A new tracking device for US postal services
An American company based in Colifornia has developed a tracking device which may help post offices to improve their services It can be uses to tina out more about hold-up and delays in postal operations
The small tracker, called the letter logger, uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) to store information about on item's position in transit Similar devices have been used in the past to track expensive consumer goods like cars. but until now none of these systems was small enough to travel in on envelope
Now that's all changed. As well as fitting into a US standard-size business letter, the GPS letter logger also meets other postal requirements: it is bendable and able to withstand rough handling. This is particularly important as the envelopes are thrown into sacks, then transported by van to automatic sorting locations where they run through high-speed shuffling systems
The tracker itself does not transmit it's position during transit, but stores the journey log on a memory card which can be read by a laptop computer. The GPS device offers several programming options ranging from checking its position every few minutes to checking only when on the move.
The letter logger does not help, however, if the envelope carrying it does not arrive at destination within about seven days, as the battery runs flat after about a week