In the old days, truckers used to plan out their trips ahead of time using a veritable encyclopedia of maps. Nationwide maps, maps of certain regions, even maps that cover only a single –usually convoluted– city. Drivers knew exactly where they were going, and exactly how they were going to get there, because if they didn’t, it meant spending precious hours getting back on track. Nowadays, it’s common for drivers to just plug their destination in to their GPS and just go. Technology has made the pre-trip planning a whole lot faster. But has it made it better?
Out-of-date GPS systems have been known to throw drivers off course just as effectively as a wrong turn did back in the old days, costing time and money. More often though, GPS will guide a driver onto a stretch of road which prohibits commercial traffic, over a bridge with too low a weight limit, or on to a road with too low a clearance.
Low clearance has become such an issue that U.S. Senator Charles Schumer has called for new standards for GPS devices used in commercial vehicles. In the state of New York, 200 bridge accidents happen per year, 80% of which are caused by commercial drivers hitting low overpasses. In New York City, 110 bridges were struck by commercial vehicles in 2010 and 2011 alone despite the fact that the state has spent $3 million dollars on bridge warning signs.
The New York Department of Transportation has pointed to research that shows that most bridge strikes occur because of incorrect GPS information, commonly caused by drivers using consumer-targeted software instead of GPS software designed for commercial use. Programs like Google Maps don’t know the difference between a driver driving a semi and a driver behind the wheel of a car, so while it can get you from point A to point B, you always need to be sure you’re keeping an eye out for warning signs. Be especially careful if you’re one of the over 5 million Americans who bought an iPhone 5. The new Apple Maps app is widely reported to take round-about routes or not even get you to your destination at all! With no way to regulate consumer software, the NYDOT is recommending that commercial drivers be prohibited from using them.
The American Trucking Association’s response has been that “A call for national standards seems premature,” but that states should work with trucking companies to ensure the most up-to-date mapping is available to their drivers.
With 15,000 bridge strikes in 2010, there were 214 deaths, and 3,000 injuries. A ban on consumer software may be an over-reaction, but a change needs to be made. The question is, will new laws make us safer, or do we need to find a way for drivers to know their routes as well as they did in the old days?
Next Story: Shortage of Truck Rest Areas Causes Problems
Sources: businessweek overdriveonline ttnews
Any technology should be used with a healthy dose of comon sense, which unfortunately isn’t so common any more.
I’ve been using a standard GPS for a long time. It generally gets you where you’re going. But I also use Google maps to see what the place looks like on street view and from a satellite. I would never use a gps if going to NYC or Chicago.
Yup, and my husband loves his stupid google maps.
I couldn’t get over in time for an exit in PA, and his brilliant navigation sent me thru a school zone and
A road with an 8% grade and a stop sign at the bottom..
I wanted to make him walk the rest of the way to the rcvr
The moment that the Feds get involved you can bet it will cost more to truck and the expense will be passed to the driver.
I was using GPS products 15 years ago with no problems – just did my standard trip plan using the good old fashioned Rand-Mcnally and set the waypoints on my routes. Guess drivers today are too lazy to take 10 minutes to safely plan their routes.
I use every source of information available. This includes google maps. The difference between me and those other drivers is I know when to tell it to go to hell.
This technology we use is a tool. Not autopilot. Somehbow that keeps getting lost on our newest drivers. They forget that if it worked like that (as an autopilot), then companies would buy a hundred of them once and never pay them instead of paying a driver whom has the capacity to look at their surroundings and make judgement calls based on what they see around them.
Banning the use of these items is not the answer. Dealing with these drivers who refuse to pay attention and should not be driving is what we need to do. Educating these drivers who are able is what we should do.
This story made me laugh. At my last job, we had this moron who kept tearing up equipment because nobody could get it through that guy’s thick head that he couldn’t just plug an address into his GPS and run right under a 12’6″ bridge.
I never have had any use for GPS myself. I was trucking for years before they came out, and I’ve never seen the need to buy one. Every once in awhile I wish I had one, but then the feeling passes.
If a driver doesn’t have a GPS, they are at the mercy of one giggling receptionist giving directions to another giggling receptionist who are more concerned about what they will be doing with their boyfriends after work than they are about a driver getting to their destination safely.
