Satellite Trackers in Action
The Guardian recently decided to see what happens to mail during a postal strike using covert satellite tracking. Whenever there is a strike by Royal Mail, nobody really knows the fate of the post which may be lying in post boxes, in sorting offices or even get delivered on time or late.
Normally GPS tracking devices are used for other purposes – to track vehicles, keeping tabs on a person and other covert reasons. But Tracker Shack, a Yorkshire based company which supplies these nifty gadgets, decided to use for another purpose altogether. When Royal Mail was on strike and had announced the same, Tracker Shack cleverly mailed three of these devices as first class mail just in time for the last post to Essex, London and Bingley. The result: the trackers were able to provide information about how and where they were moving, every 30 seconds.
All legally done of course – and their paths can be tracked and traced via Google Maps. Surprisingly the Essex and Bingley ones reached safely, but the one which was addressed to Guardian is stuck somewhere close to the office. Hopefully it will reach.
You can find how they did in the Guardian blog here.