drivers/driver helpers...THE BIG QUESTION!!!

[Cementups]

If I have to choose between the two than I would use the hook. Since I have a predominantly rural/residential route i usually leave my DIAD in the truck. I usually scan when I grab it off the shelf and do all the finger work before I even get back to the cab and then just put it back on my way out the door.

 

[DS]

The DIAD is a computer that is expensive to replace. Would you carry your laptop or desktop on top of a load?

HA! If they screw up you just smash them on a rock a few times and they're fine,kinda like an fancy etch-a-sketch.

 

[govols019]

I'm a pouch man. For the longest time I refused to wear one but now that I do I would rip your eyes out if you tried to take it from me.

 

[trplnkl]

The DIAD is a computer that is expensive to replace. Would you carry your laptop or desktop on top of a load?

As a matter of fact I would not. Then I would not carry my laptop in a plastic rack mounted under the dash of a P500 that bounces down dirt roads 50% of the day either. As someone else mentioned, apples/oranges.


I love the old diad three pouches, did ya know them suckers will hold two boxes of shotgun shells or about six downed dove?

 

[jules23]

I would like to see a laptop computer survive the amount of abuse that a DIAD sees everyday. I drop mine or bang it against the walls/shelves of the truck almost everyday. Don't forget the odd snowbank it also falls into. This is like comparing apples to oranges, a regular computer wouldn't last 5 minutes.

Oh, and by the way, I carry the DIAD

It is built to be durable, but it is still a computer on the inside and can be damaged by abuse. That's why we have method's in place for their use.

 

[jules23]

HA! If they screw up you just smash them on a rock a few times and they're fine,kinda like an fancy etch-a-sketch.

I have a kind of funny story about someone saying something similar in my presence.

 

[jules23]

As a matter of fact I would not. Then I would not carry my laptop in a plastic rack mounted under the dash of a P500 that bounces down dirt roads 50% of the day either. As someone else mentioned, apples/oranges.

Not really apples/oranges. It is is built to withstand the conditions and general wear and tear of daily UPS use; however, it is not designed to withstand abuse. It is a computer.

If you are ever in Maryland stop by and see me and I'll show you.

 

[brownmonster]

Why so harsh?

 

[Dirty Savage]

The DIAD is a computer that is expensive to replace. Would you carry your laptop or desktop on top of a load?

Pffftttt! The DIADs are designed to take an ass-kicking. I once had mine fly out of the truck when I hit a bump and watched it bounce along the road whilst I was doing 50 km/h. I have also dropped mine in a puddle and had it completely submerged . . . still works fine, though the batteries are terrible when it's -30 out.

By the way, I carry mine.

 

[trplnkl]

As a matter of fact I would not. Then I would not carry my laptop in a plastic rack mounted under the dash of a P500 that bounces down dirt roads 50% of the day either. As someone else mentioned, apples/oranges.
QUOTE]

Not really apples/oranges. It is is built to withstand the conditions and general wear and tear of daily UPS use; however, it is not designed to withstand abuse. It is a computer.

If you are ever in Maryland stop by and see me and I'll show you.

I would love to visit sometime, not to have you prove something to me that I already know is true but to just look around your department. I have an (ancient in computer years) associates degree in service electronics, so the inside of a diad is a little intriguing.
My apples/oranges comment was not to say that the DIAD was not a computer, but to say the differences in the construction of the DIAD vs. a laptop are monumental. I guess the real question is what is abuse? Or as Billery would say, " Define abuse". The DIAD is not indestructible, however it isn't like a newborn baby that you have to support the head when you pick it up. At the pace we work at all day long, there is bound to be a few times that the board is dropped, has liquid spilled, and various other things...the normal conditions and general wear and tear of daily UPS use. Who gets to decide what that is?
Same thing happened to me as Dirty Savage posted, hit a bump, the board jumped out of the rack and out the door it went. No harm done. On the other hand, I once had a D3 slip off the top of a 12-15 inch high package setting on the ground. While it was a relatively short fall, the board flipped upside down, hit a rock ( I suppose) and busted the screen. Made lots of interesting looking patterns.
I guess my whole diatribe here is about the word "ABUSE", I can't see anyone intentionally abusing the DIAD, it is our best friend on area. Anyone that has had the board quit on them knows this to be true. Another unmistakable truth is that on a UP$ route, everyday without fail, POO POO OCCURS.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I was at a commercial stop one day and had set the DIAD on the back bumper leaning against the pkg car and forgot about it as I backed in to my next commercial stop, went to reach for the DIAD, realized it wasn't there, and quickly went around back to see it leaning right where I had left it. We had a driver on the first day that we had switched to the new DIAD holders who had put his DIAD in the holder upside down and watched it bounce and fall out the door--it didn't survive. His area is an hour from the center so he spent the rest of his day with pen and paper.