Give a monkey a hamm, he ain’t gonna build a house. The problem is not the tool, its the operater. I find my GPS very useful. But you can’t turn off your brain.
I agree with John Sokol about common sense on this one. I’m curious about the NY DOT study mentioned in the fourth paragraph. How big is the issue of commercial drivers using non-commercial GPS solutions? If you factor out this particular issue–is GPS routing still a major issue on the roadways?
The reason I wonder is a point of clarity–is it the tool or the craftsman? Is the issue expressed here related to GPS software, or the usage of an inappropriate type of the software by people that should know better?
These “professional drivers” that struck bridges due to following GPS instructions should either go back to training, or have their license revoked. I use a commercial vehicle GPS, but only as an additional tool. NEVER take the GPS instructions as “gospel”! Have drivers forgotten that road signs are the true law of the land when driving? Have they forgotten how to read them? Or (most likely) have they gotten lazy? NO GPS (commercial or otherwise) is 100% accurate! As the respondent earlier suggested, use common sense. Road signs are the “gospel”, GPS is a tool.
Have truck drivers forgotten about the front pages of the atlas, which shows in each state where low bridge’s and restricted routes are? GPS’s are to be used as a tool, always refer to your atlas also.
Trouble is that even the trucking version of GPS units can have errors. We seem to be too dependent on them and many truck drivers don’t use the trucking version. They use one for a car. Not only is this risky because of low bridges but also because of road restrictions for weight and over size loads.
I think most of the issues apply to Van drivers who do seem less concerned about their routes.
I still carry a atlas made for trucking and only use mapping software for general direction purposes.
Most of the time I try to talk to the customer to get proper directions. Its funny how many truck drivers still don’t prepare themselves properly to get to a customer safely.
GPS and Google maps are “tools” and if used as such can help a driver. If they are misused they are just as dangerous as any other tool when used inapropriately.
I always say to many people ,Why doesn’t NYS put warning height sensors with warning lights. This way drivers who are not from the area has some kind of warning before the damage is done. They can also use the row of hanging rope with a rubber ball along with a sign directing all trucks must used selected lane for that sensor. Which can be placed 1/8 of a mile before any low clearance area. And just the same for weight limits. They can provide weight sensors in the road ways just as they have for the pre-pass system for the D.O.T weight stations. I know some may say my thoughts are dumb. I really thinks it’s better to spend in technology for safety than to have to keep spending on the same repairs over and over as damage occurs.
I would use google maps to find where I was going, but not to actually provide diretions. AND, I always checked my truckers atlas for potential problems; low bridges, restricted routes. even with that, you still have to check those height signs & pavement to verify that something hasn’t changed. Technology is great, but it isn’t perfect. Question: who’s going to be at fault when cars are driving themselves? Just saw a headline about that the other day. Where else, but California.
GPS is a great tool, but like all tool’s one must know how to use then, it mite be better if you made sure all these new so called driver’s learned how to read and speak english, these so called truck driving school that are turning out driver in 4to6 weeks and calling then driver is a joke, these people coming out are not driver’s, they are a danger to them self and any one that is around them, I use a garmin with truck routing, and it is not allways right,a little comon sence go’s a long way ,but that is a thing of the passed, but we do not need more Law’s, we need more comon sence, and driver that will work together, Don,
I always used commercial grade GPS when I was driving, and it wasn’t perfect either. I also looked up any route I got in the paper road atlas to check for low clearances – and kept my eyes open as I drove! The atlas doesn’t have every single road in it either.
Michael, NYS has plenty of low clearances that do have sensors – and some ‘intelligent’ drivers go right on through anyway, even with the flashing warning lights. I’ve heard of a few drivers that continued through the Lincoln Tunnel (which has overheight sensors that activate flashing yellow lights) even as the tops of their van trailers were being ripped off AND WITH THE POLICE ON THEIR TAIL, also with flashing lights. One of the trucks was a load of bathtubs, everyone knows this because after the truck came out of the tunnel the sides split open and it spilled bathtubs everywhere.
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2007/06/03/how-not-to-drive-a-semi-through-the-lincoln-tunnel/comment-page-1/
I have used a GPS for years as well as a map. Both should be used together as well as good communication with the customer. One of the best GPS systems for trucks is the RandMcNally. What better GPS for trucks than those who make the Truckers Atlas. It has never steered me wrong. Also DUH???? What was the driver doing to miss the big ass road signs that say low clearance?
