IP Library Granted Patent US 12,481,951
Granted Patent B2
US 12,481,951 · App. 18/675,995 · Granted Nov 25, 2025

Systems and methods for imputation of shipment milestones

Inventors: Thomas Janos Atwood (Venice, CA); Milad Davaloo (Oakland, CA); Marc-Henri Paul Gires (New York, NY)
Assignee: P44, LLC
G06Q10/0833G06Q10/0838H04W4/021H04W4/029
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,481,951
App. No.
18/675,995
Granted
Nov 25, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

The present disclosure provides systems and methods that impute missing shipment milestones using vehicle tracking data (e.g., global positioning system (GPS data, automatic identification system (AIS) data, and/or the like). In particular, the present disclosure provides improved techniques to impute when a shipping vehicle (and the cargo loaded thereon) has arrived at a transportation location (e.g., port). In some implementations, the milestone imputation process first includes collecting a historical sample of the vehicle tracking data. Next, density-based clustering methods can be applied to identify vessel stops. This historical set of vessel stops can then be further clustered in order to identify individual docking or loading/unloading locations for all the transportation locations around the world. Once these docking locations have been identified, a geofence can be established around those locations and used to determine when a shipping vehicle has arrived at the corresponding transportation location and/or docking location.

Claims (54)

1 . A computer-implemented method for performing automatic supply chain adjustments in instances of incomplete or inaccurate event data for shipments, the computer-implemented method comprising:

defining, by at least one processor, a set of geofences associated with a set of transportation locations by performing a set of clustering techniques on historical vehicle tracking data;

training, by the at least one processor using a set of training data associated with a set of shipping vehicles, a milestone detection machine learning model, the set of training data comprising vehicle tracking data labeled with a set of milestone events associated with the set of shipping vehicles;

obtaining, by the at least one processor, a set of vehicle tracking data associated with a shipping vehicle, wherein the set of vehicle tracking data is missing a shipment milestone associated with the shipping vehicle;

analyzing, by the at least one processor using the milestone detection machine learning model, the set of vehicle tracking data to determine, for the shipment milestone that is missing from the set of vehicle tracking data, that there has been a change in presence of the shipping vehicle at a transportation location, of the set of transportation locations, associated with a geofence of the set of geofences;

in response to determining that there has been the change in presence of the shipping vehicle at the transportation location associated with the geofence, processing, by a supply chain adjustment machine learning model, data that describes (i) the set of vehicle tracking data and (ii) the change in presence of the shipping vehicle that was determined, to produce at least one automatic supply chain adjustment; and

inserting a data entry into a data record associated with the shipping vehicle that indicates the change in presence of the shipping vehicle at the transportation location associated with the geofence, to reflect the shipment milestone that is missing, and to enable predictive visibility into shipment status and proactive supply chain management action.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating, by the at least one processor, an alert that indicates the change in presence of the shipping vehicle at the transportation location associated with the geofence; and

transmitting, by the at least one processor, the alert to an entity associated with the shipping vehicle.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein processing the data to produce the at least one automatic supply chain adjustment comprises:

processing, by the supply chain adjustment machine learning model, the data that describes (i) the set of vehicle tracking data and (ii) the change in presence of the shipping vehicle that was determined, to modify a requested delivery date.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein processing the data to produce the at least one automatic supply chain adjustment comprises:

processing, by the supply chain adjustment machine learning model, the data that describes (i) the set of vehicle tracking data and (ii) the change in presence of the shipping vehicle that was determined, to modify a labor fulfillment date.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the set of vehicle tracking data comprises:

analyzing, by the at least one processor using the milestone detection machine learning model, the set of vehicle tracking data to determine that either (i) the shipping vehicle has arrived at the transportation location associated with the geofence, or (ii) the shipping vehicle has departed the transportation location associated with the geofence.

6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

filtering, by the at least one processor, the set of vehicle tracking data to produce a set of filtered vehicle tracking data indicating a set of instances in which the shipping vehicle is stopped.

