Systems and methods for monitoring location of a vehicle or freight carried by a vehicle

A method for a machine or group of machines to monitor location of at least one of a vehicle or freight carried by the vehicle, the method comprising:

• receiving from a location information provider a location information signal including data representing location information of a communications device that originated from a device other than the communications device itself, wherein the data representing the location information of the communications device indicates consent to transmission of location information of the communications device;
• correlating, by a CPU, the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle to the communications device;
• receiving a location request signal including data representing a request for information regarding the location of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle;
• correlating, by the CPU or another CPU, the location information from the location information provider that originated from the device other than the communications device itself to the location of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle based at least in part on the correlation of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle to the communications device;
• and
• transmitting a location signal including data representing the location of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle, the location signal configured to cause the display of a visual representation of the location of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle on a remote device's user interface.

A machine or group of machines embodying a system for monitoring location of at least one of a vehicle or freight carried by the vehicle, the system comprising:

• a communications interface in the machine or group of machines configured to communicate electronic signals including:
• a location request signal including data representing a request for information regarding the location of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle;
• and
• a correlation logic in the machine or group of machines configured to correlate, by a CPU, the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle to a communications device,
• wherein
• the communications interface is further configured to communicate:
• a location information request signal including data representing a request for location information of the communications device to a location information provider;
• a signal including data that indicates that a user of the communications device consented to transmission of location information;
• a location information signal from the location information provider including data representing location information of the communications device that originated from a device other than the communications device itself;
• and
• the correlation logic is further configured to correlate the location information from the location information provider that originated from the device other than the communications device itself to the location of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle based at least in part on the correlation of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle to the communications device;
• and
• the communications interface is further configured to communicate a location signal including data representing the location of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle, the location signal configured to cause a representation of the location of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle.

A method for a machine or group of machines to monitor location of at least one of a vehicle or freight carried by the vehicle, the method comprising:

• receiving from a location information provider a location information signal including data representing location information of a communications device that originated from the communications device itself, wherein the data representing the location information of the communications device indicates consent to transmission of location information of the communications device;
• correlating, by a CPU, the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle to the communications device;
• receiving a location request signal including data representing a request for information regarding the location of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle;
• correlating, by the CPU or another CPU, the location information from the location information provider that originated from a device other than the communications device itself to the location of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle based at least in part on the correlation of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle to the communications device;
• and
• transmitting a location signal including data representing the location of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle, the location signal configured to cause the display of a visual representation of the location of the vehicle or the freight carried by the vehicle on a remote device's user interface.