It is more important for a trucker to be able to plot his own route than to blindly follow a GPS which can get you in all kinds of trouble and possibly killed. There is no substitute for a thinking and experienced trucker. Trucker atlases are well made and are worth the money but when companies hire people who can’t read english or follow maps it’s a whole new ball game.
I drove back when there wasn’t good maps. That was back in the early 50,s. The best way is route your way first… before you leave. I have tries GPS but still went back to the old way… To each his own.. What ever works best for you.. Take Care……….
Common sense is a rare comodity these days.. is a sign says a bridge iis12’6″ it most likely is and big trucks wont fit. Electronics are not perfect. Nothing replaces doing a good trip/route plan. I use a variety of tools to plan my route. And for the most part, my gps is an overpriced mileage counter and emergency potty locater device 🙂
I do not believe banning them is the answer. Making more accurate ones? Sure sounds good… but until people stop letting other people and devices do their thinking for them (and learn what being responsible for ones actions is all about) the stupidity will continue.
been playing with trucks for over 40 years now. only thing i ever used a GPS for was the speedometer on it and the map for driving down back roads at night, i never been on so i can see if there’s a dead end or a T intersection up ahead at night. i only use paper atlas’s and plan my trip that way. always call the customer and get the directions to their place to be routed through the city safely they always know the best route and where all the pitfalls are around their business. common sense is the key. and when you don’t know something ask. there is never a stupid question if one dosent know but the are stupid drivers for not asking because they don’t want to appear stupid. your job is to get your freight there safely that’s being professional no matter what it takes. to act like a professional and not ask a question when you do not know the answer is stupid.
I bet if you found out how many drivers hit bridges before gps it would be the exact same as it is for drivers these days with gps. There is a learning curve to those gps systems that has to be considered especially for commercial drivers. At first they should plan out there route the traditional way and also use the gps and watch how the gps does the routing in comparison to get the hang of how it works. There are also settings on the gps that need to be set right I mean you don’t want that thing set on the shortest route you want it on the fastest route which will take you on the highways and not on the back roads. I’m actually a gps casualty, I hit a tree/branch hanging out too far into the road because I was routed on the back roads due to the GPS set on shortest distance and not fastest when I just was a green newbie driver..
I guess I’m old fashioned. I still call the receiver and get direction off the nearest highway lol. Used GPS once. Took me the long way around and I gave the thing to the wife.. $400 dollars down the drain.
New York can complain all it wants, it is a known fact the New York and New Jersey are two of the most Truck UN FRIENDLY places any driver can go into. I truly believe if New York had its way they would not allow trucks in their stare at all! Over priced tolls, no parking and some of the worst shippers and receivers I have ever encountered. I will NEVER forget my first time I ever went into New York and expierienced the George Washington Bridge, right after you cross it on a major higway you come to that bridge that is marked 12 foot 6 I think it was? I had done my trip plan I had looked at the maps I had looked at the Atlas and I was following all the cobbled up signage that was posted for truck routes… my heart still stopped when I saw that sign on that bridge! You can blame the drivers all you want but in all honesty there are times when you are going along trying to pay attention to the signage following whatever route method you have chosen just as you take a second to try to decipher a road sign, there is always that kind, considerate New York driver who seems to think they are Dale Earnhart and cut into your lane leaving inches between your front bumper and the back of their car as they then hit their brakes. The problem is that these newer drivers who are driving for “companies” are taught to use the GPS systems that are in their trucks, their bonuses (out of route) and (fuel economy) are all based on USING that GPS. Maybe thats why you hear so much about Schneider and Swift drivers hitting low bridges and getting into trouble on a lot of these back roads hitting low trees and wires…. Because that is the way their tracking system takes them and they are doing what the company tells them to do.
having a company installed Qualcom with supossably truck routing , first time ending up on a deadend road with no way to turn around, having to back on two lane rd for two miles,getting back to main road. Second time getting way out of normal route making turns according to gps for it then states Im out of route again have to turn around yet again, I no longer use it. Keep in mind it is truck route soft ware, I was told anyway. Inow use my paper maps like I use to the call shipper or reciever like I use to ,havent had a problem sience.Old school is best school.
