Big brother is watching

[Leftinbuilding]

Yesterday (Mon.) a driver called in a missort and said he would be unable to deliver it. The mgr took a look at his computer and saw that the driver was just around the corner from the missorted stop. Told him to deliver it. (I had to smile cause this particular driver doesn't want to deliver his own stuff much less anyone elses.) The point is, they can now watch you in real time, from the comfort of their office.

Need to correct that. There is a 6 minute delay according to what I was shown today. Not that it really matters. Interesting, the driver used in the demonstration to me, has some splainin' to do tomorrow. Went a little heavy on his personal time.....

 

[JustTired]

Need to correct that. There is a 6 minute delay according to what I was shown today. Not that it really matters.

Seems it could matter. Theoretically, in 6 minutes you could be up to 5 miles from the represented location. This could make dispatching an OCA to the closest driver rather difficult.

Is this delay showing a continuous 6 minutes "off" or is it a "snapshot" taken every 6 minutes?

Combine that with the fact that there were locations on my area that had no cellular service (delaying diad messaging) and you could be a long way from where it would be feasible to get this OCA.

P-man.....you got any input on this?

 

[trplnkl]

There have been times that by the time I actually see an ODS message it has been on my board for as long as 30 minutes, putting me more than 5 miles away. There are some routes I cover that some stops are as much as 45 minutes apart.

 

[pretzel_man]

Seems it could matter. Theoretically, in 6 minutes you could be up to 5 miles from the represented location. This could make dispatching an OCA to the closest driver rather difficult.

Is this delay showing a continuous 6 minutes "off" or is it a "snapshot" taken every 6 minutes?

Combine that with the fact that there were locations on my area that had no cellular service (delaying diad messaging) and you could be a long way from where it would be feasible to get this OCA.

P-man.....you got any input on this?

Yes....

The DIAD is sending up things to the database all the time after a delivery.

If your DIAD didn't send anything for some amount of time (I think 14 minutes, it will send up a message saying where it is.)

The center screen refreshes every 10 minutes I think.

So, for some stops, its only 2 to 3 minutes delayed. For others, it could be as long as 20.

The center's PC screen shows the delay for each driver, and can use this for the decision process.

I think the key here, and this is what I teach is to not look at where a driver is. Not look at what area they cover. But instead look at where they will be.

This is why they show the uncompleted stops on the map. The map shows the non-dispatched ODS stops and they can see who is going to be there.

If its off by 5 minutes, that's really not a problem. Also, I think there is a way to force a refresh if its needed.

Finally, they told us that the parameters (refresh time of 10 minutes and 14 minutes no transmit upload) are configurable. If needed, they can make them closer to real time. They are trying to reduce cost for hardware and telecommunications.

By the way, a warning.....

Some drivers in my area have figured out that they can turn off communictions in the DIAD so the ODSe system doesn't know where they are.

Please don't do this. The systems can track this and they will be sending us reports on who is doing this. Don't get in trouble over this.

P-Man

 

[upsgrunt]

Perhaps they carry a roll of aluminum foil, (to keep their lunch fresh of course), or that's the time they are delivering those 30 stops in "cave city".

 

[JustTired]

Good info P-man.

Just had a thought....(I know)......
If the system can track all of the deliveries you make and the "trace" in which you delivered them, wouldn't it show if you did not follow EDD but used your own judgement? And couldn't it also show which was shorter in terms of miles and (possibly) logical progression?

If so.....
The GPS has a "learning" ability used to tell you if you are at the right location. Couldn't that ability be utilized to "teach" EDD to adjust its' trace depending on where deliveries are located on any given day? What I'm getting at is...the old sequence # system (loop) was set up assuming a delivery on every road, street or block. In the majority of cases that never happens. So drivers (in order to save time and miles) might run things "out of sequence". EDD is basically the same setup. But it seems that there might be the possibility for a (sort of) learning mode to compensate for gaps in a delivery area. I would think that it would require possibly "learning" from the driver....and therefore lies one of the reasons it wouldn't be implemented. Just a thought!

 

[pretzel_man]

JustTired:

You are a smart individual.

From my contacts in corporate, I know that they are working on something much like you describe. In fact, some of your words are nearly identical to theirs.

Here is the thought:

Between EDD, ODSe, and GPS its known where you are, what stops you have left, where they are, and what time you need to be there.

The computer can then figure out how to improve the trace for that exact day. In essence, the trace would be adjusted for the current situation. It can help with how to best break trace to serve air and pickups.

