an input box “DT”.

Thus, the transport organizer is entering the start position and destination position, for example as coordinates, and the time the transport need to arrive at the destination position. In the view of Fig. 3 the transport organizer may also specify when the transport organizer wants to be notified of a delay and who to be notified. For example, the transport organizer wants to be notified if the transport is delayed more than 30 minutes. In some cases, it might be possible to take some actions in order to mitigate the delay. In some embodiments the client is notified of the delay automatically so that the client knows about the delay. In some embodiments it is also possible to specify, in the user interface 20, how much time in advance the transport organizer and/or the client wants to be notified of the arrival to the destination. Thereby, the transport organizer/client can prepare to receive the shipment. A new assignment may be saved by pressing on an icon “Save” or cancelled by pressing on an icon “Cancel”.

The method further comprises receiving S3 real time position information of the vehicle. The real time position information is continually retrieved, or at certain interval. The method steps herein described may be continually repeated, or each time a new position of the vehicle is obtained. The real time position information may be retrieved via a data source such as the vehicle itself. The method further comprises determining S4 an estimated time of arrival, ETA, to the destination position for the transport assignment based on the position information using a routing engine. The ETA may be retrieved automatically from the routing engine 4, or it may be calculated by the control arrangement 9. In one embodiment, the method comprises determining S4 the ETA for each transport assignment also based on drive time parameters for a driver assigned with the transport assignment. The drive time parameters defines for how long time the driver is allowed to drive, when he or she has to take a break and so on. Thus, the calculation of the ETA is dependent on such parameters and will here thus take such driving parameters into account. For example, a lunch break of for example 45 minutes stipulated by the law may be taken into account in calculating the ETA. The ETA will then be put forward/extended with 45 minutes.

In some embodiments, the method comprises determining S4 the ETA for each transport assignment also based on parameters such as vehicle maintenance parameters, available driving energy parameters, weather condition parameters, and/or traffic condition parameters. Such parameters might also affect the calculation or determination of ETA. Theses parameters may come from various sources, and are for simplicity here pictured as coming from the same data source 5 (Fig. 1). Vehicle maintenance parameters are for example diagnostic data of components of a vehicle 3. A vehicle maintenance parameter may indicate the need for exchange of a component, and thus implicitly the remaining drive time for the vehicle 3. An available driving energy parameter is for example the remaining amount of fuel, electrical power or gas for a vehicle 3. The available driving energy may be translated to a remaining possible drive time or distance before the vehicle 3 has to be refueled. Vehicle maintenance parameters and available driving energy/remaining possible drive time or distance, may be communicated to the control unit 9 from the vehicles themselves, or be uploaded to a database such as the data source 5 before it is communicated to the control unit 9. A weather condition parameter is indicating the weather where the vehicle 3 will travel or is travelling. For example, if it is heavy rain or snowfall along the road the vehicle is travelling, the vehicle 3 might have to stop or slow down. A traffic condition parameter is a parameter indicating the traffic conditions where the vehicle 3 will drive or is driving. For example, a traffic condition parameter may indicate a traffic congestion ahead, or a road work where the vehicle 3 has to slow down.

Thus, if a vehicle maintenance parameter indicates that a component has to be replaced and the vehicle cannot be driven anymore, such indications are taken into account in calculating the ETA. Also, if the available driving energy parameter indicates a very low amount of remaining driving energy, such indication may also be taken into account in calculating the ETA. For example, if the vehicle has so stop for refueling, this time delay may be taken into account in calculating the ETA. Additionally, if a weather condition parameter is indicating that the vehicle has to drive with a lowered speed, such indication is taken into account in calculating the ETA. Moreover, if a traffic condition parameter indicates a bad traffic conditions such as a traffic congestion, such indication is taken into account in calculating the ETA. Thus, the method may take such circumstances into account to make the estimate of the time of arrival more accurate. By taking into account is here meant to re-calculate or re-determine the ETA based on any time delay or time saving indicated by the parameters, such that the ETA becomes as true as possible.