As a USCG licensed Master turned truck driver, I have learned the same principles for safely navigating a waterway apply to safely navigating the highways. If you have the availability of a certain tool and refuse to use it, for whatever reason then you are ignorant. If you decide to use only ONE tool due to laziness then you are negligent. Use all the tools at your avail, always stay aware and you will never end up looking like a sardine.
Truck specific GPS’s are up to 4 times as costly as general driver GPS. I can see where truckers are using standard GPS’s. Many have smartphones and simply use the free apps. Of course, common sense and paying attention to signs is absolutley necessary! Unforturnately, the driver that drives under a low bridge would propbably do something else stupid if not for the bridge.
trkwife
So very true Don. And how about those who really can’t speak English well enough to give directions. I have called receivers to get directions for my husband and have actually heard, “Oh, I don’t know how to get you here. I never come from that way!” WHAT???? Do you want this load or not! Get me there! We use a combination of the GPS…to get us in the general area and then maps like Bing or Google.
I’m sorry, but if you’re a truck driver and you rely only on the GPS to get you places, you are as dumb as a boot, and should not be allowed to drive a big rig. I suggest that it is the new, young drivers and the drivers from south Asia who do that. When I started driving long time ago it was the maps I relied on. I planned the route in and out. I looked for alternatives and I also tried to look at the map long enough to remember the street layout etc. With GPS you are no different than the lemmings in the fourwheelers. As for getting stuck driving under a bridge? You gotta be a double idiot to do that. Somebody should seriously give you a course in common sense, and rationality. Better yet they should revoke your CDL.
Banning something that can be useful in helping a driver find their way is idiotic. And if this is the route that our government takes will cost more loss of life and property loss.
I used mapping software (Rand Mcnally ) and a Motor Carrier Road Atlas, also published by Rand McNally. Many low overpasses are listed in the info section for each state in the back.You have to always be vigilant and watch for low over passes. Remember heights marked in yellow give you some leeway, heights marked in white are pretty close to actual. I never understood all of the 12’7 overpasses on the interstate system in NYC, and Chicago, many say its to allow for snow accumulation on the roadway. if you are un-shure of the height pull over and watch what size trailers go under a bridge or overpass. Get on the radio and ask local drivers about it local information is invaluable. By the way, I have actually put on the 4-ways when approaching an overpass that didn’t look right, and crawled slowly under it. Air dumps on the truck and trailer help too.
Be Safe.
I do the same. Satellite view works wonders at helping to find the truck entrance (which is often on a different street than the actual address), and to determine if the shipper gave a bad address altogether. I always cross-reference google maps’ directions list with the MC atlas tho.
My husband and I use all methods of routing we use the GPS, our iPhone 3GS, and the old standard of the map book. We only use the phone when we get within 5 to 10 miles of destination we can see what the building looks like and where the entrance is and so on.
We drive dry freight and one of our recent deliveries took us to a new construction site I googled the place no luck, I finally looked up the address on the phone GPS no such address so I started looking around the street where were delivering to and found dirt lots so I looked up the closest building which happed to be a school it worked and we made it safely and without incident.
They should have updates to new streets at least on the GPS software that can be downloaded via wifi.
” In New York City, 110 bridges were struck by commercial vehicles in 2010 and 2011 alone despite the fact that the state has spent $3 million dollars on bridge warning signs.”
There is a problem with that when those signs say the bridge is 12″-18″ shorter than it actually is. My first time in NYC I had looked up the truck route and checked for low clearances in my atlas. Following said route I ran into signs that said all trucks over 12′ 6″ must exit, I exited into one of the boroughs with no clue where to go. One call to the police and my company later, a local tow truck driver saw me and informed me that the signs were wrong and my truck could fit, and I was able to take a ridiculously tight turn and get back on the highway. That was the first time NY’s improper clearance heights fooled me, unfortunately it wasn’t the last.
In a separate point, my gps saved me a lot of time and headache when my company would give me wrong directions (which happened regularly) and no phone number for the location (which happened more often than you would think). I actually got my first smartphone so I could look up phone numbers and local maps.
