diad 4, delivery and pick up commits

[gray squirrel]

This is a great forum. I have learned a lot about how other drivers feel about this company. I have a do a little crying also. My first complaint is the diad 4. Who were the genuses who designed this frigging thing. They obviously were not drivers. I fight with this thing everyday. The pen couldn't be in a more unconvient place. I have to either take it out, and hand it to every customer, or show them where it is, and watch them as they turn the diad around 20 times trying to get it back in the holder, or then drop it. The shift key sucks!!! When I am in a hurry (which is most days), I type letters in the numbers, and numbers in letters. Sure, saves space, but costs me a lot of key strokes every day. The signature, driver release, and stop complete keys in the same area. Every diad was an improvement over the last, this is not, and I see it as a step back. This piece of crap causes me lots of time every day. We now have bulk stop, and pick up time commits in our center. They want me to be 45 minutes bulk stop time commit, and within 15 minutes on pick up commit. This is great, but every day is not the same at UPS. If I have to run air all over the place, and then get back on trace, and try to make these commits, I end up running a lot more miles, and working a lot later to meet these stupid commit times. My customers all know me, and know I will with out a doubt be there every day to pick up their packages. They want me to run more miles, work later, and get my air and packages in later, so that they look good on paper to make these stupid commit times. They are forcing me to give poor customer service certain customers, who will now get their packages later than usual. Is UPS now just worried about how they look on paper, and customer service is out the door?? Just venting.

 

[30andout]

This is a great forum. I have learned a lot about how other drivers feel about this company. I have a do a little crying also. My first complaint is the diad 4. Who were the genuses who designed this frigging thing. They obviously were not drivers. I fight with this thing everyday. The pen couldn't be in a more unconvient place. I have to either take it out, and hand it to every customer, or show them where it is, and watch them as they turn the diad around 20 times trying to get it back in the holder, or then drop it. The shift key sucks!!! When I am in a hurry (which is most days), I type letters in the numbers, and numbers in letters. Sure, saves space, but costs me a lot of key strokes every day. The signature, driver release, and stop complete keys in the same area. Every diad was an improvement over the last, this is not, and I see it as a step back. This piece of crap causes me lots of time every day. We now have bulk stop, and pick up time commits in our center. They want me to be 45 minutes bulk stop time commit, and within 15 minutes on pick up commit. This is great, but every day is not the same at UPS. If I have to run air all over the place, and then get back on trace, and try to make these commits, I end up running a lot more miles, and working a lot later to meet these stupid commit times. My customers all know me, and know I will with out a doubt be there every day to pick up their packages. They want me to run more miles, work later, and get my air and packages in later, so that they look good on paper to make these stupid commit times. They are forcing me to give poor customer service certain customers, who will now get their packages later than usual. Is UPS now just worried about how they look on paper, and customer service is out the door?? Just venting.

In a nutshell, how long have you been around?

 

[hoser]

oh man the DIAD made me miss fedex. we used to have these 20 year old trackers that were twice the size of a snickers bar. they were small, had a 32 character screen, signatures were done on paper then scanned in. they incredibly simple, durable and amazing. then the powerpad came in which was nice, but was bigger but also had the dispatching.

i was on diad III and it blew. so bulky, and the pouch just looks stupid the things are huge and i hate the stylus. IV sounds even worse.

 

[over9five]

Gray Squirrel seems to understand things just fine. I agree with his post 100%.

 

[EAM_Master]

I really don't like haveing to toggle between the letters and numbers. That is a major PITA!!!!! I really wish they would have reversed the location of the enter key and the stop comlete key. I find myself hitting stop complete when I want to be pushing the enter key. Another genius idea was the signature button. You hand it to a customer to sign and they push the button, taking out of signature mode.

Things I do like: It is smaller and fits in the hand better than the 2 or 3. The stylus holder is a lot more secure. I don't find myself losing my stylus halfway through the day. And the belt clip is about the best thing ever!! 10x better than the stupid bag for the 3.

 

[old levi's]

Is UPS now just worried about how they look on paper, and customer service is out the door?? Just venting.

You are correct.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

I guess I'm the odd man out here because I actually like the DIAD4. At first I didn't because of toggling back and forth but I later got used to it. I agree that it can be frustrating trying to toggle back and forth when you are going full speed and especially if you're having a bad day. When I find myself getting frustrated and having trouble keying I just stop and I look at it as a reminder that I need to slow down and just relax. I do better each day if I just stay relaxed and not let UPS get to me.

 

[oldpaddy]

..........
And the belt clip is about the best thing ever!! 10x better than the stupid bag for the 3.

What kind of bag do you use for the D3?
I've been with UPS (and using a D3) for about 3.5yrs and have always used a clip. I've never seen anyone use anything else.

 

[SmithBarney]

The bag, is the pouch of sorts that goes on your belt..
I love the pouch even with the Diad4.

Heres a tip for those fumbling with the shift key.

Keep the board in ABC mode
when you need numbers, press and hold the shift key
punch your numbers, and when you let go it
will stay in ABC mode.

 

[EAM_Master]

What kind of bag do you use for the D3?
I've been with UPS (and using a D3) for about 3.5yrs and have always used a clip. I've never seen anyone use anything else.

I've never seen a clip for the 3, just the pouch. where does it attatch

 

[DorkHead]

I also don`t like that the number keys are now 2 rows to the left. On D3 they could all be reached with the right hand-thumb.

 

[The Brown Santa]

I never let the customer hold the Diad 4 when signing. I make sure that I have control over it so they don't drop it.

 

[mpeedy]

We now have bulk stop, and pick up time commits in our center. They want me to be 45 minutes bulk stop time commit, and within 15 minutes on pick up commit.

We had this rule last month. Every morning there was a list posted from the day before. You had to have a 90% or you where talked to. It turned out to be one of those flavor of the month things. Haven't heard anything about it in weeks.

 

[oldpaddy]

I've never seen a clip for the 3, just the pouch. where does it attatch

The clip is anchored to your belt, and the D3 attaches to it through it's handle.
I'm working today, I'll upload a pic of it on my break.

 

[hoser]

Is UPS now just worried about how they look on paper, and customer service is out the door?? Just venting.

This isn't ideal, but it's easy to lose sight of the fact that empowered employees = going beyond customers expectations = pleased customers = big accounts.

 

[oldpaddy]

I've never seen a clip for the 3, just the pouch. where does it attatch

Sorry the pic is so big. I'm far too lazy to resize it.

 

[EAM_Master]

I have never seen one of those.......interesting

 

[30andout]

Is that a diad on your pants, or are you just happy to see me?

 

[oldpaddy]

I have never seen one of those.......interesting

I've never seen anyone use anything else, nor could I imagine using a "bag" to hold it.
It must be a wicked pain in the ass without the clip.

 

[browned_out]

Lets not forget that diad 4 is designed for one thing only....pas/edd system. If your center is up to date with this new system their is alot less manuel input (ie-using keypad), most keypad usage is for clarirying singnatures, and unscanable labels. If your center happens to go on diad 4 before pas/edd is installed I have heard that it is a nightmare for the reasons stated (shift key). As far as the belt clip for diad 3, never seen one before always thought the pouch was the only option (great company) however the clip for diad 4 is excellent, would`nt leave home without it. Ditto on the customer always pushing the signature key with there thumb when you hand it to them. I like diad 4, however as with most things there could be some improvement.