US789395A - Railroad shipment-tracer. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED MAY 9, 1905.

J. Tl TODD.

RAILROAD SHIPMENT TRADER.

APPLICATION FILED DEU.5, 1903.

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No. 789,395. PATENTED MAY 9, 1905. J. T. TODD.

RAILROAD SHIPMENT TRACER.

APPLIOATION FILED DIIOJ, 1903.

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Iatented May 9, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN T. TODD, OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.

IRIILHOAD SHlPWlENTm-TRACEW...

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 789,395, dated May 9, 1905.

Application filed December 5, 1903. Serial No. 183.897.

-in the county of Sangamon and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful i Improvements in R ailroad Shipment-Tracers,

of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to a tracer for continually locating any specific shipment of goods over a railroad.

The object of the invention is to furnish either a shipper, consignee, or railroad company with. a medium through means of which they may locate any point of delay in a ship- :ment in ade according to a specific bill of lading and by locating such point expedite the transmission of the shipment by the carrier, due to the tracer providing for the sending of memoranda to its issuer or other person from all stations to which the shipment is billed or moves from time to time.

The invention consists in features of novelty hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

The method of tracing shipments heretofore in vogue has proven unsatisfactory to all parties concerned in the shipment and has been inadequate for the purpose intended, for the reason that it has involved a plan in which the shipment was followed from station to station between the point of origin and destination and one that has not provided for the furnishing of information to the `issuer of the tracer until the tracing-papers have reached the destination of the shipment. Even when such tracing-papers have run their course and are returned they are seldom intelligible to the shipper or consignee, owing to the peculiarity of the notations made by the railroad employees through whose hands the papers have passed. When such tracingpapers have been made use of, it is too late for the shipper or consignee to lessen the delay in the handling of the shipment traced, which if known during transmission of shipment might have been greatly lessened by taking proper steps to bring the delay to the attention of the railroad authorities at fault, who Would when advised of it make inquiry concerning their employees guilty of negligence in connection with the shipment and hasten it forward.

I have designed a tracer by which it is possible for the issuer, who may be the shipper, consignee, or railroad, to obtain information from time to time of the step-by-step nievements of any specific shipment, so that he may know the progress of the shipment from day to day. In the use of such tracer, which is intended to follow the specific shipment named in the tracer, the various railroad agents through whose hands the shipment passes are enabled to send a :memorandum to the issuer of the tracer or other party designated by him of the receipt of thelshipment referred to at their stations and the disposal of it-namely, transmission to the next point in its course of transmission or of its arrival at destination and including delivery as a final report. By such a tracer I virtually provide for a chain of information indicating the location of a shipment from time to time and through the medium of which if any delay occurs the issuer of the tracer or other Aparty may be at once informed of the point at which the fault lies and enabled to take the subject of delay up with the railroad delaying the shipment.

The tracer is especially intended for use by either a shipper or consignee as its issuer, but, as stated, may be used by a railroad company, if desired.

Having now referred to the present plan of tracing railroad shipments and given an outline ofthe utility of my improvement to take the place of the method of tracing shipments heretofore in vogue, I will proceed with a description of my tracer.

Figure I is an exterior view of my tracer in unfolded condition. Fig. II is an inside perspective view of my tracer in unfolded condition. Fig. III is an enlarged section through the tracer. Fig. IV is a face view of the agents record-sheet section of the tracer with the first record-sheet and mailing-card omitted. Fig. V is a face view of the record-sheet section, showing the final-report agents rec- IOO ord-sheet, the record-sheets in advance of it being omitted. Fig. VI is a face view of one of the mailing-cards used in the tracer.

