Ok, who here has experience with Leo?

[HedleyLamarr]

40 Leo devices arrived at my station today. They are installed and ready to go. No one has received any training on them whatsoever. They had to remove power pad cradles to make room for the Leo's, so obviously, many of us will have no choice but to take them since there won't be enough power pads.

Who here uses these things? What do you like or dislike about them? I kinda want to know what we are in for.

 

[DeliveryException]

We have had them since before peak last year. They take a little getting used to but I like them much better than power pad. If you have used an Android phone it will be pretty easy to use. Apple users take a little more but it's not hard. Just make sure to have the display shut off at 30sec or less and brightness not maxed out to help battery usage. We just got cradles in the trucks so now they can charge between stops, the key has to be on to charge.

With older versions of the firmware you could release international packages that don't specifically have isr/dsr/asr, like the hair from China. Now it's back to not being able to release those. Even worse I had one that was actually NSR on the label and didn't have residential release as a choice so I manually released using the shipper name.

 

[FedexGirl]

We have had them since before peak last year. They take a little getting used to but I like them much better than power pad. If you have used an Android phone it will be pretty easy to use. Apple users take a little more but it's not hard. Just make sure to have the display shut off at 30sec or less and brightness not maxed out to help battery usage. We just got cradles in the trucks so now they can charge between stops, the key has to be on to charge.

With older versions of the firmware you could release international packages that don't specifically have isr/dsr/asr, like the hair from China. Now it's back to not being able to release those. Even worse I had one that was actually NSR on the label and didn't have residential release as a choice so I manually released using the shipper name.

I use ‘note or door tag’ option so I can take a photo of the NSR on the label.

 

[Damon77]

I've been a fan since What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

 

[AB831]

Apparently they use Workday as their interface, so I assume it's terrible like most things FedEx touches.

 

[DeliveryException]

It seems to be basically just an overlay on top of Android 8.Something. Each thing you do is an app. Like pickup and delivery are under packages app. Time card has it's own app. Messages has it's own app and so on. You can tweak things like the keyboard and some stuff but most is locked out. The machine is a ZebraTC77 if you want to look at it.

 

[OrioN]

FXG Star V Motorola TC77 zebra scanner

So both opcos are using the same scanners? How about freight or office?

Yeah, we are discontinuing the Star IV Motorola scanners in favor to these in June. Subcontractors are scrambling to assign one to each driver.

I forgot how quick the scanner was when we went to help load 300 boxes for a ground pickup

 

[MassWineGuy]

Hardly anything could be worse than the old Power Pads we have. Same ones as when I started. And the scanners we use in the sort are a total nightmare. If one works at all, it beeps so slowly that it makes the process longer than necessary. The software was recently updated and the delay between scans is painful. I know of one station where they just throw about 500 docs into the shuttle each night rather than scan them and be late. Way to go, FedEx!

 

[Star B]

And the scanners we use in the sort are a total nightmare. If one works at all, it beeps so slowly that it makes the process longer than necessary. The software was recently updated and the delay between scans is painful.

Then that station has other issues. We have the new PSCAN unit with a mix of old and new wands with no issues at all. You can rip thru a full bucket of docs in under a minute if everything is put in the bucket with the barcode up.

Am I the only one that seems to be OK with the current powerpad? I would wish for a hardware refresh (aka more CPU/RAM/LTE upgrade) but the current workflow and physical keyboard keep me a happy camper.

 

[Cactus]

I know of one station where they just throw about 500 docs into the shuttle each night rather than scan them and be late. Way to go, FedEx!

The decision between the lesser of two evils.

 

[It will be fine]

Then that station has other issues. We have the new PSCAN unit with a mix of old and new wands with no issues at all. You can rip thru a full bucket of docs in under a minute if everything is put in the bucket with the barcode up.

Am I the only one that seems to be OK with the current powerpad? I would wish for a hardware refresh (aka more CPU/RAM/LTE upgrade) but the current workflow and physical keyboard keep me a happy camper.

The android keyboard is garbage if you actually need to type something. When ours first rolled out you could voice to text the last names but they removed that function with updates. I guess they prefer random key presses over slight misspellings.

 

[McFeely]

Then that station has other issues. We have the new PSCAN unit with a mix of old and new wands with no issues at all. You can rip thru a full bucket of docs in under a minute if everything is put in the bucket with the barcode up.

