Spent $40 on a wireless tag system for my load charts and it nearly got me fired

I thought I was being smart buying those little Bluetooth sensor tags to track my load charts and paperwork on site. Paid about $40 for a pack of four at a hardware shop near the Port of Seattle. First week was fine, kept everything organized in the cab. Then one tag got stuck under a boom section during a pick and I didn't notice for three days. My foreman spotted the chart was missing from the binder and chewed me out hard. The tags never held up to grease and weather either, they just slipped off after a few shifts. So I'm back to the old binder and tabs method, which works fine if you actually clip stuff down. Anyone else tried those tags and had them fail in the rain?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamesf291mo ago

Those little tags seem like a good idea in theory but they just don't hold up to real site conditions. I had a buddy try them on his tool bags and they all fell off within a week from the vibration and dirt. The binder system is old school but it works because there's nothing to break or get lost. Sounds like you dodged a bullet only getting chewed out instead of written up. Maybe someone will come out with a rugged version someday but til then I'll stick with what works.

allen.iris1mo ago

I nearly got fired too" - yeah that part got my attention since @jamesf29 is right about the binder method being the safe bet. But what I'm wondering is why your foreman was checking the binder during a pick instead of before the lift even started, isn't that the real safety issue here?

dixon.james1mo ago

Actually I think those tags are technically called Bluetooth trackers, not wireless tag systems. I've seen them advertised as "find my" devices for keys and wallets, not really for heavy equipment paperwork. The ones from that hardware shop near the Port of Seattle probably weren't even the rugged industrial kind, just the regular consumer ones in a blister pack. Grease and rain would wreck the adhesive on any of those cheap sensors after a couple days. Load charts need to stay flat and clean in a binder anyway, not flopping around on a tag that can get snagged on boom sections. So you're probably better off without them, the old clipboard method never got anyone yelled at for losing a chart mid lift.