A designates the cover of my tracer, upon the exterior face of which is an address-section l, a registration-section 2, and an instruction-section 3. (See Fig. l.) On the inside of the cover A, or the reverse of the sections 2 and 3, is a shipment record-sheet 4, that is designed to receive memorandum of the bill of lading under which any shipment is made, sucli information including the name of the consignee and shipper, the destination of the shipment, designation of the car in which the shipment is made, the articles shipped, and the bill of lading and its date, as seen in Fig. H. Secured to the reverse or inside face of the cover-section l is a stub 5, that carries a series of sets of agents record-sheets 6, corresponding in number to the number of agents through whose hands the shipment may pass from starting-point to destination. These record-sheets 6 are intact with the stub 5 and remain in such condition throughout the use of the tracer in furnishing information to the issuer of the transmission of the shipment named in the tracer. Each of the foremost of the agents7 recordsheets are provided with spaces to receive memorandum of the registered number of the tracer, the name of the agent to which the tracer may be forwarded, the billing reference-namely, the point from which shipment is made to the next succeeding point toward its destination and designation of the way-bill and the road over which the shipment has been sent. Each of said sheets also provides for information as to transfer of the shipment or any exceptions respecting the shipment.

At the rear of each of the foremost agents record-sheets is a mailing-card 7, that is detachably connected to the stub 5, being preferably scored or perforated, as shown, so that it may be severed from the stub after memorandum has been made thereon.' The reverse of each of the mailing-cards 7 bears a registration-number of the tracer and has spaces corresponding to those on the agents record sheets 6, so that a memorandum made on any of such record-sheets may also be made on the mailing-cards.

-8 is a carbon-sheet attached to the coversection 1, as seen in Fig. Ill, for free insertion between either of the agents recordsheets and a mailing-card adjacent thereto. By introducing this carbon-sheet between a record-sheet and mailing-card a manifold of the information written on the record-sheet may be made upon the reverse of the mailing-card, which latter may thereafter be severed from the stub 5 and removed from the tracer to be sent to the issuer of the tracer or other party designated by the issuer by the agent making the memorandum and furnishing the addressee with desired information of the disposal he has made of the shipment received by him for transmission during the course of its transportation.

6 designates a final-report agents recordsheet, that, similar to the sheets 6, is permanently attached to the stub 5 to remain intact therewith. This final-report sheet bears the registration-number of the tracer and is provided with spaces for the entrance of the destination-station to which shipment is made, the Pro No. reference of the deliveringstation, the date of arrival, notification and delivery to the consignee, and a space in which a memorandum may be made of undelivery and the reasons therefor. This sheet also provides for the entry of notations of eX- ceptions to the articles in the shipment or condition thereof and the name of the agent, the railroad by which he is employed, and the date on which the record-sheet is written.

7 designates a finalreport mailing-card located beneath the final-report agents record-sheet and onto which memorandum corresponding to that made on the final-report record-sheet may be made, after which said final-report mailing-card is severed from the tracer and sent to the issuer of the tracer or other addressee. y

ln practice my tracer is used as follows: The tracer originates with the issuer, whois in most instances either the shipper or consignee. The party to receive information furnished through the medium of the tracer may be either of those named or any other designated by either of them. I will for convenience hereinafter refer, however, to such party as the issuen As the first step the issuer fills in the shipment record-sheet 4 after receiving bill of lading for a specific shipment and delivers the tracer to the railroad agent at the point of origin of the shipment. This rst agent from his records fills out the first agents record-sheet 6 and permitting the record-sheet mentioned to remain intact in the tracer forwards the tracer to the agent at the station to which the shipment is first transmitted, which latter agent will be referred to as the second agent. The first agent also sends the first mailing-card to the issuer of the tracer after manifold is made thereon. When this second agent receives the tracer, he fills out the second set of agents record sheets 6 by making the memorandum thereon provided for, indicating the shipment and the disposal of it, and, as stated, this record-sheet is permitted to remain intact with the tracer. In filling out said record-sheet the agent makes a duplicate or manifold of his memorandum on the mailing-card, as explained, and then separates said mailing-card from the tracer and despatches it to the issuer of the tracer. The issuer thereby at once receives information of the shipment up to this point. The