I love my GPS, I have a truck specific one. But I was also trained old school, that is rely on my good old rand McNally atlas!! That’s common sense to not follow you GPS as gospel, after all they are a comp that can be inaccurate.
Pretty sure a lot of drivers in NYC hit bridges because so many of their bridges are actually higher than 13-6 and marked 12-6 or lower. I have come across several in my travels up there and its funny because when I first drove up there even my written directions said take I-Whatever to exit whatever and all along that road were low clearance, truckers exit here, etc… getting on the radio though all I heard was keep going, they are higher than marked.
If a driver thinks a bridge is higher than marked, he/she may try just about any bridge and think its marked wrong as well.
I always check my Atlas and Google Maps satellite views to make sure the route is not going to make me cry.
Mike
The driver is supposed to be the one with the brain, and use analitical thinking. When the gps plans your route, look at it, study it, has it routed you the correct way? It seems to often the gps is followed as “the voice of god”.
I avoided using my company’s Qualcomm version of GPS because I disliked getting somewhere without knowing in my head precisely where I was at, and because the software doesn’t allow me to use it like a city atlas map that I can move around on the screen. I had to start using it though when my company required us to use the Qualcomm to find the cheapest en-route fuel stops.
Over-all, the software is very time-saving and useful once you get used to it, but there are plenty of errors on Qualcomms mapping software. It has a driver feedback option that I have used to make corrections. It used to count the distance in tenths of a mile past the destination if I drove past it. When it was wrong by, say, 7/10ths, I would tell them. Their response was to remove that feature. I can give such clear and easy to understand directions that a novice can easily find his destination; yet Qualcomm has never yet made any routing corrections that I sent them! There have been new highways that were completed 5 years ago; yet Qualcomm doesn’t show them and tells me that I am out of route while I seemingly am driving cross-country on their screen.
So the real question is: How do we persuade all GPS services, including trucking ones, to update their software and make corrections? Perhaps if they had to pay for the truck drivers tickets for being on a restricted road they will begin to care. I agree with many other commenters that those bridge accidents should not have happened provided that warning signs were clearly posted because usually you can make a turn to avoid it, or you just have to back up. But then the GPS service should correct the problem as soon as they have been told about it. But when the software tells you to make a turn onto a restricted route you have 2 choices. Drive past the turn and hope to make the next turn while looking for a place to park so you can make a phone call to ask for directions from your present location, or you can make the turn and hope for the best.
It’s a combo of problems. Too lazy to map routs. Too cheap to buy a trucker gps. Not reading road signs. A growing # of drivers that can’t read english. These companys letting a rookie with 6 months of experience train.other students.
What happened to the good old days of doing your homework before you left on your trip? If you are that incompetent that you need a GPS to get around, then you have no business driving truck. Why does everything in this world have to be “idiot proof”? Learn how to effectively do your job on your own & be at least a little bit responsible for your own actions!?! Can I get a Amen!?!
Even though it was not full proof a lot of Drivers in the old days counted on C.B.s as well, local Drivers where a Wealth of information when it came to get around in towns even though there are those out there giving bad info that along with your maps and now G.P.S. cut down a lot on being on the wrong road I used a Two G.P.S a map book and my Radio I have never counted on just one piece of technology for directions
Qualcomm has routes programmed in that send you to the ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES, where a SALESMAN, not a truck driver, would make a call. I have several times been directed to an office rather than a warehouse/dock via Qualcomm. There is a feature where you can post a revised route, it is in the Additional notes section. Always check that before leaving. And if you also use a map (VERY ADVISABLE!) take a look first. I was once sent directions to pick up a load in downtown Toronto, two blocks down from the Ontario Provincial government building. A quick glance at my Toronto street map and I KNEW that wasn’t right and had (forced actually) my dispatcher cough up a phone number for the actual receiver. Turns out the correct destination was about 25 miles away in a suburb of Toronto. DON”T follow GPS directions Blindly!
I’ve always used pre-trip time to layout route, note stops, supply list etc. The atlas is my usual mainstay, GPS gets plugged in for new necks of the woods (with sound OFF). Still tough to beat a good cup of coffee with a map and pencil & paper. After all, we’re supposed to be professionals not just sheep listening to a little gadget. Plan right, drive right, stay safe ~ we all win.