In one embodiment, the method comprises calculating S5 an estimated time delay for the transport assignment using the ETA and the desired time of arrival. For example, if the ETA is 17:00, and the desired time of arrival is 18:00, the estimated time delay is one hour (thus the difference between the ETA and the desired time of arrival). The method also comprises determining S6 whether the time delay limit is exceeded based on the ETA, the desired time of arrival and the time delay limit. For example, if an estimated time delay of a transport assignment is one hour and the estimated time delay limit is 30 minutes, the time delay limit is exceeded by 30 minutes. One way to determine if the time delay limit is exceeded is thus to estimate the time delay of the transport assignment and compare it with the time delay limit. If the estimated time delay is greater than the delay limit, the transport assignment is delayed. If the time limit is exceeded, the method comprises notifying the transport organizer of the delay. Thus, the method further comprises notifying S7 the selected transport organizer upon the time delay limit being exceeded. The transport organizer can then be notified in advance if, for example, the driver does not have enough drive time left. If that is the case the transport organizer can dispatch a new driver. The exact drive time of the driver will be known since that information is available from the tachograph. If the time limit is not exceeded, the estimated time delay is then equal to or below the delay limit, the method returns to step S3 and continues to receive real time position information of the vehicle of the transport assignment. If the transport organizer is notified in a step S7, the method may thereafter also return to step S3 and continue to receive real time position information of the vehicle of the transport assignment.

In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving S2, via a user interface provided on a display, user input defining a selected transport organizer of the transport assignment to be notified in the notifying step S7. A dedicated transport organizer may then be selected, that is notified of any delay. The user interface may for example implement a drop-down list with information identifying one or several selectable transport organizers, and notification means to the respective transport organizer. The transport organizer may also manually write information identifying a transport organizer to be notified, such as a name and surname, and some kind of notification means such as a telephone number and/or e-mail address to the transport organizer.

In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving S2, via a user interface provided on a display, user input defining a client to be notified in the notifying step S7, and notifying S7 the client upon the time delay limit being exceeded. Thus, also the client may be notified upon the time delay being exceeded.

However, as the transport organizer may want to try to decrease the time delay, it might be desired that the client is not notified until a later time. The transport organizer may for example try to re-organize the transport assignment, by finding a new faster route, changing vehicle or driver.

In one embodiment, the method comprises providing S8, via a user interface provided on a display, the estimated time delay and identification information of the transport assignment. Thus, the estimated time delay is displayed as a time for the assignment displaying how delayed the transport is.

In most cases a plurality of transport assignments are monitored. The method thus comprises performing the method steps for a plurality of transport assignments. The method may then comprise to provide S8 the estimated time delay and identification information of the transport assignment for the plurality of transport assignments. Fig. 4 illustrates a screen shot of a user interface 30 where the estimated time delay and identification information of a plurality of transport assignments are provided. The user interface thus provides an overview of the transport assignments and how much time they are delayed. Four different transport assignments are illustrated, here named A1, A2 and A3 thus their respective identification information. For each transport assignment, the desired time of arrival and the estimated time delay is provided on the display. Flere, also a new estimated time of arrival is provided. The times are shown, together with bars in order to visualize the times and make the understanding of a time delay easier. As an example, the transport assignment A1 has a delay of 47 minutes. The delay is displayed in numbers before the bar of the transport assignment. The desired time of arrival to the destination point is 17:35. The ETA is 18:22. The delay is thus the difference between 18:22 and 17:35, thus 47 minutes. The desired time of arrival as well as the ETA is displayed in numbers above the bar. The bar has a hatched portion to visualize the progress of the vehicle to the desired time of arrival. The bar is extended beyond the desired time of arrival to visualize that the arrival will be later than desired. The time delay limit is here set to be 10 minutes. As the time delay is 47 minutes and thus greater than 10 minutes, the transport organizer is notified of the delay.

