Still a GPS fail

Wouldn't know. Never used one. Never had a need to. :-)

Likely required now with Google traffic to predict the most efficient routing.

Still a GPS fail

Wouldn't know. Never used one. Never had a need to. :-)

Likely required now with Google traffic to predict the most efficient routing.

An indication of the brilliance (or lack of) when it comes to route planning software.

Apparently the software many of our drivers now have to use originated in the US where they drive on the right hand side of the road. Here we drive on the left hand side of the road- but the software hadn't been modified to take that in to consideration. So the drivers instead of doing what they have always done- driving along & stopping to deliver at that address -were having to turn across traffic to get to the delivery address, then turn across traffic again when leaving the delivery address to get to the next address, then having to turn across traffic again to deliver to the next address. Then turn across the traffic again to get to their next delivery address, etc, etc, etc. Rinse & repeat (apparently that issue has been fixed- it took months would you believe to convince those higher up that this was a problem).

To add to that mess, the software often has the drivers driving up & down the same road 3, 4 or even as many as 6 times as they would deliver an item, then drive past an address that had a delivery in order to deliver a few more parcels further down the road, then drive back to the address they went past previously to finally deliver there.
And the software has them delivering parcels in a group of streets, then going to the other side of the suburb (or to another suburb), do some deliveries there, then back to the area they were before to do more deliveries there.


On a big day the drivers using the manual run method were able to deliver 250+ parcels. With the brilliant new computer optimised delivery system, if they can do 150 it's a miracle (if they have to deliver to multiple suburbs 80 can be a good result). And still we are unable to convince those that brought in the system that it's not as wonderful as they claim it is- regardless of all the evidence pointing to that conclusion.

---

Grant
Darwin NT

A phenomenon well known about in the driver's database.
Sadly it pre-dates software.
It now also permeates throughout society as seen by the "me 1st" & "you will deliver when I want the delivery" crowd.
The best one I ever experienced was a day that was unexpected for both my oppo & I.
We arrived at our last drop at 10:30 & thought, this is a 1st back home by 1pm at the latest.
No answer at the door so called customer.
"Sorry, I'm at work. You will have to wait until I get home."
"What time will that be"
"Around 4:30pm"
"Okay no problem"

15 minutes from the depot (12:40), phone rings.
It's the office where are you?
On the 605
Oh
Why?
Can you go back to Shillingford (Oxfordshire)?
No.

Think about that. :-)

LOL...
Martial arts, failed stick shift carjacking, wrong-way I-95 pursuit: How three men ended up in a Virginia jail

---

Can't view that from the UK at the moment. :(

---

Happy Crunching,

Graham

Can't view that from the UK at the moment. :(

For those that can't access the carjacking article previously linked here is a link to a different site with just about Verbatim text:
https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2021/10/14/would-be-alleged-carjackers-bested-victim-trained-martial-arts/

---

Do a lot of motoring?
Be careful out there, not all the idiots are on the road.
Don't wear distinctive t-shirts in a bus lane

After 4yrs of knowing about this problem finally D.C. Pulls 60 Percent of Its Metro Fleet After Design Flaw Causes Derailment.

The Metro authority's safety commission ordered overnight that the entire 7000-series line of trains—comprising 748 cars, or about 60 percent of the fleet—should be pulled.

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), told reporters Monday that a problem with the line had been identified, the AP said. The trains' wheels were positioned too wide on the axles and could cause the vehicle to slip off the tracks.

"We're at the preliminary stage of our investigation—just trying to collect data and information," Homendy said. "This could have resulted in a catastrophic event."

If the problem was known about back in 2017 the question must be asked, why has it taken this long to do something about it?

[edit] Another take on the problem, Washington Subway Derailment Spurs Warning for Other Cities.

Cheers.[/url]

If the problem was known about back in 2017 the question must be asked, why has it taken this long to do something about it?

Not surprising - politics gets in the way..

This is the USA where if we knew about it 40 years ago, we might now just be getting around to forming an advisory board to look at it.

Just about all "big metro cities" here work like this.

---

... Not surprising - politics gets in the way..

This is the USA where if we knew about it 40 years ago, we might now just be getting around to forming an advisory board to look at it...

Sounds just like for "Global Warming" - "Climate Change"... Except the politicians have been alerted to the fact since 200 years ago!


All on our only one planet...
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

I hope that they find the moron/s that left the car on the tracks and throw the book at them.

Crime scene declared as train derails in Kembla Grange near Wollongong.

