Automated monitoring, detection, and reporting of unauthorized movement and/or theft of vehicles and cargo

A method for tracking vehicles and cargo, the method comprising:

• registering, at an enhanced electronic logging device (ELD) of a vehicle, an operator mobile communication device (MCD) to receive notifications related to a load lock of the ELD, the load lock identifying that the operator has parked the vehicle and triggered the ELD to report any movement of the vehicle that occurs while the load lock is activated;
• presenting, on a display of the ELD, at least one selectable option for activating the load lock of the vehicle;
• activating the load lock in response to receiving an input that turns on the load lock;
• generating and transmitting a notification of at least one of unauthorized movement or a potential theft of the vehicle in response to receiving an input from at least one movement-detection mechanism (MDM) indicating that the vehicle is moving or being moved from a parked location while the load lock is activated;
• in response to detecting movement of the vehicle while the load lock is on, outputting a prompt for entry of at least one of a pre-established passcode or a pre-stored biometric input to deactivate the load lock;
• and
• in response to not receiving a matching deactivation entry before expiration of a preset time period, triggering broadcasting by a Bluetooth (BT) transceiver of a Bluetooth (BT) beacon with a unique BT ID of a BT tag embedded within one of the vehicle or a cargo, the BT beacon being detectable by other BT receivers that are within a detection range of the BT transceiver.

A method comprising:

• registering an operator mobile communication device (MCD) with an enhanced electronic logging device (ELD) for receipt of notifications of movement of a vehicle while a load lock is active, the operator MCD having an MCD display device, a MCD wireless transceiver, a MCD memory having a load lock security notification response (LLSNR) module stored thereon, and an MCD processor communicatively coupled to the MCD display, MCD wireless transceiver, and MCD memory;
• in response to receipt of the notification from the ELD, outputting a load lock (LL) graphical user interface (GUI) on the MCD display, the GUI comprising a deactivation prompt for the operator to enter one of a pre-established deactivation passcode or pre-stored biometric input;
• monitoring for correct entry of the deactivation code or biometric input before expiration of a time-out period;
• and
• in response to at least one of (i) not receiving a correct deactivation entry within the time-out period or (ii) receiving selection of an entry identifying at least one type of active incident or a type of desired response:
• transmitting at least one notification to one or more of (a) a shipment monitoring (SM) server, and (b) a law enforcement dispatcher computer, and (c) an authorized third party;
• and
• triggering broadcasting by a Bluetooth (BT) transceiver of a Bluetooth (BT) beacon with a unique BT ID of a BT tag embedded within one of the vehicle or a cargo, the BT beacon being detectable by other BT receivers that are within a detection range of the BT transceiver.

A method performed by a SM server for tracking and detecting stolen vehicles and cargo, the method comprising:

• assigning a Bluetooth (BT) tag to a registered vehicle transporting cargo that is being monitored by a shipment tracking service, the BT tag including a unique identifier;
• associating the unique ID of the assigned BT tag with other identifying information of the shipment vehicle/cargo/operator and storing the unique ID and associated identifying information to a database of tracked shipments and equipment;
• receiving, from at least one of an operator MCD or an enhance electronic logging device (ELD), at a shipment tracking server, a notification of a theft event associated with a tracked shipment or vehicle that is equipped with the BT tag;
• parsing the notification to retrieve the vehicle or operator ID;
• retrieving the unique ID of the BT tag from the database, based on the received vehicle or operator ID;
• transmitting the unique ID to a plurality of BT signal detection devices geographically located in a geographical area corresponding to the location of the theft event, the transmitting including an activation trigger to activate the BT signal detection devices to initiate monitoring operation by the BT signal detection devices to identify any matches in unique IDs of detected BT tags within a detection range of the BT signal detection device and the unique ID of the stolen vehicle or cargo;
• monitoring for receipt of a confirmed detection of the unique ID by one or more of the BT signal detection devices;
• and
• in response to receipt of the confirmed detection:
• recording a location and time of the confirmed detection;
• transmitting relevant details of the confirmed detection to law enforcement and other relevant parties;
• and
• updating the database with confirmed detection information, including time and location and any additional details received.