U.S. patent application number 13/415140 was filed with the patent office on 2012-07-05 for method for calculating car hire.
This patent application is currently assigned to GREENBRIER MANAGEMENT SERVICES, LLC. Invention is credited to Robert Bradley Ashton, Gary Edward Brandt, Gary Alan Snyder.
Application Number | 20120173446 13/415140 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39189757 |
Filed Date | 2012-07-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120173446 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Brandt; Gary Edward ; et
al. |
July 5, 2012 |
METHOD FOR CALCULATING CAR HIRE
Abstract
A system for calculating amounts of car hire owed.
Inventors: |
Brandt; Gary Edward;
(Portland, OR) ; Snyder; Gary Alan; (Lake Oswego,
OR) ; Ashton; Robert Bradley; (Beaverton,
OR) |
Assignee: |
GREENBRIER MANAGEMENT SERVICES,
LLC
Lake Oswego
OR
|
Family ID: |
39189757 |
Appl. No.: |
13/415140 |
Filed: |
March 8, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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11521818 |
Sep 15, 2006 |
8150780 |
|
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13415140 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/330 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/08 20130101;
G06Q 10/083 20130101; G06Q 30/0645 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/330 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 50/28 20120101
G06Q050/28 |
Claims
1. A method for automatically applying a plurality of reclaims to
an ongoing movement cycle of a unit of railroad transport
equipment, said method comprising: (a) a computing device receiving
numerical codes each respectively associated with said ongoing
movement cycle and representing statistical information about said
ongoing movement cycle; (b) said computing device receiving said
plurality of reclaims for which said ongoing movement cycle is
potentially eligible, each said reclaim having at least one
associated parameter; (c) said computing device selectively
applying a first reclaim from said plurality of reclaims to said
ongoing movement cycle based on a comparison of said numerical
codes associated with said ongoing movement cycle to said at least
one associated parameter of said first reclaim; and. (d) said
computing device using the applied said first reclaim to
automatically select a second reclaim, from among a subset of
reclaims mutually exclusive to each other and within said plurality
of reclaims, to also apply to said movement cycle, where said
movement cycle is eligible for each reclaim in said subset,
individually, wherein reclaims in said subset are mutually
exclusive to each other when selection of any one reclaim in said
subset precludes selection of all others in said subset.
2. The method of claim 1 where said numerical codes are received
from Telerail Automated Information Networks.
3. The method of claim 1 where said at least one reclaim is of a
type selected from a rate reclaim, a fixed time reclaim, and an
up-to reclaim.
4. The method of claim 3 including the steps of: (a) receiving
numerical codes each respectively associated with one of at least
two ongoing movement cycles; (b) receiving at least one potential
reclaim for each of said at least two ongoing movement cycles; (c)
said computing device selectively applying a rate reclaim to at
least one of said at least two ongoing movement cycles; and (d)
said computing device selectively applying an up-to reclaim to a
computer-selected at least one ongoing movement cycle based upon
said applied rate reclaim.
5. The method of claim 3 including the steps of: (a) receiving
numerical codes each respectively associated with one of at least
two ongoing movement cycles; (b) receiving at least one potential
reclaim for each of said at least two ongoing movement cycles; (c)
said computing device selectively applying a fixed time reclaim to
at least one of said at least two ongoing movement cycles; and (d)
said computing device selectively applying an up-to reclaim to a
computer-selected at least one ongoing movement cycle based upon
said applied fixed time reclaim.
6. The method of claim 1 where there are more than two reclaims in
said subset of mutually exclusive reclaims.
7. A method for automatically applying at least one reclaim to
selected one or more movement cycles, each associated with a unit
of railroad transport equipment, said method comprising the steps
of: (a) applying a computer-selected first reclaim to a movement
cycle of a piece of railroad transport equipment from among a set
of potentially-selectable reclaims; and (b) said computing device
using the selection of said first reclaim to select a second
reclaim from within said set of potentially-selectable reclaims,
where selection of said second reclaim depends on which reclaim was
selected as said first reclaim.
8. A method for automatically applying at least one reclaim to a
movement cycle of a unit of railroad transport equipment, said
method comprising: (a) receiving numerical codes each respectively
associated with said movement cycle and representing statistical
information about said movement cycle; (b) receiving at least one
reclaim for which said movement cycle is potentially eligible, said
reclaim having at least one associated parameter; (c) comparing,
with a computing device, each said parameter to said numerical
codes; (d) said computing device selectively applying said at least
one reclaim to said movement cycle based on a comparison of said
numerical codes associated with said movement cycle to said at
least one associated parameter; and (e) said computing device
automatically deactivating a previously-applied said at least one
reclaim for which said movement cycle is eligible.
9. The method of claim 8 where said numerical codes are received
from Telerail Automated Information Networks.
10. The method of claim 8 where said at least one reclaim is of a
type selected from a rate reclaim, a fixed time reclaim, and an
up-to reclaim.
11. The method of claim 10, including receiving a plurality of
reclaims for which said movement cycle is potentially eligible,
where said computing device selectively applies more than one said
reclaim to said movement cycle.