 

[BigBrownSanta]

The died 4 is very rugged. I once came out of the restroom which is upstairs in my building. I went to put my diad on my clip but missed. The diad bounced all the way down the stairs. Everyone including the dm just stared at me as I walked down to get my diad. I picked it up and looked it over, nothing wrong that I could see. I still am using it.

 

[Cementups]

^ you should teach him this trick. Cut the barcode off the package and write the addy on the back. That way when you go back in, instead of manually inputing them, you can scan each one as needed. I figured out how to do this one peak when my IDAD went down and they told me they couldn't bring another one out and I would have o sheet the rest by hand. No way, said I.

 

[trplnkl]

^ you should teach him this trick. Cut the barcode off the package and write the addy on the back. That way when you go back in, instead of manually inputing them, you can scan each one as needed. I figured out how to do this one peak when my IDAD went down and they told me they couldn't bring another one out and I would have o sheet the rest by hand. No way, said I.

I do that too Cementups, works better than pen and paper. The last time that happened to me when I returned to the building I handed all the tracking labels to the OMS and said here, I'm running out of hours. HE wasn't a happy camper.

 

[ol'browneye]

I don't use either. I had my diad 4 sitting on a large box while I was getting more boxes out and the wind blew the box over. The diad quit working. The first question my center manager had for the on-car supe was "Why didin't he have the diad in the clip?" My supe gave me a clip and I tried it the next day but kept missing the clip and dropping it anyway. I also don't like the extra weight and the banging against my hip. It pulls my pants down. So I went back to using neither. That's what the carrying strap is for!

 

[Covemastah]

always carry in hand at a resi,, takes to long to pull out of pouch/holster to whack a dog!!!!!! im a driver,not John Wayne!!!!!!

 

[mattwtrs]

I do that too Cementups, works better than pen and paper. The last time that happened to me when I returned to the building I handed all the tracking labels to the OMS and said here, I'm running out of hours. HE wasn't a happy camper.

My on road sup has the OMS print a manifest with all the trk'g #'s and then they are keyed into the FDC(international) computer and prints a real small bar code that's scannable with a replacement Diad when you return to the building using EDD. It saves keying the address too. The latest Diad upgrade that uses 4 digits of the trk'g # works well too.

 

[Cementups]

My on road sup has the OMS print a manifest with all the trk'g #'s and then they are keyed into the FDC(international) computer and prints a real small bar code that's scannable with a replacement Diad when you return to the building using EDD. It saves keying the address too. The latest Diad upgrade that uses 4 digits of the trk'g # works well too.

I did not know that this was possible. Thanks for the info Matt.

 

[jules23]

Why so harsh?

What was harsh?

 

[jules23]

I would love to visit sometime, not to have you prove something to me that I already know is true but to just look around your department. I have an (ancient in computer years) associates degree in service electronics, so the inside of a diad is a little intriguing.
My apples/oranges comment was not to say that the DIAD was not a computer, but to say the differences in the construction of the DIAD vs. a laptop are monumental. I guess the real question is what is abuse? Or as Billery would say, " Define abuse". The DIAD is not indestructible, however it isn't like a newborn baby that you have to support the head when you pick it up. At the pace we work at all day long, there is bound to be a few times that the board is dropped, has liquid spilled, and various other things...the normal conditions and general wear and tear of daily UPS use. Who gets to decide what that is?
Same thing happened to me as Dirty Savage posted, hit a bump, the board jumped out of the rack and out the door it went. No harm done. On the other hand, I once had a D3 slip off the top of a 12-15 inch high package setting on the ground. While it was a relatively short fall, the board flipped upside down, hit a rock ( I suppose) and busted the screen. Made lots of interesting looking patterns.
I guess my whole diatribe here is about the word "ABUSE", I can't see anyone intentionally abusing the DIAD, it is our best friend on area. Anyone that has had the board quit on them knows this to be true. Another unmistakable truth is that on a UP$ route, everyday without fail, POO POO OCCURS.

I do see your point about the apples and oranges. Honestly, it still has computer components inside. I believe abuse is considered anything beyond normal wear and tear - which would be if DS took a DIAD IV and beat it on a rock, on a bulk head door, etc. That's not normal wear and tear. If you want a better explanation you can PM me. Believe me it happens more than you think.