The transport assignment A2 has a delay of 7 minutes. The delay is also here displayed in numbers before the bar of the transport assignment. The desired time of arrival to the destination point is 17:30. The ETA is 17:37. The delay is thus the difference between 17:37 and 17:30, thus 7 minutes. The desired time of arrival as well as the ETA is displayed in numbers above the bar. Also here, the bar has a hatched portion to visualize the progress of the vehicle to the desired time of arrival. The bar is extended beyond the desired time of arrival to visualize that the arrival will be later than desired. The time delay limit is here set to be 5 minutes. As the time delay is 7 minutes and thus greater than 5 minutes, the transport organizer is notified of the delay.

The transport assignment A3 does not have a delay, it will instead come 10 minutes too early to the destination position. The time period the vehicle is ahead is displayed in numbers before the bar of the transport assignment. The desired time of arrival to the destination point is 18:00. The ETA is 18:10. The time period ahead is thus the difference between 18:10 and 18:00, thus 10 minutes. The desired time of arrival is displayed in numbers above the bar. Also here the bar has a hatched portion to visualize the progress of the vehicle to the desired time of arrival. The time delay limit is here set to be 8 minutes. As the time difference is 10 minutes and thus greater than 8 minutes, the transport organizer is notified of the time period ahead of the vehicle.

The method may also include to notify the selected transport organizer and/or the client when closing in to the destination point. The method may thus include to receive, via a user interface provided on a display, user input defining a selected time in advance for notifying upon arrival of the vehicle of the transport assignment to the destination. The time in advance may be e.g. 10 minutes before the estimated time of arrival. The method may also include to select which client to be notified. Thus, the method may then include receiving, via a user interface provided on a display, user input defining a selected client of the transport assignment to be notified. The method may further include notifying the client upon the time in advance being exceeded by the vehicle with the transport assignment, thus the vehicle is on or has exceeded the time in advance.

As can be seen from Fig. 4, the transport assignments are displayed in a certain order based on the size of the estimated time delay. Thus, the method may comprise providing S8, via the user interface provided on the display, the estimated time delay and an identification of the transport assignment in an order depending on the size of the respective estimated time delay of the transport assignment. As can be seen from Fig. 3, the transport assignment with the greatest estimated time delay is displayed in an uppermost position on the display, and the remaining transport assignments are displayed in a decreasing order based on the size of their time delay. Thus, the method may comprise providing S8, via the user interface provided on the display, the transport assignment with the greatest estimated time delay in an uppermost position of all the transport assignments. The user interface may have a scrolling function, such that the transport organizer may scroll to see more transport assignments, if the display is not large enough to display all the transport assignments.

Alternatively, the method may comprise providing S8, via the user interface provided on the display, the estimated time delay and an identification of the transport assignment in an order depending on the importance of the respective the transport assignment. Each transport assignment may be assigned an importance factor, for example a number “10” if it is very important and a number “1” if it is of low importance. A number “5” may indicate a medium importance. The transport assignments may then be provided in an order with regard to the size of the importance factor. For example, the method may include providing S8, via the user interface provided on the display, the transport assignment with the greatest importance factor in an uppermost position of all the transport assignments. The other traffic assignments may be sorted in a descending order with regards to their importance factors. The importance factor may be selected and set to each transport assignment via a user interface, or may be set in advance. The above methods may be combined, and the transport assignments may be both sorted and presented based on the size of the time delay and the size of the importance factor. Thus, the transport with the greatest sum of time delay and importance factor may be presented first, for example in an uppermost position, and so on. The importance factor and time delay may be scaled and/or weighted.

Fig. 5 illustrates the transport assignments A1 and A2 that are delayed, on an exemplary digital map 40. This illustration may be a complement to the view shown in Fig. 4, and the views in the figures may be shown side by side or partly overlapping on a display. In the map 40 in Fig. 5, the starting position (the departure) and the destination position are each marked up with a dot. Each transport assignment is marked up with an arrow or line from the starting position to the destination position. The delay of each transport assignment is shown along the arrow, as a number and an identification name of the transport assignment, thus A1 or A2. By clicking on the transport assignment, the transport organizer may be provided with more information about the assignment. It should be understood that all ongoing transport assignments and available vehicles could be indicated on the map 40, the illustrated vehicles are only for illustration.