12. The method of claim 8 including the steps of: (a) receiving
numerical codes each respectively associated with one of at least
two movement cycles; (b) receiving at least one potential reclaim
for each of said at least two movement cycles; (c) said computing
device selectively applying a rate reclaim to at least one of said
at least two movement cycles; and (d) said computing device
selectively applying an up-to reclaim to a computer-selected at
least one movement cycle based upon said applied rate reclaim.
13. The method of claim 8 including the steps of: (a) receiving
numerical codes each respectively associated with one of at least
two movement cycles; (b) receiving at least one potential reclaim
for each of said at least two movement cycles; (c) said computing
device selectively applying a fixed time reclaim to at least one of
said at least two movement cycles; and (d) said computing device
selectively applying an up-to reclaim to a computer-selected at
least one movement cycle based upon said applied fixed time
reclaim.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/521,818, filed Sep. 15, 2006.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Railroad transport equipment is typically expensive. For
example, the per-unit cost of a railroad car may range from between
$50,000 to $250,000, depending on the type and design of the car.
Specific examples of railroad transport equipment might include
railroad cars, intermodal containers such as ocean and other
shipping containers that are placed either on flat cars or
specially constructed well cars for ground transport, and transport
appurtenance, such as racks, inserted into rail cars to support
automobiles. This list is not intended to be exhaustive. Though
many different owners of railroad transport equipment build and/or
purchase their own individual units, those units mostly operate
over the same network of railroad track as do units owned by other
entities. Accordingly, it would be very inefficient for each
railroad transport company, such as a railroad, to transport cargo
using only its own equipment. Instead, in order to increase the
efficient utilization of resources, the railroad industry in North
America shares railroad transport equipment. In other words, a
railroad transport company, when transporting cargo on behalf of a
customer, may utilize any transport equipment available,
irrespective of who owns that equipment. Essentially, this means
that the owner of a railroad car or other type of transport
equipment will simply release the equipment into commerce, and be
compensated for another's use of that equipment as it is used. Such
compensation is known in the industry as "car hire."
[0003] Generally speaking, from the perspective of a railroad
transport company using another's railroad transport equipment,
there are four types of transport equipment owners to be
potentially compensated. Foreign railroads are competing railroads
that own shared transport equipment. Private equipment owners build
and/or purchase shared equipment, but do not own any physical track
on the shared network. TTX (or Trailer Train Company) is a company
specifically formed to provide transport equipment and management
services to North American railroads, and is owned by North
America's leading railroad companies, each of which has stock in
TTX. Finally, intermodal equipment owners provide equipment other
than rail cars that are used when transporting cargo, such as ocean
containers and the like. Compensation made to these owners for the
use of their respective pieces of transport equipment is
negotiated, and varies not only by the type of owner, but also by
the value, age, size, etc. of the specific equipment used.
[0004] The importance of accurate car hire calculations cannot be
overstated. According to industry estimates, over $3 billion is
spent annually to compensate owners of transport equipment, and is
considered to be the third highest operating cost of individual
railroads, behind labor and fuel. In terms of volume, over two
million pieces of registered transport equipment are available for
shared use, and for which compensation must be calculated.
[0005] From a management perspective, accounting for the car hire
amounts owed among operators and owners is a daunting task, not
only for the sheer number of units involved--which can be as high
as tens of thousands of pieces of equipment used by a railroad in a
given month--but also because individual units change hands so
frequently. To facilitate both the accurate and uniform calculation
of car hire, or amounts owed to equipment owners, a company called
RailInc maintains a database of movements of transport equipment.
This database is called the Telerail Automated Information Network
(TRAIN II) and records both a unique identifier for each shared
unit of transportation equipment along with interchange information
recording where and when specific transport units are transferred
between users. From this information, accurate records of who is
using what equipment, for what periods of time, and for how many
miles, can in theory be maintained. Furthermore, most rates charged
for available pieces of transport equipment are maintained in a Car
Hire Accounting Rate Master (CHARM) file. Though the information in
these databases is accessible by both the users of the equipment
and the owners of the equipment, it is the responsibility of the
users (the transporters) to calculate the amount of car hire they
owe to each respective owner whose equipment was used in a given
month.
[0006] Conceptually, the calculation of car hire owed to an owner
by a transporter should be a simple process. Car hire rates are
applied on both a per-hour basis (or in the case of intermodal
equipment, a per day basis) and a per-mile basis. In other words,
the amount of car hire owed is the sum of a negotiated hourly rate
multiplied by the hours used, and a negotiated mileage rate
multiplied by the number of miles the transporter moved the
applicable transport unit. Once the time and mileage start and end
points are deduced from the RailInc database, a net amount owed for
use of the unit can be calculated.
[0007] In practice, however, several factors complicate this
computation. First, each railroad transport company must update
interchange information with RailInc in a timely manner.
Unfortunately, many such companies are not as meticulous as would
be ideal, and interchange gaps in RailInc's database commonly
occur. To address this issue, the North American railroad industry
has developed an automated process called LCS (Liability Continuity
System) that analyzes the data from TRAIN II, identifies missing
interchange information, and assigns appropriate liability.
