Systems and methods for shipping management in a network of moving things

1. A mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module comprising electronic circuitry and being operative to, at least:

establish communication links directly with other mobile access points;

establish communication links directly with sensors positioned along a travel route of the MAP, wherein the MAP is on-board a vehicle and the sensors positioned along the travel route of the MAP are not on-board the vehicle;

collect shipping container-related sensor data from the sensors; and

communicate information related to the collected shipping container-related sensor data to a second system.

2. The mobile access point of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is other than a vehicle that moves shipping containers.

3. The mobile access point of claim 2 , wherein:

the vehicle comprises a public transportation vehicle; and

the at least one module is operative to provide Internet access to public passengers of the public transportation vehicle.

4. The mobile access point of claim 1 , wherein the second system comprises a port controller.

5. The mobile access point of claim 1 , wherein the second system comprises a second mobile access point (MAP), and wherein the second MAP is on-board a land vehicle and provides Internet access.

6. The mobile access point of claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is operative to select at least one of a plurality of metropolitan area networks over which to communicate the information to the second system.

7. The mobile access point of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of metropolitan area networks comprises:

a first metropolitan area network comprising a non-cellular vehicle communication network comprising a plurality of mobile access points and a plurality of fixed access points; and

a second metropolitan area network comprising a cellular communication network comprising a plurality of cellular base stations.

8. The mobile access point of claim 7 , wherein the at least one module is operative to select at least one of a plurality of manners in which to communicate the information to the second system, the plurality of manners comprising:

a first manner comprising immediately communicating the information to the second system via the cellular communication network; and

a second manner comprising communicating the information to the second system in a delay tolerant manner via the non-cellular vehicle communication network.

9. The mobile access point of claim 6 , wherein the at least one module is operative to select the at least one of the plurality of metropolitan area networks based, at least in part, on a value of the collected shipping container-related sensor data.

10. The mobile access point of claim 9 , wherein the at least one module is operative to select the at least one of a plurality of metropolitan area networks based, at least in part, on whether the value is outside of a range of acceptable values.

11. The mobile access point of claim 6 , wherein the at least one module is operative to select the at least one of the plurality of metropolitan area networks based, at least in part, on a list comprising shipping container identities.

12. The mobile access point of claim 6 , wherein the at least one module is operative to select the at least one of the plurality of metropolitan area networks based, at least in part, on time-of-day and/or day-of-week.

13. The mobile access point of claim 6 , wherein the at least one module is operative to:

determine a priority of the information; and

select the at least one of the plurality of metropolitan area networks based, at least in part, on the determined priority.

14. The mobile access point of claim 1 , wherein the collected shipping container-related sensor data comprises temperature information.

15. The mobile access point of claim 1 , wherein the collected shipping container-related sensor data comprises location information.

16. The mobile access point of claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is operative to communicate information identifying a shipping container with which a communication link could not be established to the second system.

17. The mobile access point of claim 1 , wherein the communicated information comprises information identifying a shipping container corresponding to collected shipping container-related sensor data having a value that is different from an expected value.

18. The mobile access point of claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is operative to:

establish communication links with second sensors along the travel route of the MAP, wherein the second sensors are not on-board the vehicle;

collect second sensor data from the second sensors that is unrelated to shipping; and

communicate second information related to the collected second sensor data in a second manner different from a first manner in which the information related to the collected shipping container-related sensor data is communicated.

19. The mobile access point of claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is operative to maintain a VoIP call with a personal communication device.

20. A mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module comprising electronic circuitry and being operative to, at least:

establish communication links directly with other mobile access points;

while the MAP is moving:

establish communication links directly with stationary sensors positioned along a travel route of the MAP; and

collect shipping container-related sensor data from the stationary sensors; and

analyze the collected shipping container-related sensor data to identify at least one action to perform.

21. The mobile access point of claim 20 , wherein the at least one module is operative to analyze the collected shipping container-related sensor data to determine whether to communicate information related to the collected shipping container-related sensor data to a second system.

22. The mobile access point of claim 20 , wherein the at least one module is operative to analyze at least the collected shipping container-related sensor data to select at least one of a plurality of independent communication networks over which to communicate information related to the collected shipping container-related sensor data to a second system.

23. The mobile access point of claim 20 , wherein the at least one module is operative to analyze at least the collected shipping container-related sensor data to determine whether to modify a shipping container movement plan.

24. The mobile access point of claim 20 , wherein the at least one module is operative to:

receive a shipping container movement plan prior to collecting the shipping container-related sensor data from the sensors; and

modify the shipping container movement plan in real-time based, at least in part, on the collected shipping container-related sensor data.

25. A mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module comprising electronic circuitry and being operative to, at least:

while a vehicle carrying the MAP is moving:

establish communication links directly with other mobile access points;

establish first communication links directly with first sensors positioned along a travel route of the MAP, where the first sensors are not on-board the vehicle;

collect first shipping container-related sensor data from the first sensors;

communicate the collected first shipping container-related sensor data to a second system via a first communication network;

establish second communication links directly with second sensors positioned on-board the vehicle;

collect second shipping container-related sensor data from the second sensors;

communicate the collected second shipping container-related sensor data to the second system via a second communication network independent of the first communication network;

receive data collection control information while the MAP is traveling on the travel route; and

adjust how the shipping container-related sensor data is being collected based, at least in part, on the received data collection control information.

26. The mobile access point of claim 25 , wherein the at least one module is operable to receive the data collection control information directly from another mobile access point of a vehicle that is unrelated to transporting cargo and/or public passengers.

27. The mobile access point of claim 25 , wherein the at least one module is operative to receive the data collection control information from a port controller.

28. The mobile access point of claim 25 , wherein the at least one module is operative to adjust how the at least one module collects the shipping container-related sensor data, at least in part, on the collected shipping container-related sensor data.