In one embodiment, the method comprises collecting S9 data describing the performance of the transport assignment(s). The data may be analyzed to see trends etc., in order to improve on planning transport assignments. The data may be collected in a database for further analysis.

In the following more examples related to Fig. 1 will be explained. A vehicle 3 is typically a work vehicle such as truck. It is in some countries obligatory to install a digital tachograph in new vehicles having a mass of more than 3.5 tonnes (in goods transport) and carrying more than 9 persons including the driver (in passenger transport). The tachograph is a device that records the driving time, breaks, rest periods as well as periods of other work undertaken by a driver.

Council Regulation (EU) N° 165/2014 on recording equipment in road transport provides the basis for the tachograph. This helps to enforce the rules on driving times and rest periods and monitor the driving times of professional drivers in order to prevent fatigue and to guarantee fair competition and road safety. The system includes a printer for use in road side inspections and the driver typically has a card incorporating a microchip, which the driver must insert into the tachograph when taking control of the vehicle. The driver thus has to register onto the tachograph, and the driver’s identity and drive time parameters can then be saved to the tachograph of the vehicle. Thus, the tachograph saves drive time parameters of the driver driving the vehicle, such as driving length and rest periods. The drive time parameters of each vehicle 3 may be provided to the control arrangement 9. In Fig. 1 the drive time parameters are pictured as data source 7, and this data source 7 may thus be one or several tachographs of the vehicles 3, or another data source where to these drive time parameters are uploaded. A data source may e.g. be a database in a server. In some countries, there is no tachograph in the vehicles themselves. The control arrangement 9 may then keep track of drive time parameters by monitoring the actual drive time for each driver against stipulated driving times and rest periods.

The control arrangement 9 is configured to obtain a destination position and desired time of arrival to the destination position for a transport assignment assigned to a vehicle 3. As previously explained, the destination position and desired time of arrival may be input by a transport organizer to a user interface provided on a display 4A, 4B. The user interface is configured to enable communication with a user. The user interface may be a web interface or a mobile application. Alternatively, the destination position and desired time of arrival may be retrieved from a data base where transport assignments have been saved. The control arrangement 9 is further configured to receive, via a user interface provided on a display, user input defining a selected time delay limit for the transport assignment for when a selected transport organizer should be notified. Thus, the transport organizer specifies a time delay limit for the transport assignment, according to the knowledge of the transport organizer. The control arrangement 9 is further configured to receive real time position information of the vehicle 3. It is common today that vehicles are connected to a backend such as a server managed by for example the vehicle manufacturer, using standard wireless and wired telecommunication techniques e.g. 3G or LTE standardised by 3GPP. The purpose of such a connection is typically for the vehicles to be able to report their own vehicle data, such as their position. The real time position information may be position data defining latitude and longitude for the vehicle 3. The position information is typically retrieved from a data source via a wireless interface, for example a data source such as positioning unit in the vehicle 3 itself, configured to determine the position of the vehicle. The positioning unit may for example be configured to determine a geographical position of the vehicle based on e.g. a satellite navigation system such as the Navigation Signal Timing and Ranging (Navistar), Global Positioning System (GPS), Differential GPS (DGPS), Galileo, GLONASS, or the like. The positioning unit may alternatively be configured to determine a geographical position based on relative distance detection to known positions, or based on determining signal strength in one or several signals from a base station or similar, and determine the position of the vehicle with triangulation. Each such positioning unit is configured to generate a position signal or position data with the position of the vehicle 3, and to send it to the control unit 9 via a wireless interface. The positioning unit may for example be a stand-alone GPS unit or a mobile phone in the vehicle.