Specifically, each railroad transporter is required to report an
interchange within 120 hours of its occurrence. Each night, the LCS
system analyzes reportings that are older than 120 hours and
creates LCS messages for transport equipment. If one party to an
equipment interchange does not report, the information provided by
the other party is used. If neither party reports, LCS attempts to
create continuity by analyzing the next three reported moves.
[0008] More problematic to the accurate computation of car hire
amounts owed are reclaims. Reclaims are offsets to amounts of car
hire owed, and are either specifically defined in uniform car hire
rules adopted by the rail industry, or are specifically negotiated
among parties. As one example, Car Hire Rule 22 allows for a
reclaim if an empty car does not move due to the loading station
being full, closed etc. As another example, two parties may
negotiate special reclaims that permit 120 free hours a month. As a
third example, a negotiated reclaim may reduce either, or both, the
per-mile rate or the per-hour rate for specific cars, types of
commodities transported, etc. While the computation of a base car
hire amount is straightforward, the computation of any offsetting
reclaims can be complicated, not only computationally due to the
varying types of reclaims, but also administratively because often
the only party documenting the reclaim is the transporter, making
verification by the owner somewhat difficult. Accordingly, existing
car hire calculation systems limit themselves to the application of
a single reclaim per piece of equipment at any given time, and also
require that the transporter document any desired reclaim at the
time an interchange is reported, using a code specific to the
reclaim being asserted. For example, when transporter X reports
acquiring equipment Y at point A and time B and releasing the
equipment at point C and time D, the transporter will enter a
single applicable reclaim code for that movement. In this manner,
the code can be used to calculate the applicable offset against
amounts owed for the use of the equipment, and is documented
contemporaneously with the movement of the equipment for
verification by the equipment owner.
[0009] Using information from the respective TRAIN II, CHARM, and
LCS systems, net amounts of car hire owed are calculated by
transporters and reported back to RailInc by the 40.sup.th day
following the month being calculated. Almost all Class I railroads,
defined as those having annual operating revenues at or above $50
million (in 1978 dollars), and including BNSF, CN, UP and others,
use their own proprietary systems. Similarly, two Class II
railroads, defined as railroads with annual operating revenues
between $10 million and $50 million (again in 1978 dollars) also
use proprietary systems. Most of the remaining railroads pay third
parties to calculate the amount of car hire they owe. Such third
parties include Railcar Management Inc. (RMI) and Intellitrans,
LLC.
[0010] Both the proprietary and third party payables systems
mentioned above are not as accurate as is desired. Specifically,
they tend to undervalue the amount of reclaims applicable to car
hire, and therefore lead railroads to pay more car hire than is
warranted. This occurs primarily for two reasons. First, each
system can only apply a single reclaim to each car possession.
Second, an operator may inadvertently omit entering a reclaim mode
or may mistype the reclaim mode causing the reclaim to be
invalidated. In either instance, an applicable reclaim is never
applied, costing the railroad money.
[0011] What is desired, therefore, is an improved payables system
for calculating the amount of car hire owed by a railroad
transporter to an owner of transport equipment.
[0012] The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages
of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration
of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary payables system disclosed in the
present application that uses data received from a customer and
third party databases to produce car hire payables reports on
behalf of the customer.
[0014] FIG. 2 shows a summary of a process that the payables system
of FIG. 1 may use to generate the car hire payables reports.
[0015] FIG. 3 shows in more detail the initial car hire computation
of FIG. 2
[0016] FIG. 4 shows a novel reclaims queue used by the reclaims
computation module of FIG. 2.
[0017] FIG. 5 shows an exemplary summary process used by reclaims
computation module shown in FIG. 2.
[0018] FIG. 6 shows in more detail the preliminary processing
module of FIG. 5.
[0019] FIG. 7 shows in more detail rate reclaim module of FIG.
5.
[0020] FIG. 8 shows in more detail the "fixed time" reclaim module
of FIG. 5.
[0021] FIG. 9 shows in more detail the "up to" reclaim module of
FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0022] In this specification, the term "railroad" should be
understood to encompass any entity engaged in the commercial
transport of cargo over railroad track using railroad transport
equipment. In addition, the following terms will be accorded the
meanings that respectively follow them, which should be understood
by those familiar with the art. These meanings are provided to
facilitate understanding of the specification by those unskilled in
the art, as well. The disclosed systems for calculating car hire
may preferably be used in North America, which has adopted a
standardized car hire calculation methodology with relatively
esoteric rules and pre-existing databases/computer systems that may
interact with the disclosed system specifically described herein.
However, to the extent that the aforementioned rules may change, or
that similar car hire systems are adopted elsewhere in the world,
the disclosed system may be modified to accommodate such variances,
and the use of the following specific terminology does not limit
the scope of the subject matter claimed.
[0023] Accounting Month: The month for which the disclosed payables
system is currently computing amounts due. Because a railroad in
North America is given a month and 10 days to report payables data
to RailInc, this is most likely the month prior to the actual date
on which the payables system is currently processing.
