Monitoring transport of materials in containers

Abstract

A railcar asset management system proactively issues an alert or task when a pre-determined event occurs. The system may receive information regarding the location and status of a railcar from sensors on the railcar that may include a telematics sensing unit. A database in the railway telematics system stores the data regarding the railcar location and status information. The system determines whether an event has occurred and issues the proactive alerts and/or task. The system may communicate the proactive alert via e-mail, paging, PDAs or by cell phone and may provide interactive preconfigured web pages.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method for monitoring a container valve or hatch, the method comprising:
 receiving, from one or more sensors, data including a time and a location of a container and a condition of a seal of a valve or hatch on the container;   determining whether the condition of the seal of the valve or hatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has been compromised; and   in response to a determination that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has been compromised:
 evaluating, with respect to a metric, the location of the container at the time when the condition of the seal of the valve or hatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has been compromised; 
 determining an action to be taken related to the compromised seal of the valve or hatch on the container, based on evaluating, with respect to the metric, the location of the container at the time when the condition of the seal of the valve or hatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has been compromised against the metric; and 
 issuing a proactive alert. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying a product associated with the container;   identifying one of a customer, a sales representative, a bill of lading, or a facility associated with the container;   determining whether the product requires special handling; and   providing a notification that the product requires special handling to the one of a customer, a sales representative, a bill of lading, and a facility associated with the container, when the proactive alert is issued.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein determining whether the product requires special handling comprises determining whether the product includes a hazardous material. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing the data in a historical form, in summary form and in graphical form showing the location of the container on a map when the proactive alert is issued. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 sensing, using at least one of the one or more sensors, a condition of a seal on the valve or hatch; and   determining whether the condition of the seal has changed, based on sensing the condition of a seal on the valve or hatch.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the container is a railcar. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the data comprises a weight of the container and the metric comprises an expected weight of the container at the time when the condition of the seal of the valve or hatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has been compromised. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the proactive alert comprises instructions to stop transport of the container. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the proactive alert comprises instructions to transport the container to an area where it may be secured. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the proactive alert comprises an alert that the container has impacted another container at an unacceptable speed. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 in response to a determination that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has not been compromised:
 determining that the weight of the container has been decreasing over time while the container is moving; and 
 in response to determining that the weight of the container has been decreasing over time while the container is moving:
 evaluating the location of the container; 
 determining an action to be taken related to the decreasing weight of the container with respect to the location of the container; and 
 
 issuing a proactive alert. 
   
     
     
         12 . A system comprising:
 one or more sensors;   at least one processor; and   at least one computer-readable storage medium encoded with executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, from the one or more sensors, data including a time and a location of a container and a condition of a seal of a valve or hatch on the container; 
 determining whether the condition of the seal of the valve or hatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has been compromised; and 
 in response to a determination that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has been compromised:
 evaluating, with respect to a metric, the location of the container at the time when the condition of the seal of the valve or hatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has been compromised; 
 determining an action to be taken related to the compromised seal of the valve or hatch on the container, based on evaluating, with respect to the metric, the location of the container at the time when the condition of the seal of the valve or hatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has been compromised against the metric; and 
 
 issuing a proactive alert. 
   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 identifying a product associated with the container;   identifying one of a customer, a sales representative, a bill of lading, or a facility associated with the container;   determining whether the product requires special handling; and   providing a notification that the product requires special handling to the one of a customer, a sales representative, a bill of lading, and a facility associated with the container, when the proactive alert is issued.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein determining whether the product requires special handling comprises determining whether the product includes a hazardous material. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise providing the data in a historical form, in summary form and in graphical form showing the location of the container on a map when the proactive alert is issued. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 sensing, using at least one of the one or more sensors, a condition of a seal on the valve or hatch; and   determining whether the condition of the seal has changed, based on sensing the condition of a seal on the valve or hatch.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the container is a railcar. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the data comprises a weight of the container and the metric comprises an expected weight of the container at the time when the condition of the seal of the valve or hatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has been compromised. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the proactive alert comprises instructions to stop transport of the container. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the proactive alert comprises instructions to transport the container to an area where it may be secured. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the proactive alert comprises an alert that the container has impacted another container at an unacceptable speed. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 in response to a determination that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has not been compromised:
 determining that the weight of the container has been decreasing over time while the container is moving; and 
 in response to determining that the weight of the container has been decreasing over time while the container is moving:
 evaluating the location of the container; 
 determining an action to be taken related to the decreasing weight of the container with respect to the location of the container; and 
 
 issuing a proactive alert. 
   
     
     
         23 . A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, from one or more sensors, data including a time and a location of a container and a condition of a seal of a valve or hatch on the container;   determining whether the condition of the seal of the valve or hatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has been compromised; and   in response to a determination that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has been compromised:
 evaluating, with respect to a metric, the location of the container at the time when the condition of the seal of the valve or hatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has been compromised; 
 determining an action to be taken related to the compromised seal of the valve or hatch on the container, based on evaluating, with respect to the metric, the location of the container at the time when the condition of the seal of the valve or hatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has been compromised against the metric; and 
   issuing a proactive alert.