The control arrangement 9 is further configured to determine an estimated time of arrival, ETA, to the destination position for the transport assignment based on the position information using a routing engine 6. The routing engine 6 may be a regular routing engine as found in for example Google Maps. The routing service may be access via an internet connection. The start position of the vehicle 3 is for example retrieved from the position information of the vehicle 3. The start position and the destination position are inputted to the routing engine 6, which will find and provide a suggested route for the transport assignment. When the route is known, an ETA can be determined or calculated for the vehicle 3 and thus the transport assignment. The ETA may be calculated and provided automatically from the routing engine 6, or it may be calculated by the control arrangement 9. The routing engine 6 may also take traffic conditions parameters into consideration as to give as good an estimate as possible. The control arrangement 9 is further configured to determine whether the time delay limit is exceeded based on the ETA, the desired time of arrival and the time delay limit. The control arrangement 9 is for example configured to calculate an estimated time delay for the transport assignment using the ETA and the desired time of arrival. For example, by comparing the ETA and the desired time of arrival, the estimated time delay can be calculated. The estimated time delay is thus the actual delay of the transport assignment. The control arrangement 9 is further configured to notify a selected transport organizer upon the time delay limit being exceeded. Thus, if the estimated time delay is greater than the time delay limit, then the selected transport organizer is notified. The notification may be delivered as a message, for example a text message, a data message, a voice message, an e-mail etc., to a mobile device or computer of the transport organizer via for example a software application. The notification may include an internet link to the view of Fig. 4, additionally also to Fig. 5, or to more information of just the specific transport assignment. The transport organizer will then immediately be notified of any delay that is greater than the specified time delay limit for each transport assignment and can take action if possible.

Thus, in order to aid the transport organizer in monitoring the one or several transport assignments, the control arrangement 9 is in one embodiment configured to provide, via a user interface provided on a display, the estimated time delay and identification information of the transport assignment. For example, the control arrangement 9 may be configured to provide to a user such as the transport organizer, via the user interface provided on the display, the estimated time delay and an identification of the transport assignment in an order depending on the size of the respective estimated time delay of the transport assignment of the plurality of transport assignments. As illustrated in Fig. 4, the control arrangement 9 may be configured to provide, via the user interface provided on the display, the transport assignment with the greatest estimated time delay in an uppermost position of all the transport assignments.

Fig. 7 illustrates a control arrangement 9 according to an example embodiment. The control arrangement 9 is for example an off-board system also referred to as a backend that is typically implemented in an external server, such as a server at the vehicle manufacturer, haulage contractor, or a cloud server.

In a typical implementation, the control arrangement 9 comprises a processor 91, a communication interface 92 and memory 93.

The processor 91 may comprise one or more instances of a processing circuit, i.e. a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, a processing circuit, a processor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processing logic that may interpret and execute instructions. The herein utilised expression “processor” may thus represent a processing circuitry comprising a plurality of processing circuits, such as, e.g., any, some or all of the ones enumerated above. The memory 93 comprises one or several memory units. A memory unit may comprise a volatile and/or a non-volatile memory, such as a flash memory or Random Access Memory (RAM).

The communication interface 92 is configured to enable communication between the control arrangement 9 and external devices. For example, the communication interface 92 is configured to enable communication between the control arrangement 9 and the vehicles 3. The communication interface 92 may also be configured to enable communication between the control arrangement 9 and the data sources 5, 7, the routing service 6, and/or the cloud 8. The communication interface 92 may also be configured to enable communication with other devices, such as the computer 2A, the mobile phone 2B and/or the display(s) 4A, 4B where the user interface(s) 20, 30, 40 is/are generated.

The communication interface 92 may be a standard wired or wireless communication interface. For example, the communication interface is configured to establish an Ethernet connection or a WiFi connection.