[0024] Actual Route-Mileage: The calculation of mileage, to which a
mileage rate applies, along the actual route a piece of transport
equipment traveled during a possession. Actual-Route is
distinguished from Short Route Mileage.
[0025] Car Hire: The requirement that a railroad reports to an
owner of transport equipment for the use of that equipment.
Examples of such transport equipment include, but are not limited
to, rail cars, intermodal equipment, and appurtenances. The term
"car hire amount" refers to the net amount owed an owner for use of
a unit or piece of transport equipment. The term "initial car hire
amount" is used to refer to an preliminary amount owed prior to any
reclaims being applied against that initial car hire amount.
[0026] Car Hire Accounting Rate Master (CHARM): The official source
of time and mileage rates on freight cars, CHARM contains rates
effective for a current month, and is updated monthly. CHARM rates
include both default rates for freight cars and special negotiated
rates dependent on defined circumstances.
[0027] Centralized Station Master File (CSM): A geographic location
Industry Reference File (IRF) containing data about rail and motor
carrier points for North America and international areas used by
railroads to help plan freight movements from origin to destination
in an efficient and timely manner. CSM rail station records are
uniquely identified by a combination of a Standard Carrier Alpha
Code (SCAC) field and Freight Station Accounting Code (FSAC). In
addition, CSM stations can be uniquely identified by their
respective Standard Point Location Code (SPLC).
[0028] Claim: The method by which a transport equipment owner
notifies a railroad of a belief that they have been underpaid by
the owner.
[0029] Customer Identification File (CIF): An IRF that contains the
name, physical and mailing addresses, corporate parent
identification, and a unique identification code for each location
of a transportation carrier customer used in exchanges of
information. The purpose of the CIF is to accurately identify
transportation company customers and the customers' respective
locations.
[0030] Cycle: A logical grouping of events and movements that would
be rated and reported as a unit.
[0031] Equipment Mark: A unique identifier for a piece of railroad
or intermodal equipment, consisting of a two to four letter
identifier followed by a number up to six digits long, i.e. ABCD
123456. Sometimes used interchangeably with the term Equipment
Number, but sometimes merely referring to the two to four letter
identifier.
[0032] Equipment Number: A unique identifier for a piece of
railroad or intermodal equipment, consisting of a two to four
letter identifier followed by a number up to six digits long, i.e.
ABCD 123456. Sometimes used interchangeably with the term Equipment
Mark, but sometimes merely referring to the six digit number.
[0033] Freight Station Accounting Code: A carrier-assigned unique
number for every station that initiates billing.
[0034] Industry Reference File (IRF): File representations of
standardized data maintained by RailInc and distributed to the
North America Railroad Industry. Files include the Customer
Identification File (CIF), Mark Register File (MARK) Route File
(ROUTE), Shipment Conditions File (SCF), Serving Carrier/Reciprocal
Switch (SCRS) File, Centralized Station Master File (CSM) and the
Standardized Transportation Commodity Code (STCC) File.
[0035] Liability Continuity System (LCS): Developed to create the
official interchange record for car hire settlement, LCS analyzes
event data from TRAIN II to establish continuity among equipment
interchanges, using default records when necessary. LCS was
developed so that car hire calculations could be made more
accurately.
[0036] Mark Owner: The registered owner of a piece of railroad
transport equipment identified by an equipment mark, and to whom
car hire may be owed.
[0037] Mark Register File (MARK): An IRF containing the SCAC
abbreviation, the full name and accounting rule 260 number, if a
railroad, of a transporter of railroad transport equipment.
[0038] Possession: The interim between successive equipment
interchanges that a railroad has use of a piece of Railroad
Transport Equipment during an accounting month. A possession begins
either at the interchange where a railroad acquires use of the
equipment or the beginning of the accounting month where possession
is carried over from a previous accounting month. A possession ends
either at the interchange where the railroad transfers use of the
equipment during the accounting month or at the end of the calendar
month if the possession carries over until the next calendar
month.
[0039] RailInc: A wholly owned subsidiary of the Association of
American Railroads providing information technology and related
services to North America's railroads.
[0040] Railroad Transport Equipment: Equipment used to move cargo
over railroad tracks. Specific examples include, but are not
limited to, rail cars, cargo containers placed on rail cars, and
appurtenances such as automobile racks attached to rail cars.
[0041] Reclaim: An offset to amounts owed to an owner of railroad
transport equipment for the use of that equipment.
[0042] Short Route Mileage (SRM): The application of mileage based
on the shortest route between two points, regardless of the actual
route the equipment took.
[0043] Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC): A unique two to four
letter code used to identify transportation companies.
[0044] Standard Transportation Commodity Code File (STCC): An IRF
including a 7-digit numeric industry-defined code that describes a
commodity carried by railroad transport equipment, and used on
waybills and other shipping documents.
[0045] Standard Point Location Code (SPLC): A six to nine digit
numeric code assigned to a railroad station to specify the physical
location of the station.
[0046] Telerail Automated Information Network (TRAIN II): A system
that provides physical location information of North American rail
equipment as reported by over 330 railroads.