There are no pics or footage of the car so what's left of it must be still under the train.

No cheers here, until they find the moron/s.

Lucky. All 21 escape plane crash, only two minor injuries.

If there isn't enough shipping problems already.

Emergency zone expanded around burning container ship.

Sixteen people have been evacuated from a container ship that caught fire off the coast of Canada, according to officials.

A fire broke out in 10 containers on the MV Zim Kingston near Victoria, British Columbia, on Saturday, according to the Canadian Coast Guard.

Crews mobilized to the location to rescue crew members and contain the fire. An emergency zone was set up for 2 nautical miles surrounding the ship, and rescue efforts continued into Sunday.

A navigational warning was issued overnight by the Canadian government reporting that the ship was on fire and expelling toxic gas. Two fallen containers are floating in the vicinity of the vessel.

Overnight, the tug Seaspan Raven cooled the hull of the MV Zim Kingston by spraying the hull with cold water. Due to the nature of chemicals on board the container ship, applying water directly to the fire is not an option.

3 killed, 1 injured after Amtrak train strikes vehicle at South Carolina railroad crossing.

Three people died and one person was injured after an Amtrak train collided with a vehicle at a railroad crossing in South Carolina in the early hours of Saturday, fire officials said.

The collision happened around 2:30 a.m. in Remound Rd., according to the North Charleston Fire Department.

First responders found four people near the vehicle, which was heavily damaged.

Three people were pronounced dead at the scene. One other person was transported to a local hospital. Authorities believe that all four victims were inside the vehicle at the time of the crash.

The train had as many as 500 passengers on board, but no one was injured, The Post and Courier reported.

:-(

Breaking News - Services halted after two trains crash near Salisbury

A number of passengers have been injured in a crash between two trains near Salisbury.

The collision happened near London Road with police, the fire service, paramedics and British Transport Police at the scene.

About 12 people are thought to have been injured and one of the drivers is believed to be trapped in their cab.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue declared the crash a "major incident" and 50 firefighters are in attendance.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: "At around 19:00 GMT this evening, the rear carriage of the 17:08 Great Western Railway service from Portsmouth Harbour to Bristol Temple Meads derailed after striking an object on its approach to Salisbury station.

"The derailment knocked out all of the signalling in the area.

"Subsequently, the 17:20 South Western Railway service from London Waterloo to Honiton then collided with the Bristol train.

Will be interesting to see the results of this investigation, particularly the timing.
I'd have though the standard response for a train approaching a signal that was out would be to stop- or at the very least reduce speed (60, 40, 20, 10km/h) to allow a stop within the available visible distance. ie- fail safe. It could very well be that the driver of the second train was already slowing, but didn't have time to stop before hitting the derailed train.
Or it's very likely the there were no other signals since the last green between the other train & the derailed one- the image isn't too clear but it looks like the derailed carriage ended up impinging on the adjacent track and the second train was coming from the opposite direction.

---

Grant
Darwin NT

Looking at the local maps, I'd say that the second train was following the first, travelling in the same direction. The reports that "signalling in the area was knocked out [by the first de-railment]" are worrying - the default response (whether under human or automatic control) should have been to give a 'stop' indication for all movement in the area.

There have been a lot of reports of delays and service disruption on Britain's railways in recent weeks. Some have been attributed to bad weather (which should be well understood by now, in these soggy islands), but I get the feeling that something else has been going on. It may just be a run of the usual mindless vandalism (up to and including the theft of signal cable for the copper content), or there may be a design problem in the latest technological upgrades.

knocked out? what happens to the automatic system? does that line have an automatic system? is there no indication at all? don't they carry radios?

much to look at.

Looking at the local maps, I'd say that the second train was following the first, travelling in the same direction. The reports that "signalling in the area was knocked out [by the first de-railment]" are worrying - the default response (whether under human or automatic control) should have been to give a 'stop' indication for all movement in the area.

Physical damage to the data connection, or a fault packet in the data or corrupted data should make the entire section go to all stop, but if there is no power to a signal or group of signals, only those still with power will show the stop signal.
And if there are no lights on the signals i'd expect the default requirement to be for the driver to stop (or at least slow to a speed that allows a stop within the available line of sight/weather conditions), and call network control for further advice.

I think it's going to be a complicated investigation- Why the initial derailment? Was the signalling knocked out (ie no lights showing) and if so why did an accident at that point affect the area, not just the physically local signals. Why did the other train not stop under those circumstances?

---

Grant
Darwin NT