7 . A shipping management computing system for performing automatic supply chain adjustments in instances of incomplete or inaccurate event data for shipments, comprising:

a memory storing (i) a milestone detection machine learning model, (ii) a supply chain adjustment machine learning model, and (iii) a set of computer executable instructions; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the set of computer executable instructions to cause the at least one processor to:

define a set of geofences associated with a set of transportation locations by performing a set of clustering techniques on historical vehicle tracking data,

train, using a set of training data associated with a set of shipping vehicles, the milestone detection machine learning model, the set of training data comprising vehicle tracking data labeled with a set of milestone events associated with the set of shipping vehicles,

obtain a set of vehicle tracking data associated with a shipping vehicle, wherein the set of vehicle tracking data is missing a shipment milestone associated with the shipping vehicle,

analyze, using the milestone detection machine learning model, the set of vehicle tracking data to determine, for the shipment milestone that is missing from the set of vehicle tracking data, that there has been a change in presence of the shipping vehicle at a transportation location, of the set of transportation locations, associated with a geofence of the set of geofences,

in response to determining that there has been the change in presence of the shipping vehicle at the transportation location associated with the geofence, process, by a supply chain adjustment machine learning model, data that describes (i) the set of vehicle tracking data and (ii) the change in presence of the shipping vehicle that was determined, to produce at least one automatic supply chain adjustment, and

insert a data entry into a data record associated with the shipping vehicle that indicates the change in presence of the shipping vehicle at the transportation location associated with the geofence, to reflect the shipment milestone that is missing, and to enable predictive visibility into shipment status and proactive supply chain management action.

8 . The shipping management computing system of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the set of computer executable instructions to further cause the at least one processor to:

generate an alert that indicates the change in presence of the shipping vehicle at the transportation location associated with the geofence, and

transmit the alert to an entity associated with the shipping vehicle.

9 . The shipping management computing system of claim 7 , wherein to process the data to produce the at least one automatic supply chain adjustment, the at least one processor is configured to:

process, by the supply chain adjustment machine learning model, the data that describes (i) the set of vehicle tracking data and (ii) the change in presence of the shipping vehicle that was determined, to modify a requested delivery date.

10 . The shipping management computing system of claim 7 , wherein to process the data to produce the at least one automatic supply chain adjustment, the at least one processor is configured to:

process, by the supply chain adjustment machine learning model, the data that describes (i) the set of vehicle tracking data and (ii) the change in presence of the shipping vehicle that was determined, to modify a labor fulfillment date.

11 . The shipping management computing system of claim 7 , wherein to analyze the set of vehicle tracking data, the at least one processor is configured to:

analyze, using the milestone detection machine learning model, the set of vehicle tracking data to determine that either (i) the shipping vehicle has arrived at the transportation location associated with the geofence, or (ii) the shipping vehicle has departed the transportation location associated with the geofence.

12 . The shipping management computing system of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the set of computer executable instructions to further cause the at least one processor to:

filter the set of vehicle tracking data to produce a set of filtered vehicle tracking data indicating a set of instances in which the shipping vehicle is stopped.

13 . A computer program product for performing automatic supply chain adjustments in instances of incomplete or inaccurate event data for shipments, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a set of computer instructions executable by at least one processor to:

define a set of geofences associated with a set of transportation locations by performing a set of clustering techniques on historical vehicle tracking data;

train, using a set of training data associated with a set of shipping vehicles, a milestone detection machine learning model, the set of training data comprising vehicle tracking data labeled with a set of milestone events associated with the set of shipping vehicles;

obtain a set of vehicle tracking data associated with a shipping vehicle, wherein the set of vehicle tracking data is missing a shipment milestone associated with the shipping vehicle;

analyze, using the milestone detection machine learning model, the set of vehicle tracking data to determine, for the shipment milestone that is missing from the set of vehicle tracking data, that there has been a change in presence of the shipping vehicle at a transportation location, of the set of transportation locations, associated with a geofence of the set of geofences;

in response to determining that there has been the change in presence of the shipping vehicle at the transportation location associated with the geofence, process, by a supply chain adjustment machine learning model, data that describes (i) the set of vehicle tracking data and (ii) the change in presence of the shipping vehicle that was determined, to produce at least one automatic supply chain adjustment; and

insert a data entry into a data record associated with the shipping vehicle that indicates the change in presence of the shipping vehicle at the transportation location associated with the geofence, to reflect the shipment milestone that is missing, and to enable predictive visibility into shipment status and proactive supply chain management action.

