^%!!@*!! Power Pads

SmithBarney

Well-Known Member
We have consistent noACK (no cell reception) issues. Something is really wrong with these things, worse part is
you don't know you are in noACK. Dispatch has a cow, then all the messages flood in at once.. or you are forced to
reboot. I reboot about 3-4 times daily, its a PITA.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Speaking of dying, how many times has it happened to you that your PP dies when doing a del or pup... !

A lot. And they are S-L-O-W compared to the good old brick (never thought I'd praise the brick). Signing-on and getting a network connection seem to take forever. These pieces of junk need to be scrapped. I hope they didn't throw the old ones out.

It really helps us fulfill the Purple Promise when we have defective equipment. It also slows us down. Perhaps we can have a new PFR (PowerPad Failure Report) that tracks the extra time it takes when the device malfunctions.
 

LTFedExer

Well-Known Member
We have consistent noACK (no cell reception) issues. Something is really wrong with these things, worse part is
you don't know you are in noACK. Dispatch has a cow, then all the messages flood in at once.. or you are forced to
reboot. I reboot about 3-4 times daily, its a PITA.

While this is true, you don't need to reboot. You can go into Utilities, disconnect from the network, then reconnect. Works for me.
 

DOWNTRODDEN IN TEXAS

Well-Known Member
A lot. And they are S-L-O-W compared to the good old brick (never thought I'd praise the brick). Signing-on and getting a network connection seem to take forever. These pieces of junk need to be scrapped. I hope they didn't throw the old ones out.

It really helps us fulfill the Purple Promise when we have defective equipment. It also slows us down. Perhaps we can have a new PFR (PowerPad Failure Report) that tracks the extra time it takes when the device malfunctions.

This would be in the employee's best interest and not the company, unless they were going to use it as part of a new GAP report so the engineers can actually build in stops on a route to enter manually later when the P.O.S. (not Point Of Sale either...) is actually working.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
This would be in the employee's best interest and not the company, unless they were going to use it as part of a new GAP report so the engineers can actually build in stops on a route to enter manually later when the P.O.S. (not Point Of Sale either...) is actually working.


If it is in the employee's best interest, it would be guaranteed to never happen. Once again, another example of how little management knows about the actual work we do and the problems we encounter. I've spent enough time in Memphis to know how oblivious most engineers and upper management are to the courier job. Very few came up through the ranks, and if they were ever a courier it was 20 years ago when the job was quite different.

To them, we simply drive around and drop-off packages. They don't take variables into account, and their "planning" shows their obvious lack of understanding about the many obstacles we encounter every day. Their world is one of reports and spreadsheets, where the basic goal is to increase efficiency however possible. That's why we get so many "brilliant" rules, policies, and procedures to help us be more productive. Nobody realizes that the really good couriers actually know what they are doing and disregard most of what they are taught in courier school or by management.

They provide us with defective equipment, and then don't adjust performance expectations accordingly. Completely clueless.
 
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55+

Well-Known Member
I wonder if Fedex will end up in court with Motorola over these pieces of cr..p powerpads.....just thinkin
 

SmithBarney

Well-Known Member
While this is true, you don't need to reboot. You can go into Utilities, disconnect from the network, then reconnect. Works for me.
Actually that doesn't work at least for the situation we are having, the Cell connection gets stuck in a loop of some sort, and will quickly run the battery down.
> > > the arrows keep trying to send data(or whatever) Our only option is reboot.. Disconnect won't work you get an error.
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
Well great, we're getting the new ones in February. Knowing all this why are they continuing to roll them out before getting the problems fixed?
 

Cactus

Just telling it like it is
Well great, we're getting the new ones in February. Knowing all this why are they continuing to roll them out before getting the problems fixed?

Because the upper management doesn't care.

All they care about is numbers and what looks good on a report or spreadsheet.
 

SmithBarney

Well-Known Member
Well great, we're getting the new ones in February. Knowing all this why are they continuing to roll them out before getting the problems fixed?

a. they have a contract to buy X numbers of these units.

b. Because surely someone high up has made a deal with Motorola? that makes these, and probably owns stock, and making a killing with kick backs..

c. they don't care, it's the best thing since sliced bread(that's what the salesman told them at least)
 

Mr. 7

The monkey on the left.
At least you can post to Browncafe now from the new PPAD ;)
yeah right!

Aside from it being a newer piece of hardware, it still has all the software problems the old ones had. When I get my equip. in the AM, I log onto disp. After loading my truck, guess what? I was in noack in the sta. and couldn't plug in my stop count. Awesome!
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
I'm using the new PP for the first time today.
So far, I hate it.

They are pieces of crap. The point made about them actually hurting productivity is an excellent one. Will there be any changes in goals and expectations? No, even though we are being provided with highly defective equipment. Management will make some paper dictate and issue updates and "fixes". The problem is, you can't fix an inherently defective design.
 
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