Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Loading Dock Sensors

Put pressure sensors in bumpers of delivery trucks that give the driver a light when he hits the loading dock
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Actually, I figured this idea was so simple and straightforward that UPS was already using it. But I asked the UPS driver at my office and he just gave me a weak smile and a polite 'Yeah'. Not a good sign, I imagine.

Anyway, as the big delivery truck is backing up to the office loading dock, why not have a sensor in the bumper that detects the pressure of the truck touching the dock? A light would go on on the driver's dashboard, and he would stop. That would certainly help at my office, where the wooden loading dock is leaning noticeably backwards.

scosmi, Oct 27 2000

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       How about hooking up that backing up beeping noise the truck makes to some sort range finder. Have the beeping rate or the pitch of the beep increase as an object is approached ...sort of like sonar.
blahginger, Oct 27 2000
  

       You can buy this device for your garage already... It's in those cheapie catalogs I get all the time.
kschang, Jan 21 2002
  

       re loading docks, a warehouse near my office was opened for business before all the bumpers were installed on the loading docks; one of the docks got rather badly crunched when a driver backed into it without noticing the bumpers weren't there.   

       re garages: I like the simple version I saw for sale: a ball on a string that hits your windshield when you're in the right spot.
supercat, Jan 21 2002
  

       This is actually baked...My father used to work for Lykes, and got lots of industrial magazines...One of them had stoplights for the bays.
StarChaser, Jan 21 2002
  
      
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