Gps monitoring biometric smartcard, intelligent speed managment

50:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said national Transport Management Command Centre communicates with the carrier, driver and the in-vehicle unit using said Satellite/GPRS/GSM/Short Range/Bluetooth enabled wireless communications link facility and said internet on-line facility.

51:

• The method and system of claim 49, wherein every carrier may utilize said internet on-line carrier dispatcher facility and database of claim 49 to create, file, store and track route plans and vehicle, driver and cargo details for its fleet operations.

52:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein every carrier may create route plans, vehicle, driver and cargo details on its own in-house system and download said route plans, vehicle, driver and cargo details to said national Transport Management Command Centre using said internet online facility and said Satellite/GPRS/GSM/Short Range/Bluetooth enabled wireless communications link facility.

53:

• The method and system of claim 49, wherein said filed on-road route plans, vehicle, driver and cargo details, detours, road closures, accident sites, adverse weather areas, the table of state border crossings and geographical speed zone locations table of claim 49 are downloaded to said in-vehicle monitoring unit using said Satellite/GPRS/GSM/Short Range/Bluetooth enabled wireless communications link facility.

54:

• The method and system of claim 49, wherein said filed route plans, vehicle, driver and cargo details, the table of state border crossings, detours, road closures, accident sites, adverse weather areas and the geographical speed zone locations table of claim 49 are downloaded to said secure biometric enabled smart cards using said internet on-line facility and said Satellite/GPRS/GSM/Short Range/ Bluetooth enabled wireless communications facility.

55:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said national Transport Management Command Centre receives, confirms, alters, maintains, updates, monitors and stores all said filed route plans and driver and cargo details in real time.

56:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said national Transport Management Command Centre receives a signal from said in-vehicle monitoring unit at preset time intervals confirming vehicle and driver adherence to said filed route plans and driver and cargo details.

57:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said national Transport Management Command Centre sends a “reply” request to said in-vehicle monitoring unit whenever said periodic signal from said in-vehicle monitoring unit is not received within the said designated period.

58:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said national Transport Management Command Centre receives an alarm signal from said in- vehicle monitoring unit whenever the vehicle is in violation of said filed route plans, vehicle, driver or cargo details.

59:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said national Transport Management Command Centre intervenes, takes control of and manages the vehicle in case of violation of, or deviation from, said filed route plans, vehicle, driver or cargo details.

60:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said national Transport Management Command Centre sends a “disable” command to said in-vehicle monitoring unit to disable the vehicle in case of emergency or a hostile driver. Further, during police pursuits, a Short Range/Bluetooth communications enabled hand held unit with a limited effective range is used to disable the vehicle.

61:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said national Transport Management Command Centre receives automated accident reports from said in-vehicle monitoring unit and notifies appropriate emergency services.

62:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said national Transport Management Command Centre maintains all driver hours of service records for every licensed driver in the country.

63:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said national Transport Management Command Centre maintenance of all driver hours of service records for every licensed driver in the country eliminates the legal requirement and associated costs to collect and retain driver hours of service supporting documents.

65:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit is turned on at installation and remains on indefinitely regardless whether the engine is operating or not.

66:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit enters into ‘sleep mode’ whenever said vehicle is stationary with the engine turned off.

67:

• The method and system of claim 64, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit instantly enters into “wake mode” whenever said accelerometer of claim 64 senses any vehicle movement.

68:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein disconnecting the said in-vehicle monitoring unit from the vehicle engine management computer automatically disables the vehicle and logs this event in both the said in-vehicle monitoring unit and said smart card memory.

69:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein all vehicle related details including ownership, registration, classification, license and insurance status are encoded in said in-vehicle monitoring unit memory on installation.

70:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein the said in-vehicle monitoring unit is programmed for bidirectional communication with said vehicle engine management computer.

71:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein the said in-vehicle monitoring unit is configured to execute an upgradeable operating system having a graphical user interface to display multiple windows.

72:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit is configured with an upgradeable operating system which executes all functions of the said in-vehicle unit.

73:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said secure biometrically enabled smart cards are used to record, maintain and transfer drivers’ hours of service records between vehicles

74:

• The method and system of claim 64, wherein the vehicle engine is enabled and the driver is logged in by inserting said secure biometric enabled, valid driver smart card containing the driver's fingerprints into said in-vehicle monitoring unit and presenting a valid fingerprint to said fingerprint reader of claim 64, and wherein further removing said valid driver smart card from said in-vehicle monitoring unit disables the vehicle engine and logs the driver out.