Am I the only one that seems to be OK with the current powerpad? I would wish for a hardware refresh (aka more CPU/RAM/LTE upgrade) but the current workflow and physical keyboard keep me a happy camper.

I like the current ppad when it’s working as it’s supposed to. Agree with you about the keyboard and being able to mash on the screen with my fat fingers, but hate how many errors I get that require a reboot or times when the scanner freezes up because you’re working faster than it can handle.

 

[AB831]

Hardly anything could be worse than the old Power Pads we have. Same ones as when I started. And the scanners we use in the sort are a total nightmare. If one works at all, it beeps so slowly that it makes the process longer than necessary. The software was recently updated and the delay between scans is painful. I know of one station where they just throw about 500 docs into the shuttle each night rather than scan them and be late. Way to go, FedEx!

One of my PM managers used to do that when loading the shuttle. He'd make an effort at first, but once it became crunch time, he'd just have us throw everything in the truck.

 

[Nolimitz]

Leo sucks

 

[MassWineGuy]

I don’t mind the current Power Pads when they work consistently. But it’s uncommon. We may get the new ones this summer. Or maybe not.

Have to give the nod to UPS for technology upgrades. I don’t know how good each iteration is, but it seems like they get new electronics every two years or so.

 

[!Retired!]

One thing I like about the LEO is, when you scan packages from another route (which is often for me), you can bring up a map of the area with the stops plotted for you. But, just like the Powerpad, the zero's don't show up.

 

[HedleyLamarr]

I wanted to give it a week of use before I gave my opinion, so overall, the Leo is OK, but I miss the powerpad.

Firstly, logging in on Leo is a pain. You have to type in your ID number AND your password. No more just quickly scanning your ID badge.

Secondly, filling out your timecard is more of a pain because it won't let you enter activities you will be doing in the near future. For example, if you clock in at 0730 the only thing you will be able to enter is your 48. Normally, I will go ahead and enter my 48, 40, and 53 all at once, but the Leo won't let you enter a future time on the timecard. You have to actually wait until 0735 to do your 40 and 0740 to enter your 53.

Thirdly, my biggest gripe, I don't like how the Leo has my delivery stops ordered. My station is SRA. With the powerpad, my stops are listed in alphabetical order, P1s first, then P2s. There seems to be no order on the Leo. They are broken down by commit time, but within their commit time category, the stops are listed randomly making it very difficult to find them. This past week, it has been critically important for me to set up my truck in delivery order because I will not be able to find stops on the Leo. I dearly wish there was a way for my to get the addresses put in ABC order like I am used to.

Lastly, I do question the durability of these things. The Leo device I was given on Friday already had a broken yellow scan button. We have only had these for a week, and buttons are already starting to break.

On the plus side, doing pups is faster. You can scan immediately after opening up a stop and not have to keep hitting OK with the DG warnings on the Powerpad.

Battery life has been excellent. I work about 10.5 hours most days, and it never dropped lower than 25%. The powerpad was usually down to 10% at the end of my day.

I like how it automatically connects to dispatch and gives them your stop count so you don't have to enter it in manually anymore.

And your time card gets printed automatically when you enter your print timecard; you don't have to "shoot" it like you do the powerpad.

So overall, it has some upsides for sure, but not being able to quickly find delivery addresses is a huge pain. It almost makes me want to put freight in the cab with me so I can look at the addresses of my next few stops. Won't be able to find them on the Leo.

 

[MassWineGuy]

The address of a stop isn’t displayed in LEO? Hmm.

 

[59 Dano]

Thirdly, my biggest gripe, I don't like how the Leo has my delivery stops ordered. My station is SRA. With the powerpad, my stops are listed in alphabetical order, P1s first, then P2s. There seems to be no order on the Leo. They are broken down by commit time, but within their commit time category, the stops are listed randomly making it very difficult to find them. This past week, it has been critically important for me to set up my truck in delivery order because I will not be able to find stops on the Leo. I dearly wish there was a way for my to get the addresses put in ABC order like I am used to.

That won't be a problem for too much longer. SRA and DRA are being phased out. Express is getting LEO because it's part of the system that's replacing ROADS.

 

[Nolimitz]

That won't be a problem for too much longer. SRA and DRA are being phased out. Express is getting LEO because it's part of the system that's replacing ROADS.

with another billion dollar boondoggle?