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US 8,939,703 B1Granted
Hub and spoke system for shipping less than full load increments
OwnerJames Lawrenceinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for the shipment of less than a full load in a secured collapsible sub-container from the shipper's location to a first central hub for combination with other partial shipments to make a full load for transfer to a second hub and ultimate delivery to a destination. The sub-container being readily foldable for storage in a full load freight container without taking up freight carrying capacity.
Claims10
A hub and spoke method of shipping freight comprising the steps of:
- a. loading less than a full load of items at an origination site into a collapsible sub-container;
- b. transferring the loaded collapsible sub-container to a first central hub;
- c. integrating the loaded collapsible sub-container with other less than full load items to make up a full load for transfer to a second central hub;
- d. transferring the loaded collapsible sub-container from the second central huh to a destination site;
- e. unloading the loaded collapsible sub-container and reloading for return shipment to the origination site;
- wherein the sub-container is defined by a floor panel having side, front and rear edges and top, front, rear and side panels to form an enclosure for containing items to be shipped, the rear, top and front panels being formed of a single sheet of a flexible material and the side panels being pivotally attached to the floor panel to fold inwardly toward each other to lie over the floor panel when the sub-container is collapsed;
- wherein the single sheet of flexible material is removed prior to folding the side panels;
- wherein the single sheet of flexible material is stored as a roll on the rear edge of the floor panel when the sub-container is collapsed.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.