METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION USING A SATELLITE NAVIGATION SYSTEM

A system and method for assigning hauling vehicles to freight loads within a freight transportation system is disclosed herein. The system includes a satellite navigation subsystem for providing vehicle and load position data useable to determine the locations of each hauling vehicle and freight load. The position data may also be utilized to determine a set of deadhead distances required to be traversed by ones of the hauling vehicles unencumbered with freight loads while en route to load pick-up locations. Each unencumbered tractor vehicle is then efficiently matched with an available freight load in accordance with the compiled sets of deadhead distances and a set of potential pick-up times. Objectives such as punctual load pick-up and delivery, full utilization of available tractor vehicles, and maintaining scheduled driver home-base times of arrival may be achieved through "relay" operations. The term "relay" refers to the process by which an in-transit load is disengaged from a first tractor vehicle and made available at a designated relay location. The disengaged load is then engaged by a second tractor vehicle which becomes available in the vicinity of the relay location within a predefined relay window. In a preferred implementation the loads matched to selected pairs of tractor vehicles may also be exchanged, or "swapped", at a set of swap locations so as to minimize a cost function.