[0047] Transfer of Liability (TOL): Introduced in 1994, TOL allows
a delivering carrier to transfer responsibility for car hire to a
receiving carrier when that carrier cannot accept cars at
interchange.
[0048] Universal Machine Language Equipment Register (UMLER): A
national database hosted by Railinc that contains codes for
specific details on individual pieces of equipment, such as
internal and external dimensions, carrying capacities, and
equipment weight for freight cars.
[0049] Waybill: A paper or electronic document for handling and
accounting for a shipment of freight.
[0050] In addition to the foregoing definitions, a preliminary
discussion of reclaims would be helpful to understanding the
following disclosure. As stated earlier, a reclaim is an offset to
an amount otherwise owed for the use of another's rail transport
equipment. Some reclaims are standardized and set out in Car Hire
rules adopted by the North American Railroad industry. For example,
a standardized reclaim may provide that no car hire is owed for
time that damaged equipment is being repaired in a shop, for time
and mileage spent when the equipment itself is the freight (being
transported, e.g. from the manufacturer or to a repair shop), for
time spent waiting to be loaded, etc. Other reclaims are
negotiated, and may typically be quite specific. For example, a
reclaim may be negotiated between an owner and a railroad that
reduces the time and/or mileage rate for a particular type of
equipment, equipment over or under a certain weight, equipment
carrying certain cargo, etc. Furthermore, some negotiated reclaims
provide particular customers with an amount of time "up to" which
no car hire accrues for either specific pieces of equipment, or
more particularly any equipment of the owner's that a railroad
uses.
[0051] Although there are myriad variations of reclaims, they may
be generally categorized into three groups--rate reclaims, "fixed
time" reclaims, and "up to" reclaims. A rate reclaim is a special
negotiated rate, either time or mileage, afforded to a railroad
that uses a given piece of equipment to which the special rate
applies. As stated earlier, the rate reclaim may depend on what
equipment is used, what cargo is being carried, where it is being
moved, etc., or even a combination of these factors. A "fixed time"
reclaim is a reclaim that has determinable, fixed, beginning and
end points. For example, standardized reclaims for time a piece of
equipment is held short of loading is an example of a "fixed time"
reclaim because it applies between the fixed time of when the
equipment arrives to be loaded and the time it actually begins to
be loaded. A characteristic of a fixed time reclaim is that it
offsets the entire car hire amounts otherwise owed during the
applicable time. Thus, using the foregoing example, while a car is
being held short of loading, neither a time rate nor a mileage rate
is applied. Finally, "up to" reclaims allow a railroad the free use
of equipment for "up to" a negotiated amount of time.
[0052] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an exemplary payables system 10
may be interconnected to exemplary data inputs and outputs 12, 14,
and 16. For example, the described payables system 10 receives
input data 24 from RailInc 12, TTX 14, and one or more customers
16, and outputs a report 28 to Railinc 12 and a report 26 to the
one or more customers from whom input 16 is received. The reports
26 and 28 may be identical or may differ from each other, however
the report 28 preferably includes all data a railroad is required
to submit to RailInc as part of its monthly reporting obligation.
The payables system 10 may preferably be interconnected with the
inputs and outputs 12, 14, and 16 through the Internet or other
appropriate connection, such as a LAN, capable of transferring data
to and from the payables system 10. Alternative payables systems
may exclude one or more of the delineated interconnected inputs and
outputs, or alternatively include more inputs or outputs than those
shown in FIG. 1.
[0053] The payables system 10 is intended to calculate car hire
amounts on behalf of a customer 16, who in turn is obligated to
both report amounts owed to Railinc 12 and pay the amounts due. The
calculated car hire amount will typically include two
components--an initial car hire amount and a reclaim amount. The
initial car hire amount for a car is calculated by an initial car
hire module 18 as the sum of a mileage rate applied over miles
traveled during a possession, and an hourly rate applied over the
duration of a possession. For intermodal equipment, only a daily
rate is applied rather than hours and miles. The reclaim amount,
which is an offset against the initial car hire amount, is
calculated by a reclaims application module 20 according to
specific variables either standardized by Car Hire rules or
specifically negotiated between the owner and the railroad, or two
interchanging railroads. Calculation of both of these amounts by
the respective modules 18 and 20 will be discussed in more detail
later in this specification. The initial car hire module 18 and the
reclaims module 20 provide and/or update information in a payables
data generation module 22 which is preferably capable of generating
reports sent to both respective customers 16 and Railinc 12 to
satisfy the customer's reporting obligation.
[0054] The payables system 10 described in this specification has
many advantages over existing car hire payables systems. First, the
car hire payables system 10 is capable of applying more than one
reclaim to a single possession. Second, the payables system 10 does
not rely upon a customer manually entering a reclaim code
concurrent with a possession to which the reclaim applies, but
instead automatically applies reclaims using a novel reclaim queue
that selects a combination of reclaims calculated as most
cost-beneficial to the railroad customer. Each of these features
provide substantial monetary benefits to railroads using transport
equipment owned by others. Moreover, the payables system 10 is
capable of generating reports daily, giving customers a
month-to-date balance from which the customer can estimate an
anticipated month end balance owed for planning purposes. Finally
the payables system 10 automatically provides RailInc with a
customer's car hire data, satisfying that customer's reporting
obligation. Preferably, the reports communicate the net amount a
customer owes after application of applicable reclaims.
