PDA holder - hire van

[silverspring]

How is anyone supposed to do LATs in a hire van that doesn't have a PDA holder? This situation is even worse when on a rural and you don't know the areas. None of the hire vans seem to be fitted with holders.

The answer according to our DOM is just to put the PDA on the passenger seat (where you won't be able to see it whilst driving and having it roll around everywhere). Even worse when there is no audio so can't even hear the prompts! The very slightly better answer is to bring in your own holder and hope it's wide enough to accommodate the bulky PDA, but really..... no PDA holder when it's a vital piece of the jigsaw?

[kazardaimenu]

Very rarely do managers supply a van that’s fit for purpose. We’ve had it last week where people are expected to cover nearly a full parcel round with maybe 150 parcels on board and only given a small van. Some of the vans with only one rear side door that makes it hard to access half the parcels. And like you say vans that can’t hold a pda that make it difficult if you are in unfamiliar territory. Plus pdas don’t last a full day if you need to use the navigation on it. Just do what you can do and if they are making it more difficult to do the job make it their problem.

[Basildon Bond]

The top and bottom edges are rubberised. Hence you can just about get away with wedging in between the dash and the windscreen. Play with the angle - too vertical or flat and it'll slip.

That's the best I could achieve last year. Worked OK ish. Slipped and shot across the dash a few times though! You could also get a PDA shoulder harness. Pull the strap quite short and have it daggling on your lap and just listen to the sat nav.

I'll admit - neither option is great.

[Basildon Bond]

Plus pdas don’t last a full day if you need to use the navigation on it.

Ask for a spare (fully charged) battery if there is one - hopefully there is one. When the current battery gets low press and hold the power button for 2-3 seconds to get the power options. Select "Battery Swap". It'll warn you NOT to remove the current battery until the red light (front top face) has gone out. Then flip the PDA over, squeeze both side tabs in and pop the battery out. Clip the new battery in. Wait for a few seconds and press the power button and the device should be up and running where you left off - logged in etc. In theory!

If you're on a van share Monday and you and your partner have similar battery levels in both your PDAs test the process out: Swap the batteries over using the steps above on each PDA. It works fairly well though never perfect.

[tramssirhc]

How is anyone supposed to do LATs in a hire van that doesn't have a PDA holder? This situation is even worse when on a rural and you don't know the areas. None of the hire vans seem to be fitted with holders.

The answer according to our DOM is just to put the PDA on the passenger seat (where you won't be able to see it whilst driving and having it roll around everywhere). Even worse when there is no audio so can't even hear the prompts! The very slightly better answer is to bring in your own holder and hope it's wide enough to accommodate the bulky PDA, but really..... no PDA holder when it's a vital piece of the jigsaw?

The employer should ensure the equipment provided is fit for purpose. It would be reasonable to ensure that the duties using the devices are given vehicles with a holder. It's an endorsable offence to use a device when driving if it is not in a holder. Any vehicle without a holder should be allocated to duties that do not require one. What's the CWU doing about it?

[silverspring]

Yeah it's such a basic requirement, I don't see how the company could oversee it. Fine if you know exactly where you're going without satnav, but certainly doesn't apply to everyone.

Ok, it's a vehicle not owned by RM, but it really wouldn't take much to install a PDA holder and is probably best practice regardless as a good percentage of people will make use of it to hold their mobile even when/if the vehicle goes back to the hire company for another purpose.

My original post might sound like a small rant to some, but there's nothing like the stress of trying to perform efficiently when there are avoidable obstacles against you from the off.

[heraldmoth]

The problem with health and safety legislation is that it’s allowed ppl to survive long enough to ask questions like this. Ffs if you don’t know an area just say you will need a van that can hold a pda failing that take a pda (and spare battery) that the sounds does work ok…..also if the sound doesn’t work use the number on the back of the pda to get IT to perform a fix. Sit on toilet, deposit load, wipe backside

[TopperGas]

The problem with health and safety legislation is that it’s allowed ppl to survive long enough to ask questions like this. Ffs if you don’t know an area just say you will need a van that can hold a pda failing that take a pda (and spare battery) that the sounds does work ok…..also if the sound doesn’t work use the number on the back of the pda to get IT to perform a fix. Sit on toilet, deposit load, wipe backside

What if there's only hire vans in the yard when you start your duty and there are no spare batteries, which was the case in the two offices I worked doing LATs? Who's got time to call IT before starting a LATs duty?

I can't understand how RM can send any driver out in a hire van without a PDA holder when a driver faces a potential 6 PTS on their licence if caught by the police even touching a PDA whilst driving. How hard would it be for RM to purchase PDA holders for hire vans, it's not like we don't use hire vans every peak season.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256156914254 ... media=COPY

[SpacePhoenix]

The problem with health and safety legislation is that it’s allowed ppl to survive long enough to ask questions like this. Ffs if you don’t know an area just say you will need a van that can hold a pda failing that take a pda (and spare battery) that the sounds does work ok…..also if the sound doesn’t work use the number on the back of the pda to get IT to perform a fix. Sit on toilet, deposit load, wipe backside

What if there's only hire vans in the yard when you start your duty and there are no spare batteries, which was the case in the two offices I worked doing LATs? Who's got time to call IT before starting a LATs duty?