14 . The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the set of computer instructions are executable by the at least one processor further to:

generate an alert that indicates the change in presence of the shipping vehicle at the transportation location associated with the geofence; and

transmit the alert to an entity associated with the shipping vehicle.

15 . The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein to process the data to produce the at least one automatic supply chain adjustment, the at least one processor executes the set of computer instructions to:

process, by the supply chain adjustment machine learning model, the data that describes (i) the set of vehicle tracking data and (ii) the change in presence of the shipping vehicle that was determined, to modify a requested delivery date.

16 . The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein to process the data to produce the at least one automatic supply chain adjustment, the at least one processor executes the set of computer instructions to:

process, by the supply chain adjustment machine learning model, the data that describes (i) the set of vehicle tracking data and (ii) the change in presence of the shipping vehicle that was determined, to modify a labor fulfillment date.

17 . The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein to analyze the set of vehicle tracking data, the at least one processor executes the set of computer instructions to:

analyze, using the milestone detection machine learning model, the set of vehicle tracking data to determine that either (i) the shipping vehicle has arrived at the transportation location associated with the geofence, or (ii) the shipping vehicle has departed the transportation location associated with the geofence.

Assignments (4)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 16, 2026
From: PROJECT44, LLC
To: SIXTH STREET SPECIALTY LENDING, INC., AS AGENT
Reel/Frame 075293/0078 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 31, 2024
From: ATWOOD, THOMAS JANOS; DAVALOO, MILAD; GIRES, MARC-HENRI PAUL
To: CLEARMETAL, INC.
Reel/Frame 067578/0706 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 31, 2024
From: CLEARMETAL, INC.
To: PROJECT44, LLC
Reel/Frame 067578/0871 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 31, 2024
From: PROJECT44 LLC
To: P44 LLC
Reel/Frame 067579/0724 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 17967780 · Oct 17, 2022
Continuation 16571890 · Sep 16, 2019
Related Publication 20240311748A1 · Sep 19, 2024
References Cited (24)
US 6420999B1 · Vayanos · 2002 [cited by applicant]
US 7974642B2 · Lin et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 8756010B2 · Gupta et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 8903414B2 · Marti et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 9571968B1 · Barron et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9788156B1 · Anderson et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9848301B2 · Mappus et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9998876B2 · Mappus et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10198707B1 · Bolton · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20100169005A1 · Guillet et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20110133888A1 · Stevens · 2011 [cited by examiner]
US 20110302116A1 · Ide · 2011 [cited by examiner]
US 20110312344A1 · McCahill et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20120309409A1 · Grosman et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20130031047A1 · Boazi et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20140229501A1 · Josefiak · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140258201A1 · Finlow-Bates · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20170103259A1 · Anastassov et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20180204030A1 · Bruce · 2018 [cited by examiner]
CN 106162544A · 2016 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2018146518A1 · 2018 [cited by applicant]
Gingerich, Kevin, Hanna Maoh, and William Anderson. “Classifying the purpose of stopped truck events: An application of entropy to GPS data.” Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies 64 (2016): 17-27. (Year… [cited by examiner]
Gong, L., Sato, H., Yamamoto, T et al. Identification of activity stop locations in GPS trajectories by density-based clustering method combined with support vector machines. J. Mod. Transport. 23, 202-213 (2015). https… [cited by examiner]
Dobrkovic et al.. “Using machine learning for unsupervised maritime waypoint discovery from streaming AIS data.” Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Knowledge Technologies and Data-driven Business. 2015. [cited by applicant]