75:

• The method and system of claim 74, wherein the driver log in of claim 74 automatically downloads the current data from said biometrically enabled smart card to said in-vehicle monitoring unit.

76:

• The method and system of claim 75, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit displays the data of claim 75.

77:

• The method and system of claim 48 wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit further displays the driver hours of service records for the last 8 days wherein every duty status is represented by a different colored horizontal progress bar on a 24 hour log sheet graph.

78:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit displays a “crumb trail” of the filed route plan showing key way points, all state border crossings and all relevant points of driver duty status changes.

79:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit displays all driver duty status violations showing duration of the violations with a horizontal red progress bar representing the duty status being violated.

80:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit displays the scheduled end of every driver duty status with a vertical bar, and further a numerical hour and minute display shows the time remaining in every driver duty status.

81:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit continuously monitors, calculates, updates, records and graphically displays all daily driver log information required to comply with the regulation that logs be updated at regular 15 minute intervals.

82:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit displays the time duration an offending driver must be placed out of service before he is allowed to resume work.

83:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit displays local time zones for the filed route plan as a half tone overlay over the filed route the vehicle will travel.

84:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit is configured with a voice control capability.

85:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein the said in-vehicle monitoring unit records all loading/unloading, fuelling, maintenance and wash times by driver input via the audio, keyboard or touch screen interface.

86:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit uses its GPS system and an accelerometer to determine the location and duration of the vehicle's stationary position to record all loading/unloading, fuelling, maintenance and wash times whenever the driver fails to do so.

87:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said GPS system of said in-vehicle monitoring unit continuously monitors the route adherence, position and location of the vehicle in real time, and further the system notifies said national Transport Management Command Centre whenever the vehicle diverts from said filed route plan.

88:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit continuously compares the current GPS vehicle position with said table of geographical speed zone locations to determine what speed zone the vehicle is traveling in.

89:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit always knows what speed zone it is traveling in and using said GPS based cruise control continuously adjusts the engine management computer to automatically maintain the appropriate vehicle speed limit within each speed zone without driver input to provide intelligent speed adaptation.

90:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit audibly and visually notifies the driver of impending speed zone changes and in progress speeding violations within each speed zone.

91:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said intelligent speed adaptation provided by said GPS based cruise control is always active while the engine is running.

92:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein applying the brakes disengages said GPS based cruise control allowing the vehicle to slow or stop normally, and further applying the accelerator disengages the GPS based cruise control and allows the vehicle to speed up but only until it reaches an absolute maximum speed limit preset on the said in-vehicle monitoring unit.

93:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit automatically records and displays the date, time, location and actual speed of the vehicle in case of speeding violations within each speed zone.

94:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit automatically reports speeding violations to said national Transport Management Command Centre via said Satellite/GPRS/GSM/Short Range/Bluetooth communications link facility.

95:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said national Transport Management Command Centre processes said automatically reported speeding violations and sends out fine payment notices for enforcement.

96:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit audibly and visually notifies the driver of impending mandated rest breaks.

97:

• The method and system of claim 49, wherein the said in-vehicle monitoring unit continuously monitors cargo status via the cargo monitoring module interface of claim 49.

98:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit continuously monitors and records the vehicle operating parameters via said engine management computer interface and makes these records available to the national Transport Management Command Centre.

99:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit records and reports all state border crossing with associated GPS coordinates, date and time.

100:

• The method and system of claim 64, wherein said GPS system and said accelerometer of claim 64 determine and record the location, and scale of severity of any sudden deceleration, impact or accident, and further said in-vehicle monitoring unit automatically notifies said national Transport Management Command Centre of such incidents and sends the last 2 minutes of the logged engine management computer data without driver involvement.

101:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein said in-vehicle monitoring unit downloads all records to the national Transport Management Command Centre daily or on demand.

102:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein a second embodiment of the present invention is applied to private vehicles using a smart card driver license to operate the vehicle.

103:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein a third embodiment of the present invention is applied to untethered trailers.

104:

• The method and system of claim 48, wherein every registered vehicle, regardless of carrier/owner/operator status, is monitored by said in-vehicle unit and said national Transport Management Command Centre to provide a national transport security and response platform.