Alternatively, the reports can simply report the reclaim amounts so
that a customer and/or RailInc can deduct those amounts from car
hire owed an owner. Alternatively still, the reports or amounts
contained therein may be communicated to the customer through
RailInc or vice versa.
[0055] Referring specifically to FIGS. 1 and 3, the initial car
hire computation module 18 gathers rate information 30 and
possession information 32 from which an initial car hire amount can
be computed. Rate information 30 may be gathered from CHARM, which
contains default and negotiated rate information, customer
contracts, a TTX rate card, tariffs, or any other source from which
a relevant time and/or mileage rate may be applied to a possession.
CHARM and TTX rate card information is typically accessible
electronically over a network connection such as the Internet,
while the other information may be accessible either through a
network connection with the applicable customer or third party, or
alternately stored on a server within or connected to the payables
system 10. The payables system 10 preferably gathers rate
information from as many sources as possible so that the most
applicable rate may be selected. For example, though time and
mileage rate information from CHARM for a piece of equipment may be
available, the particular customer may have a contract that
specifies a different, negotiated rate between the customer and the
owner of equipment for which an initial car hire amount is being
calculated. By accessing sources of information besides CHARM, the
payables system 10 is capable of applying more accurate time and
mileage rates.
[0056] Similarly, the possession information 32 is preferably
compiled from as many sources as possible, such as the LCS system,
customer waybills, and customer Train Operating Systems (TOS).
Because the possession information from LCS may have been inferred
after one or both parties to an interchange fail to report the
interchange, the LCS data may result in excess liability. The
additional information may then be used by the payables system 10
to more accurately calculate the time and mileage of the
possession. Using the applicable rate information 30 and possession
information 32, the initial car hire computation module 18
calculates an initial car hire amount, then forwards calculated
amounts to the payables data generation module 26. These amounts
may then be modified by the reclaims calculation module 20.
[0057] Referring to FIG. 4, the reclaims calculation module may
include a novel reclaims queue, which in the described embodiment
includes all reclaims for which a customer is potentially eligible
during an accounting month. Each reclaim is given a unique code and
is associated with particular parameters, each of which is required
to activate the reclaim. Further, each reclaim is given a priority,
with car hire rule reclaims receiving the highest priority. For
example, a particular customer may have negotiated a reduced
mileage rate for cars owned by X and carrying grain. The parameters
associated with this reclaim would be the customer's railroad
identifier, the owner's identifier, and an identifier indicating
that the cargo is grain. Preferably, each of the parameters are
indicated by codes that match those gathered from the inputs 12,
14, and 16. Thus, the parameter for the railroad identifier could
be the railroad's SCAC obtained from the MARK IRF, or a customer's
waybill, etc., while the parameter for the owner could be the first
four letters of the equipment mark, and the parameter for grain
could be the seven-digit transportation commodity code. In this
manner, once all potential reclaims are compiled in the queue,
applicable reclaims may be directly matched to particular
possessions using the data available to the payables system 10.
[0058] The reclaim queue 34 permits the payables system 10 to
provide substantial advantages to customers relative to existing
payables systems. First, existing systems require a railroad to
manually enter a reclaim code concurrent with a possession being
reported to RailInc. This exposes the railroad to two types of
costs eliminated by the present system. First, manual entry is
prone to error, either by omitting a reclaim code or entering the
wrong code, resulting in the reclaim being vacated. By
automatically applying reclaims, the payables system 10 avoids such
manual errors. Second, and perhaps more importantly, railroad
operators may not know, at the time the reclaim code is entered,
which reclaim is most beneficial. For example, an operator may
apply an "up to" reclaim to a piece of equipment for free use
during the first 120 hours of the month, only to later have that
equipment held short of a loading point, or break during use
requiring repairs. In hindsight, it would have been better to apply
a "fixed time" reclaim to the equipment, and then use the "up to"
reclaim for the remaining time. The present system, conversely, is
capable of updating reclaims on a daily basis so as to maximize the
amount of reclaims for which a customer is eligible. A further
feature of the disclosed payables system 10 is to generate reports
that let customers know, each month, how much money they saved by
using the codes entered into the TRAIN II database to compare the
reclaims calculated by the LCS system and the payables system 10.
It is estimated that a typical customer saves 10-12% using the
disclosed payables system 10.
[0059] The disclosed payables system 10, using the reclaims queue,
achieves yet additional computational accuracy relative to existing
systems. Referring to FIGS. 5-9, the reclaims computation module 20
in step 40 undergoes a preliminary processing step 40, in which
payables records are created 50 using data inputs from the
customer. Payables records preferably include reports for each
owner whose equipment the customer used in the accounting month,
each report itemizing the equipment used, the net amount owed for
the equipment, along with the computational data employed, such as
the possessions, the mileage and tile per possession, etc. These
reports may then be sent to the customer and RailInc. Once payables
records are created, the preliminary processing step 40 collects
information in step 52 from the assorted inputs 12, 14, and 16 that
are needed to assess the applicability in the current accounting
month of potential reclaims of a customer that are loaded into the
queue 34 in step 54. Once the potential reclaims are loaded into
the queue, the information obtained in step 52 is preliminarily
used to deactivate any reclaims in the queue not applicable in the
current accounting month. For example, if a particular potential
reclaim is for a piece of equipment that the information of step 52
shows as not being used by the customer during the month (zero
time), that reclaim will be deactivated before the reclaim queue is
processed by the further steps 42, 44, and 46 shown in FIG. 5.
