You can use any PalmOS device such as the low-cost Tungsten E that has great lighting for night use. The driver “docks” the device before going out on his/her route to get the route instructions (plus information about starts, stops, skips, and complaints) and then, either at the end of the route from home or the following morning, docks again to load the delivery and return information into the system.

The handheld device includes the following features:

• A list of the locations to be visited with address and draw quantities and an alert where returns are to be picked up. Special notices (for example, access codes or special delivery instructions) pop-up when the driver gets to that location.
• The driver can report a delivery problem such as a broken vending machine or a request for a call from the office.
• As the carrier goes through the route, the system will keep track of the number of copies in the vehicle, the number needed to deliver to the remaining locations and the number of locations left to visit (where draw adjustments are permitted) so that the carrier can make adjustments along the way to come out “even” at the end of the route.
• If the publication to be delivered is a labeled copy and if no labeled copy exists for the location, the carrier can press a button to communicate that fact to the office so that the publisher can be notified.
• After the driver completes the route, in the process of logging off, he/she can elect to have following runs of the route re-sequenced to the sequence in which he or she actually ran the current route.
• Where the customer requires a signature certifying deliveries and returns, that signature can be captured by having the customer staff person sign on the device. That signature will then be printed on the delivery slip that is later emailed or mailed to the customer.