I can't understand how RM can send any driver out in a hire van without a PDA holder when a driver faces a potential 6 PTS on their licence if caught by the police even touching a PDA whilst driving. How hard would it be for RM to purchase PDA holders for hire vans, it's not like we don't use hire vans every peak season.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256156914254 ... media=COPY

You would have thought that the hire companies would have a PDA/phone cradle fitted as standard

[heraldmoth]

The problem with health and safety legislation is that it’s allowed ppl to survive long enough to ask questions like this. Ffs if you don’t know an area just say you will need a van that can hold a pda failing that take a pda (and spare battery) that the sounds does work ok…..also if the sound doesn’t work use the number on the back of the pda to get IT to perform a fix. Sit on toilet, deposit load, wipe backside

What if there's only hire vans in the yard when you start your duty and there are no spare batteries, which was the case in the two offices I worked doing LATs? Who's got time to call IT before starting a LATs duty?

I can't understand how RM can send any driver out in a hire van without a PDA holder when a driver faces a potential 6 PTS on their licence if caught by the police even touching a PDA whilst driving. How hard would it be for RM to purchase PDA holders for hire vans, it's not like we don't use hire vans every peak season.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256156914254 ... media=COPY

Not the same hire vans year on year, you’re asking for a specific fix nationwide for a problem which seems to only effect someone unlucky enough to have a hire van, a pda with no sound function (that should have been reported the previous day for a fix) and also a short life battery and no spare and apparently no function to save battery life…

[heraldmoth]

The problem with health and safety legislation is that it’s allowed ppl to survive long enough to ask questions like this. Ffs if you don’t know an area just say you will need a van that can hold a pda failing that take a pda (and spare battery) that the sounds does work ok…..also if the sound doesn’t work use the number on the back of the pda to get IT to perform a fix. Sit on toilet, deposit load, wipe backside

What if there's only hire vans in the yard when you start your duty and there are no spare batteries, which was the case in the two offices I worked doing LATs? Who's got time to call IT before starting a LATs duty?

I can't understand how RM can send any driver out in a hire van without a PDA holder when a driver faces a potential 6 PTS on their licence if caught by the police even touching a PDA whilst driving. How hard would it be for RM to purchase PDA holders for hire vans, it's not like we don't use hire vans every peak season.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256156914254 ... media=COPY

Not the same hire vans year on year, you’re asking for a specific fix nationwide for a problem which seems to only effect someone unlucky enough to have a hire van, a pda with no sound function (that should have been reported the previous day for a fix) and also a short life battery and no spare and apparently no function to save battery life…

Also get on board with the union, you seem like their kinda people

[TopperGas]

The problem with health and safety legislation is that it’s allowed ppl to survive long enough to ask questions like this. Ffs if you don’t know an area just say you will need a van that can hold a pda failing that take a pda (and spare battery) that the sounds does work ok…..also if the sound doesn’t work use the number on the back of the pda to get IT to perform a fix. Sit on toilet, deposit load, wipe backside

What if there's only hire vans in the yard when you start your duty and there are no spare batteries, which was the case in the two offices I worked doing LATs? Who's got time to call IT before starting a LATs duty?

I can't understand how RM can send any driver out in a hire van without a PDA holder when a driver faces a potential 6 PTS on their licence if caught by the police even touching a PDA whilst driving. How hard would it be for RM to purchase PDA holders for hire vans, it's not like we don't use hire vans every peak season.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256156914254 ... media=COPY

Not the same hire vans year on year, you’re asking for a specific fix nationwide for a problem which seems to only effect someone unlucky enough to have a hire van, a pda with no sound function (that should have been reported the previous day for a fix) and also a short life battery and no spare and apparently no function to save battery life…

The eBay link I posted is for a removable holder, I've had similar for a decade or more for my mobile phone I'm the car, I've never had anything permanent fitted in any car I've owned.

[Smoothbackground]

After I kicked up an almighty stink last year, this year all our hire vans have demountable Zebra cradles. They stick on with a suction cup like a conventional sat-nav holder but are more durable. They can thus be easily removed and transferred over to another van in seconds. If we have them at our depot, surely they can be ordered centrally for other offices? I refused to drive any of the hire vans last Xmas because of the risk of points on my driving licence, and I would suggest you do likewise until they get you a cradle.

[silverspring]

After I kicked up an almighty stink last year, this year all our hire vans have demountable Zebra cradles. They stick on with a suction cup like a conventional sat-nav holder but are more durable. They can thus be easily removed and transferred over to another van in seconds. If we have them at our depot, surely they can be ordered centrally for other offices? I refused to drive any of the hire vans last Xmas because of the risk of points on my driving licence, and I would suggest you do likewise until they get you a cradle.

Most people on LATs in our DO get hire vans more often than not, so it's almost guaranteed there won't be a holder every day. I don't know how many PDAs across RM have disfunctional audio, but it seems like every other one in our DO has a problem. Of course these problems have already been raised with the DOM without resolution. It's going to be escalation time again with the DOM. I don't get why people of seniority don't seem to care in the slightest one bit, particularly for issues that can easily be resolved.

[Smoothbackground]

After I kicked up an almighty stink last year, this year all our hire vans have demountable Zebra cradles. They stick on with a suction cup like a conventional sat-nav holder but are more durable. They can thus be easily removed and transferred over to another van in seconds. If we have them at our depot, surely they can be ordered centrally for other offices? I refused to drive any of the hire vans last Xmas because of the risk of points on my driving licence, and I would suggest you do likewise until they get you a cradle.

Most people on LATs in our DO get hire vans more often than not, so it's almost guaranteed there won't be a holder every day. I don't know how many PDAs across RM have disfunctional audio, but it seems like every other one in our DO has a problem. Of course these problems have already been raised with the DOM without resolution. It's going to be escalation time again with the DOM. I don't get why people of seniority don't seem to care in the slightest one bit, particularly for issues that can easily be resolved.

We have major PDA issues at our place — connection issues when using RO+N/Ad-hoc Route Planner over wifi in the office, sound not working on a lot of them, damaged cameras…