Akron, OH-based Roadway Express, a trucking subsidiary of Overland Park, KS-based YRC Worldwide (formerly Yellow Roadway), has just received a patent for its Roadway Sealed Divider Service – a package security system that verifies a shipment remains undisturbed from pickup to delivery.
Issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Roadway Express’ Patent No. 6981828 refers to the numbered rod-lock seal system the company developed to ensure shipment security, said Roadway president & CEO Mike Smid.
At the time of pickup, a shipment moving under the Sealed Divider Service is isolated in the nose of a trailer by a customized barrier constructed behind it, he noted. The barrier prevents packages from mingling with other shipments on the trailer.
Two numbered rod lock seals secure the barrier, with the seal numbers recorded on a placard and the freight bill, Smid said. Once sealed on a Roadway trailer, the shipment is not touched until arrival at its final destination, whereby the receiver compares the seal numbers to the numbers on the placard and freight bill. The matching numbers verify that the shipment traveled undisturbed.
“We developed this service to address specific customer needs, such as safe transport of fragile products and verifiable security to meet new, stricter government regulations,” said Smid. He added that it’s targeted at products that are difficult or expensive to package for shipping, are of high value (such as pharmaceuticals), or need verifiable security throughout transit.
“It is gratifying to see this particular innovation acknowledged by the granting of a patent,” he said.
