Tampa postal carriers test futuristic Segway transporter
By Vickie Chachere --The Associated Press
Posted January 27 2002, 4:07 PM EST
sun-sentinel.com
TAMPA -- Neither rain, nor sleet - nor even sore feet - are keeping some postal carriers from their appointed rounds being made on a transporter that until a few months ago was a top secret.
In five Tampa neighborhoods, postal carriers glide along in Segway Human Transporters, zipping up curbs, whisking down driveways and outrunning the occasional dog.
The carriers are the first to use the battery-operated transporters in what will be multi-city test of the machine. But Segway officials are aiming to one day outfit the nation's 112,000 postal carriers on walking routes with transporters.
Later this year, three other cities - Concord, N.H., near Segway's headquarters; Oklahoma City; and Memphis _ will test the transporter. Police in Boston, at the San Francisco airport and in New York are also considering testing the device.
For postal carrier John Hromalik, who has been riding the transporter for a week, it's a new twist on a job that's taken a physical toll on his back over 23 years. ``I have kids who play soccer,'' he said. ``This saves my energy so I can go home and play with them. Usually when I get home, I'm dead tired.''
The transporters have become a bit of a citywide fascination since the test began Jan. 14. The postal workers, who traveled to Segway headquarters in Manchester, N.H., to train on them have become neighborhood celebrities.
The first few days, they weren't saving much time getting their work done as neighbors stopped them to ask about the machine and kids begged for a ride.
Drivers still slow down to gawk. Carriers are followed by company representatives with clipboards taking notes and using video cameras to document the experiment.
The Segway is the brainchild of inventor Dean Kamen, who kept the machine with the code name ``Ginger'' top secret for months until its December unveiling. Kamen envisions the machine as an environmentally friendly way for people to move along short distances.
The Segway could be available to the public by the end of the year.
It will be a pricey toy, though. The versions Tampa postal workers use cost about $8,000 each and a scaled down model that would be offered to general consumers might cost about $3,000.
The Segway was developed with what Kamen's company called a breakthrough technology named ``Dynamic Stabilization.'' It uses Gyroscopes and tilt sensors to allow the machine to follow the body's movements, even the most subtle shift in weight.
When a person leans slightly forward, the Segway moves forward. When leaning back, the Segway moves back. It normally travels about 8 mph, about three or four times faster than the average person walks. The Segway is designed to reach a top speed of about 17 mph.
There are no brakes, gears or gas pedals. The postal carrier's transporters are outfitted with mail bags to hold up to 35 pounds and a place to store pepper spray for pursuing pups.
Gary Bridge, Segway's senior vice president for marketing, said Tampa was perfect site for the experiment.
``It has a varied terrain, grass, sand and walks and heat and cold and water all in one place.'' he said. ``It evidently represents a wide swath of their delivery routes.''
In snowy climates, the Segway can be outfitted with tires to improve its grip, Bridge said.
But the post office isn't just looking for ease of movement, said postal service spokesman Gary Sawtelle. The Segway must prove it makes mail delivery more efficient.
After the first week, carriers found that while they save time traveling from one house to another, they loose time elsewhere.
Most carriers sorted through mail while they walk, but they can't do that while riding the Segway. It takes a few more minutes at each mailbox to get the deliveries ready.
It also takes two people to load the 80-pound machine on a mail truck. Carriers working their rounds use what's called a ``park and loop,'' meaning they park their mail trucks along their route and make several visits back to the truck to reload mail bags.
The company is trying to devise a system to lift the machines onto the truck, Bridge said.
Mail carrier Hromalik said on a recent rainy day, he found out that the vehicle's wet tires can slip climbing curbs. He wears a bike helmet for safety, but said he finds the machine so easy to use he isn't worried about falling.
``You feel pretty safe and comfortable up here,'' he said. ``It's fun.'' ___
On the Net:
Segway: segway.com
United States Postal Service: usps.com
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