[0060] After deactivation of reclaims inapplicable to the
accounting month, the reclaim queue 34 is used to apply reclaims to
particular equipment/possession combinations as shown in FIGS. 7-9.
The rate reclaim selection step 60 will analyze, in sequence, each
equipment/possession combination and apply the most favorable rate
reclaim for the respective combination in step 64. In the disclosed
system, only one rate reclaim is allowed per cycle and that reclaim
must be for the entire cycle. In other alternate systems, multiple
rate reclaims may apply during a possession where rate reclaims are
divided among different portions of the possession, e.g. if a
customer possessed a car for an entire month, transports grain
eligible for one rate reclaim during the first half of the month
and is still eligible for a lesser negotiated rate reclaim during
the remainder of the month due to, for example, the type of
car.
[0061] In step 66, if a rate reclaim is applied to a piece of
equipment for a possession, any rate reclaim applied in a previous
day in the accounting month is reversed and the remainder of the
rate reclaims for that piece of equipment will be deactivated. (It
should be understood that this deactivation will have no effect on
reclaims for other pieces of equipment because each reclaim is
associated with parameters, each of which must be present for the
reclaim to be applicable. Thus, if a particular owner grants a
reclaim applicable to more then one piece of equipment used during
the relevant accounting month, the queue will include an
individually corresponding reclaim for each piece of
equipment.)
[0062] In step 68, if a rate reclaim has been applied at step 64,
any "fixed time" and "up to" reclaims previously applied to the
equipment is reversed in the payables records created in step 50,
and in step 70, all potential such "fixed time" and "up to"
reclaims in the queue, which may have been deactivated in a prior
day's processing, are reactivated. These two steps allow the
recalculation of the most beneficial time reclaims in light of the
newly applied rate reclaim. For example, a rate reclaim may be
based on a commodity such as coal. The waybill showing that the
commodity is coal may not be received immediately, in which case a
higher default CHARM rate along with a standard "up to" reclaim
using the default rate are applied on that first day. The following
day the waybill may arrive showing the coal commodity, so the
reclaim from the previous day is reversed, the reclaim for lower
rate is applied, and the "up to" claim is reapplied against the
lower net value.
[0063] Once steps 70 and 72 are completed, any newly added rate
reclaim is added to the applicable payables record created in step
50 and at a decision step 74, either more reclaims are evaluated if
any are left in the queue for other equipment, or processing
proceeds to the step 44 of applying applicable fixed time reclaims
to equipment used by the customer. Referring specifically to FIG.
8, any "fixed time" reclaims in the queue are extracted in step 76
and duplicates are deactivated in step 78. In order to apply fixed
time reclaims in the most cost-effective manner, potential reclaims
for each piece of equipment are first sorted in steps 80-84. As
stated previously, fixed time reclaims typically negate all care
hire amounts during the fixed time intervals between which certain
circumstances have occurred, such as a car being held short of
loading, or a car being repaired. To facilitate efficient
association of all available fixed time reclaims with used
equipment, the use of each piece of equipment is divided into
"cycles" which are logical contiguous groupings of equipment
movements and non-movement events, such as loading/unloading,
repair, etc. For example, one cycle might include an empty railcar
being moved to a loading location, then being held short of that
location for a specified duration, and a subsequent cycle might
include the car being loaded and moved to a destination.
[0064] In step 80, potential reclaims for a particular car/cycle
combination are selected and first sorted in step 82 by of
precedence of the reclaim party. In the system described in this
disclosure, that precedence is (1) reclaims specifically forced as
highest priority (2) reclaims against the owner of the equipment
and (3) reclaims against a third party, such as the railroad that
delivered the equipment to the customer at an interchange. Then in
step 84, within each party precedence, reclaims are further sorted
in order of (i) reclaims against the full possession of the
equipment (ii) reclaims against a full cycle; and (iii) reclaims
against a partial cycle. Once sorted, the highest priority reclaim
is selected against the equipment in step 86, and added to the
payables records in step 88. At decision step 90, if there is time
left in the cycle (which means that some car hire is still owed for
that equipment/cycle combination), then the reclaim with the next
highest priority is evaluated until either all the time in the
cycle is accounted for or no more fixed time reclaims apply to the
particular equipment/cycle combination. At decision step 90, if the
queue contains additional fixed time reclaims (which must, by the
time that step is reached, apply to one or more different
equipment/cycle combinations than those previously evaluated), then
the next equipment/cycle combination is evaluated, else processing
proceeds to the "up to" reclaims processing module 46.