If you're delivering an air package, it knows what ground pacakges are near there. Maybe it will help you determine the ones that can be delivered and save miles??

It seems like pie in the sky, but I got a rental car that had a navigation system, and I really liked it. It helped me get where I needed.

Why can't UPS technology do the same??

P-Man

 

[Leftinbuilding]

Good info Pretzel Man. Is this the same system (maps etc) that will facilitate the new time studies, or is that a separate technology?

 

[pretzel_man]

Good info Pretzel Man. Is this the same system (maps etc) that will facilitate the new time studies, or is that a separate technology?

Related, but different....

Take a look at what UPS has been doing over the years. We've been systematically gathering, storing, and analyzing information to improve the business.

Every DIAD delivery is stored and UPS has one of the largest databases in the world with all this information.

Then we started scanning every package and compare that information to the delivery information to find the cause of service failures.

Did you know that UPS automatically checks if every pacakge makes service? If it doesn't, it checks which operation caused the failure. This is an awesome feat, and because of this, our service is at very high levels.

Now, we are turning to maps with GPS and the time study data. Take a look at our Roadnet Technologies division. I bet that they will want this advanced mapping and GPS information to give them a competitive advantage as well.

This is why our managers will need to learn to adapt. They will have to be information managers in order to be successful.

P-Man

 

[JustTired]

JustTired:



The computer can then figure out how to improve the trace for that exact day. In essence, the trace would be adjusted for the current situation. It can help with how to best break trace to serve air and pickups.


P-Man

Let's hope that this comes to pass (no pun intended).

EDD and even the old system always seemed to me to be too rigid. While (in its' present form) it does make it easier for a driver new to the area, it ties the hands of the established driver who feels he must (or is directed to) follow trace. Even if EDD is set up properly (or should I say ideally).

For years I've been saying that a good driver saves the company time and money every day. Of course there are exceptions. But I believe those to be in the minority.

While I'm sure that it's coming, I don't think that there is a system out there that can compete with a driver that is performing the job based on their knowledge and capacity to do the job in the shortest amount of time with the least amount of miles. Maybe this could be the start of just such a system.

Time will tell.

 

[New Englander]

JustTired:

You are a smart individual.

From my contacts in corporate, I know that they are working on something much like you describe. In fact, some of your words are nearly identical to theirs.

Here is the thought:

Between EDD, ODSe, and GPS its known where you are, what stops you have left, where they are, and what time you need to be there.

The computer can then figure out how to improve the trace for that exact day. In essence, the trace would be adjusted for the current situation. It can help with how to best break trace to serve air and pickups.

If you're delivering an air package, it knows what ground pacakges are near there. Maybe it will help you determine the ones that can be delivered and save miles??

It seems like pie in the sky, but I got a rental car that had a navigation system, and I really liked it. It helped me get where I needed.

Why can't UPS technology do the same??

P-Man

Where in this information is the computer going to compute traffic congestion, customer questions and any other numerous things that happen daily that slow us down?

There is no way the computer is going to be able to improve trace in real time.

Heck there are times when our diads can't even transmit the information for hours at a time.

 

[pretzel_man]

Where in this information is the computer going to compute traffic congestion, customer questions and any other numerous things that happen daily that slow us down?

There is no way the computer is going to be able to improve trace in real time.

Heck there are times when our diads can't even transmit the information for hours at a time.

I used to think the same. Have you seen the improvements in on board navigation systems?

Over the last 5 years, price has gone way down, and usability has been greatly improved. The industry is working on many, many more improvements.

Take a look, there is Mapquest, Google, Microsoft, all improving this technology all the time.

Maybe this won't come next year, but to I'm betting its coming.

P-Man

 

[Cementups]

Found out today that mine is getting thrown off a little. I get the EDD for another driver everyday so when I leave in the morning it looks like I have 250+ stops. I get his EDD cause he leaves early to do EAMs and I take the work out to him that was left behind or not in the truck yet. Then we do an EDD transfer when I give him the packages so that he has a complete EDD for the day. But when they bring it up on the map it looks like I sitll have close to 200 stops left. As he delivers them though it checks them off as being delivered from both out EDD on the centers GPS map.

 

[trplnkl]

They should use a second diad for that purpose. This would also save time in scanning all of his packages and transferring EDD. coordinating his two boards is not that big of a problem.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Trpl, excellent advice. Linking the 2 DIADs is a piece of cake for the OMS and it would save both drivers so much time.

 

[rocket man]

They sent a message saying we can see you now I Said then why cant you put my route in order They had no comment