UPS Deploys 4th Generation Driver Computer, Nears 1 Package Per Second Handling

UPS, the mega-ton behemoth of commercial transportation, is deploying DIAD IV, the fourth generation of driver handheld computers the carrier began in 1985.

At UPS, a company big enough to have its own language, DIAD stands for delivery information acquisition device.
According to John Killeen, director of global network systems for UPS, DIAD IV will be issued to 30,000 package car (another UPS term) drivers in the U.S. this year and eventually rolled out to 70,000 worldwide. DIAD IV includes just about everything a fleet technology officer could want.
Like earlier UPS driver handhelds, it includes a bar code scanner, but it also contains an array of wireless connections. The device can communicate over CDMA networks like Verizon and Sprint, and over GPRS networks like AT&T Cingular and T-Mobile. It includes 802.11b Wi-Fi as well as the short-range standard called Bluetooth. DIAD IV comes with a color display screen, a speaker and GPS.
Speaking to a gathering of trucking technology users and suppliers in Miami this week, Killeen said the DIAD IV can pull off some nifty tricks. For example, the handheld computer’s GPS will compare an address provided against a database. Even if a driver is wheeling a handtruck full of packages up the street and not watching his computer screen, DIAD IV will talk to him through the built-in speaker.
Killeen also provided a snapshot of UPS wireless capabilities on its loading docks. UPS was ahead of the curve when loaders wore wrist scanners wired to devices on a loaders’ belt. Those wire have now been replaced with Bluetooth short range wireless technology and the wrist scanners have been replaced by ring scanners. Now the scanner fits on a loaders finger and transmits scanned data to the waist-mounted device over Bluetooth. The waist-mounted device relays the information to a facility-wide network using Wi-Fi – which provides wider coverage within limited areas, such as terminals and yards.
How many scans can a loader make as he loads or unloads a unit?
According to Killeen, UPS has achieved a rate of 55 scans per minute. The goal, he said, is 60 scans a minute – obviously one package handled per second.