[0065] The process described in the preceding paragraph assures
that the maximum possible value of the available "fixed time"
reclaims will be applied to each cycle for a particular piece of
equipment. Assume, for example, that a cycle for a piece of
equipment includes transferring an empty hopper car to a loading
point where it waits six hours to be loaded with coal at which
point the cycle ends. One potential "fixed time" reclaim may be for
time spent while empty while another potential "fixed time reclaim"
is for the six-hour waiting period, both applied against an owner.
The ordering process will apply the former reclaim first, which
applies to the entire cycle at which is the maximum possible
(zeroed out) reclaim for that cycle. Assume, alternatively, that a
railroad has placed the equipment at the loading location, where it
sits for six hours and then is loaded with coal and moves to a
destination for unloading. In route, the car is damaged and the
railroad agrees to immediately buy it, at which point any
subsequent time and mileage are allowed a reclaim. If the cycle is
defined as including this entire period, then neither reclaim
applies to either the entire possession or the entire cycle. One
will be selected first, then, because time is still remaining in
the cycle, the next will be selected and applied.
[0066] Referring to FIG. 9, once all applicable "fixed time"
reclaims have been applied to each piece of transport equipment,
processing proceeds to apply any applicable "up to" reclaims by
first extracting, in step 94, all potential "up to" reclaims for
the customer, again deactivating duplicates at step 96. At steps 98
and 100, similar to the procedure for applying "fixed time"
reclaims, the "up to" reclaims in the queue are sorted and applied
in equipment/cycle combinations with reclaims for each combination
prioritized by forced reclaims, reclaims against the owner, and
reclaims against a third party. Once a particular equipment/cycle
is selected in step 98 with its reclaims prioritized in step 100,
step 102 deactivates any "up to" reclaim for which all the time has
been previously applied to other equipment/cycle combinations. The
next "up-to" reclaim still active is applied to the equipment/cycle
combination at step 104, and added to the payables record at step
106. If there is still time left on the "up to" reclaim, the next
car/cycle combination is selected and processed. This entire
procedure is repeated at decision step 110 so long as more "up to"
reclaims are left in the queue.
[0067] Preferably, the equipment/cycle combinations are prioritized
by the rate applied to the equipment so that "up to" reclaims will
first be applied to equipment that has the highest rate, saving the
customer the most money. More preferably, the rates are compared
after being adjusted by the rate reclaim module 42, so that even
where two pieces of equipment have the same default rate in CHARM,
the "up to" reclaim will be first applied to equipment that has
either not been discounted, or discounted less than the other
piece.
[0068] Also, each potential "up to" reclaim may optionally include
a flag that indicates whether it is "exclusive" or "inclusive." An
"exclusive" flag means that it can only be taken against the
particular party being reclaimed while an "inclusive" flag means
that it can be taken against any party. Because inclusive "up to"
reclaims can be applied across multiple owners, they are more
likely to be fully utilized. Conversely, to fully utilize exclusive
"up to" reclaims, the system 10 preferably "wraps" them, if
possible, around a "fixed time" reclaim on the same piece of
equipment. Assume, for example, that a railroad negotiated an "up
to" reclaim with a particular owner for a railroad car being used
to transport automobiles. In the middle of the possession, the car
was eligible for a "fixed time" reclaim, which was applied. When
the system 10 begins to process the "up to" reclaim for that piece
of equipment, it may first apply the reclaim to the beginning
portion of the cycle, prior to the "fixed time reclaim" negating
any car hire owed. Then, if there remains any time left on the "up
to" reclaim, it is applied from a point beginning at the end of the
"fixed time" reclaim. In this manner, should that piece of
equipment be the only one used by the particular owner for which
the "up to" reclaim is allowed in the accounting month, it will be
used to the fullest extent possible.
[0069] Another distinguishing feature of the system 10 is that it
is capable of taking the last part of a possession for an "up to"
reclaim rather than the first part of that possession. One
situation in which this would be more beneficial is an outbound
switching reclaim from release loaded to interchanged offline
against the interchanging railroad in lieu of using a Transfer of
Liability.
[0070] A further distinguishing feature of the system 10 is that
reclaims are taken in the months for which they apply. The existing
systems for calculating car hire will wait until a possession is
complete before applying a reclaim. Thus, in those existing
systems, where a possession occurs over consecutive months, but the
reclaim applies during the first month, the railroad must first pay
the full amount of car hire for the portion of the possession in
the first month, but then be credited for the reclaim in the second
month. The currently disclosed system 10, however, allows railroad
customers to immediately realize the benefits of their
reclaims.
[0071] Finally, the currently disclosed system allows a reclaim
against a cycle to be manually entered using user interface. That
reclaim trumps all other reclaims as the highest priority reclaim
unless the manually entered reclaim is invalidated by subsequently
obtained information. If the manually entered reclaim is
invalidated, the client is notified of such invalidation so that
appropriate action may be taken.
[0072] The terms and expressions that have been employed in the
foregoing specification are used therein as terms of description
and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of
such terms and expressions, of excluding equivalents of the
features shown and described or portions thereof, it being
recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited
only the claims that follow.
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