US 11,887,040 B1
Systems and methods implementing automated shipment status tracking
Paul D. Henry, Austin, TX (US); Byron J. Wier, Austin, TX (US); and John Roland Clem, Manhattan Beach, CA (US)
Assigned to Auctane, LLC, Austin, TX (US)
Filed by Auctane, LLC, Austin, TX (US)
Filed on Jul. 23, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/384,662.
Application 17/384,662 is a continuation of application No. 14/642,534, filed on Mar. 9, 2015, granted, now 11,107,029.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/082,393, filed on Nov. 20, 2014.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06Q 10/0833 (2023.01); G06Q 10/083 (2023.01); G06F 16/903 (2019.01)
CPC G06Q 10/0833 (2013.01) [G06Q 10/083 (2013.01); G06F 16/903 (2019.01); Y10S 707/99933 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
determining, by a processor of a shipping management system, timing information for initiating individual status queries from the shipping management system to a shipping service provider system based, at least in part, on records stored in a database and rules of a rules engine, wherein each record stored in the database corresponds to a shipment of a plurality of shipments, wherein each of the individual status queries is configured to retrieve tracking status information corresponding to a particular shipment of the plurality of shipments from the shipping service provider system, and wherein the rules are configured to determine the timing information for initiating the individual status queries such that an impact of the individual status queries on the shipping service provider system is reduced, wherein the timing information comprises a time offset from an event at which a particular status query is to be made and a frequency of initiating the particular status query;
dynamically adjusting, by the processor, the timing information based on metrics associated with the plurality of shipments, wherein the dynamically adjusting comprises modifying first timing information of the timing information based on one or more metrics associated with a first shipment of the plurality of shipments, wherein the first timing information corresponds to a first query configured to retrieve tracking status information for the first shipment, wherein the dynamically adjusting the timing information comprises modifying a frequency of initiating the particular status query;
initiating, via one or more application program interfaces (APIs) executable by the processor, the individual status queries based on the timing information to obtain tracking status information corresponding to at least a subset of shipments of the plurality of shipments from the shipping service provider system, wherein each API of the one or more APIs is configured to interface with the shipping service provider system, a shipper system, a manufacturer system, a recipient system, or a combination thereof;
in response to detecting a change in tracking status information with respect to one or more shipments of the subset of shipments, updating, by the processor, one or more records corresponding to the one or more shipments to include the change in tracking status information; and
providing, by the processor, notifications to senders, intended recipients, or a combination thereof, wherein each of the notifications includes information associated with current tracking status information for a particular shipment of the plurality of shipments.