The control arrangement 9 comprises a computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by the control arrangement 9, cause the control arrangement to carry out all or parts of the method that has previously been described. The program may be downloaded from a computer-readable medium, e.g. a memory stick or memory from another computer. Thus, the computer-readable medium comprises instructions, which, when executed by the control arrangement 9, cause the control arrangement 9 to carry out all or parts of the method that has previously been described.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described preferred embodiments. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used. Therefore, the above embodiments should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appending claims.

Claims

1. A method in a control arrangement for organizing and monitoring transport assignment in a transport management system, the method comprising: - obtaining (S1) a destination position and desired time of arrival to the destination position for a transport assignment assigned to a vehicle; - receiving (S2), via a user interface provided on a display, user input defining a selected time delay limit for the transport assignment, for when a selected transport organizer should be notified; - receiving (S3) real time position information of the vehicle; - determining (S4) an estimated time of arrival, ETA, to the destination position for the transport assignment based on the position information using a routing engine; - determining (S6) whether the time delay limit is exceeded based on the ETA, the desired time of arrival and the time delay limit; - notifying (S7) the selected transport organizer upon the time delay limit being exceeded.

2. The method according to claim 1, comprising - calculating (S5) the estimated time delay for the transport assignment using the ETA and the desired time of arrival, and - providing (S8), via the user interface provided on the display, the estimated time delay and identification information of the transport assignment.

3. The method according to claim 2, comprising performing the previous method steps for a plurality of transport assignments, the method further comprising: - providing (S8), via the user interface provided on the display, the estimated time delay and an identification of the transport assignment in an order depending on the size of the respective estimated time delay of the transport assignment.

4. The method according to claim 3, comprising - providing (S8), via the user interface provided on the display, the transport assignment with the greatest estimated time delay in an uppermost position of all the transport assignments.

5. The method according to any of the preceding claims, comprising - receiving (S2), via the user interface provided on the display, user input defining a selected transport organizer of the transport assignment to be notified in the notifying step (S7).

6. The method according to any of the preceding claims, comprising - receiving (S2), via the user interface provided on the display, user input defining a client to be notified in the notifying step (S7), and - notifying (S7) the client upon the time delay limit being exceeded.

7. The method according to any of the preceding claims, comprising determining (S4) the ETA for each transport assignment also based on drive time parameters for a driver assigned with the transport assignment.

8. The method according to any of the preceding claims, comprising determining (S4) the ETA for each transport assignment also based on parameters such as vehicle maintenance parameters, available driving energy parameters, weather condition parameters, and/or traffic condition parameters.

9. The method according to claim 2-4, comprising collecting (S9) data describing transport progress of the transport assignment(s).

10. A computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method according to any one of the preceding claims.

11.A computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method according to any one of the claims 1 to 9.

12. A control arrangement (9) for organizing and monitoring transport assignment, the control arrangement (9) being configured to: - obtain a destination position and desired time of arrival to the destination position for a transport assignment assigned to a vehicle (3); - receive, via a user interface provided on a display, user input defining a selected time delay limit for the transport assignment for when a selected transport organizer should be notified; - receive real time position information of the vehicle (3); - determine an estimated time of arrival, ETA, to the destination position for the transport assignment based on the position information using a routing engine (4); - determine whether the time delay limit is exceeded based on the ETA, the desired time of arrival and the time delay limit; - notify a selected transport organizer upon the time delay limit being exceeded.

13. The control arrangement (9) according to claim 12, configured to: - calculate the estimated time delay for the transport assignment using the ETA and the desired time of arrival, and - provide, via the user interface provided on the display, the estimated time delay and identification information of the transport assignment.

14. The control arrangement (9) according to claim 13, configured to monitor a plurality of transport assignments, the control arrangement being configured to: - provide, via the user interface provided on the display, the estimated time delay and an identification of the transport assignment in an order depending on the size of the respective estimated time delay of the transport assignment of the plurality of transport assignments.

15. The control arrangement (9) according to claim 14, configured to - provide, via the user interface provided on the display, the transport assignment with the greatest estimated time delay in an uppermost position of all the transport assignments.