same procedure is gone through with'by each of the agents through whose hands the shipment passes or has passed, and therefore the issuer of the tracer is constantly advised of the movements of the shipment and is enabled to locate the point at which there may be delay. In any instance where there is a transfer of the shipment from one road to another the agent at the point of transfer indicates such transfer by what is technically known by railroads as a Pro. No.77 In the manner described the tracer follows the specific shipment referred to therein, each agent by whom it is received being able to refer to his records and furnish information to the issuer of the tracer of the disposal he has made of the shipment until the tracer finally reaches the point of destinatien,'when the final-report agents record-sheet 6 is made use of by the agent at point of destination of the shipment, and the record provided for thereon is made by such agent and the finalreport mailing-card sent to the issuer of the tracer. After the tracer has reached the destination of the shipment and its office has been fulfilled by furnishing to the issuer the intended information throughout the course taken by the shipment the tracer, with the agents report-sheets remaining intact therein, is folded in such manner as to expose the address-section l thereof, and it is suitably secured in folded condition, such as by placing a rubber band around it, and placed in the mail to be returned to the issuer to furnish a complete intact record therein of the manner in which the shipment has been handled, so that he can, if desired, have it for future reference.

The address of the issuer is preferably applied to the tracer by either the issuer or agent at point of origin of the shipment previous to the transmission of the tracer, and therefore such address furnishes information at all times to the agents who receive the tracer in order that they may have knowledge respecting the party to whom the notices furnished by them are to be sent and also that the agent at point of destination may know to whom the used tracer is to be returned. The tracer may be made to contain any desired number of sets of agents record-sheetsnamely, two or more, as may be necessary to apply to a single railroad or any number of railroads connecting and over which a shipment is made-so as to provide for the requisite number of notices to the issuer of the tracer according to the number of agents through whose hands the shipment may pass and who are to furnish information to the issuer.

l claim as my inventionl. A shipment-tracer comprising a cover, a plurality of record-sheets, each of said record-sheets being permanently secured at one of its ends to said cover and havingl spaces appropriately designated for the designation of the agent to which the tracer is to be forwarded, for the billing reference and for information as to transfer of the shipment or any exceptions respecting the shipment, a plurality of mailing-cards interposed between and covered by said record-sheets, said mailing-cards having spaces similar to those of the record-sheets, a final-report sheet permanently secured at one of its ends to said cover and having spaces appropriately designated for the registration-number of the tracer, for the entrance of the destinationstation to which shipment is made, for the date of arrival and delivery to the consignee, for a memorandum of undelivery and the reason therefor, for the designation of the agent, the railroad by which he is employed and the date on which the report-sheet is written, and a final-report mailing-card located beneath the report-sheet, substantially as set forth.

2. A shipment-tracer comprising a cover, a plurality of record-sheets, each of said record-sheets being permanently secured at one of its ends to said cover and having spaces appropriately designated for the registered number of the tracer for the designation of the agent to which the tracer is to be forwarded, for the billing reference and for in,- formation as to transfer of the shipment or any exceptions respecting the shipment, a plurality of mailing-cards interposed between and covered by said record-sheets, said mailing-cards having spaces similar to those of the record-sheets, a final-report sheet perm anently secured at one of its ends to said cover and having spaces appropriately designated for the registratioli-number of the tracer, for the entrance of the destination,station to which shipment is made, for the Pro. No. reference of the delivery-station, for the date of arrival, notification and delivery to the consignee, for a memorandum of undelivery and the reasons therefor, for notations of exceptions to the articles in the shipment or condition thereof, for the designation of the agent, the railroad by which he is employed and the date on which the report sheet is written and a final-report mailing-card located beneath the report-sheet, substantially as set forth.

JOHN T. TODD.

In presence of- E. S.. KNIGHT, M. P. SMrrn.

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