hen UPS began offering online tracking for its shipments a decade ago, the parcel delivery giant received 100,000 online tracking requests in December 1995. A year later, the monthly figure was up to 1 million and there was no turning back for the carrier or the cargo industry.

In December 2004, UPS received 15.2 million online tracking requests per day, and the carrier now averages 10 million daily online tracking requests year-round, one measure of the enormous demand for the kind of automated, up-to-the-minute tracking that has become a necessary part of delivery operations and also put new pressure on operators to bring customers the latest, most detailed data possible on their shipments.

UPS began issuing its delivery drivers hand-held electronic data devices as early as 1991, and combined the instant information gained from drivers with the accessibility of the Internet to take the tracking of cargo to a new level in the mid-1990s. Since then, UPS and other integrators have set the standard for tracking, to the point where even the smallest forwarders attempt to mimic the integrators' high-tech tracking capabilities and more traditional airlines are ramping up online booking and real-time tracking.

UPS now is rolling out the fourth generation of its Delivery Information Acquisition Devices, the portable computers that have become as recognizable as UPS drivers' brown uniforms. The machines, which were the first portable devices that enabled the electronic capturing of signatures, combine data entry with cellular technology so packages can be tracked from anywhere in the world.

Now, the package drivers are holding in their hands the devices that in some ways are driving the changing use of technology across the expedited shipping industry. The devices are the connection between the notoriously expensive and troublesome "last mile" of delivery and the global networks the integrators are weaving.

The DIAD machines are "the first entry point in the UPS network for the tracking information being viewed by customers," says UPS spokewoman Susan Rosenberg. That is, the portable devices are the on-the-ground, front-line component of a vast high tech system in which shipments are tracked from the moment they are picked up to the moment they are delivered.

Certainly other operators are forced to at least partly match the automation UPS, FedEx and other integrators offer customers. And more and more, online booking and high tech tracking are key components of air cargo transactions throughout the world.

"We've put in place very robust track and trace functionality on our Web site," says Spencer Dickinson, American Airlines' managing director of cargo marketing. American has also made a strong online booking push this year. The carrier says 18 percent of shipments are now booked electronically and that number is expected to rise.

"We recognize the costs in air freight are not going down and therefore we as an industry are doing everything we can to make things more efficient," says Dickinson. He adds that with more customers connecting with the airline through the Internet, "our sales and customer service operation is able to spend less time managing bookings and track and trace and more time working with customers on business solutions."

But there are limits to the automation, Dickinson notes.

Some shippers and forwarders, used to old habits and person-to-person relationships, resist the new technology, he says. And in some less developed countries, "having high speed (Internet) access is a problem."

UPS says it newest handheld device, known as the DIAD IV, contains 128 megabytes of memory, 20 times the capacity of the DIAD III. Importantly, the new version features Global Positioning Satellite technology and multiple wireless connectivity options.

"The DIAD IV sends delivery information to the UPS data repository as soon as the delivery information is entered," explains a UPS fact sheet on the technology. "Drivers simply scan the package barcode, collect the receiver's signature electronically, type the last name of the receiver and push a single key to complete the transaction and send data."

UPS notes that the data is sent instantly, before the driver even returns to his truck.

The small devices are perhaps the key element in UPS's push toward what operators across the cargo spectrum are trying to achieve: a paperless cargo delivery system. UPS estimates that DIAD devices eliminate the use of 59 million sheets of paper per year.

UPS's global expansion and the development of DIAD machines are closely tied. Expectations are quite high for UPS in Asia, where the integrator is set to establish a new Shanghai hub in 2007 and has just launched express delivery in domestic China. A big part of UPS's Pacific expansion is the issuing of the next generation DIAD equipment to delivery drivers in Asia.

UPS will deploy 800 DIAD IV devices in Asia next year, and will have 70,000 DIAD machines in operation globally by 2008. UPS is moving directly from the DIAD II to the latest version in Asia, bypassing the DIAD III devices that have been in operation in the U.S. and Europe since 2001. DIAD IV devices are currently being issued to U.S. drivers, and many of the U.S. drivers' older DIAD machines are being redistributed to less lucrative regions, such as Latin America.

The DIAD "has been a critical component of our operations," says Rosenberg. "It's critical both for the exchange of information for internal activity as well as capturing real-time information to get to customers."

She adds that a paperless operation is just one of many "offshoot" benefits to using the DIAD machines. "It's not only in the elimination of paper but how fast and accurately you can transfer information," says Rosenberg. "As soon as the driver enters the data, we begin the billing process. So we're really speeding our cash flow."

The machines also allow UPS to stay in constant touch with its drivers, who use the DIAD devices to log into the UPS "on-demand services" network first thing each morning. Dispatchers send text messages to drivers throughout the day, often adding pickups "on the fly" depending on where the driver is at a given time. The GPS capability in the new DIAD devices makes such one-time pickups even more possible, says UPS, noting that drivers will also be less likely to get lost with GPS at their fingertips.

The DIAD IV also has a color screen, enabling a "color-coding" of messages to inform drivers instantly of the criticality of various shipments.