First i plug in my info into the comercial gps.then i prof the rout in my map book check fore briges and weight restrictions.I find that a gps is a good tool for ETA time and to enlarge a city area to get a better look at the streets.As for NY a lot of bridges r marked lower than actuall up to a foot lower than actual hight allowing for snow fall.As fore Chuck our elected official he needs to travell out of NY so he can see what a real interstate hyw should be laid out.like mach the mile markers to exit numbers,,and run mile markers the corect way …..
Ps the long island expressway is called the 495 should start with a odd number because it dosnot go around a city it dead ends out on long island NY
How about the USDOT making the NYDOT put up height signs with the Actual Height! Not for snow accumulation on the roadway. I have 18 years driving in and out of NYC and I never hit 1…why I keep looking around me for signs. I have used GPS, but I still read the signs and look whats infront of me.
I reply to “John P – New York can complain all it wants, it is a known fact the New York and New Jersey are two of the most Truck UN FRIENDLY places any driver can go into.”
I think you should add MD, VA and CA to that list.
Mudflapmike from South Jersey, And we dont like the north end of this state!
GPS is a great tool and so is google maps or others like that, but the route needs to be checked first and good directions given by the shipper/receiver if possible, his company and others luckily have these directions for them because so many of these places now won’t even answer their phone for you to even get directions. With google maps you can plot easier where 600 miles might be so you can plan where you will spend the 10 hr reset if you are solo, a lot easier than trying to measure and figure on a paper map. GPS is great in a lot of the cities now which have multiple bypasses so you know when and where you need to get off and on a highway, the traffic is too fast to debate the issue in a lot of areas.
As far as NY and NJ if they don’t like trucks maybe they should hire day cabs to pull the loads around and everyone just take and dump the load at the city limits. I navigated for husband using a car Garmin before, but checked out the directions and truck info to get around the places he had to be to. He has a Roadmaster (2nd one now) and uses that and it is handy to pull up fuelstops and lets you know when a scale is coming up. It will red flag a road if you are not supposed to be on it.
Once again some people want to blame others for their inability to use common sense. I have been using a commercial type truck specific GPS for over 3 years and have not struck a bridge or low overpass yet.While the use of these devices are a help you should check the complete route before starting your trip against a road atlas. If something strikes you as odd CALL and talk to someone at the receiving or shipping end of your trip. While it is true some of the devices will lead you down the wrong path common sense and the ability to read should prevent you from hitting low objects. The main problem as i see it the industry has a flood of NEW SCHOOL drivers in it and they have never received the training they need. THINK and LOOK when turning onto a roadway they have never been on. USE your brain and stop depending on an electronic device to do your job. Rand McNally puts out a NEW Road Atlas every year. Buy one and LOOK in it when going to an area you have never been in. Be a stand up driver and accept the responsibility for your mistakes! Because when you hit something low IT IS YOUR FAULT plain and simple.
I use a truck gps and it has routed me to a low bridge in the past. I have a suggestion. If you think the bridge is too low, don’t go under it. Stop and call the local police which can be found on your gps. I have called 911 and told the operator that I would like the local police department and they hooked me up with them. The police will be happy to help you out that situation rather than you driving under that low bridge. Final suggestion, don’t panic. Breath deep and you the local police will help you.
Any GPS can give you wrong info. Most regular maps don’t even tell you about low bridges. GPS make your mind lazy and relax. If they can make ALL GPS tell you 99 percent of the streets in this country then they can add the bridge information too.
trucker gps costs more than map software or websites on a laptop but is the best option but not yet perfect.. even maptuit wich many companies including mine will route down weight restricted local roads.. only a moron would use a cheap car gps in a big truck. and only a fool would blindly obay a trucker gps w/o paying attention to sighns.. what i do seems to be the best route. i compare the route my trucker gps wants me to go with the way maptuit is routing me.. if the dont match up (40% of the time) i use the gps’s map to retrace the maptuit route to see wich of the 2 make the most sence.. or if i can get my rand mcnally to reroute to the maptuit’s routing wich sometimes works.. and if all else fails i find that i can use the gps to ensure i dont miss turns in the maptuit route. no system is fool proof.. the biggest problem with randmcnally truck gps seems to be occasional out of date info like when a road is widened, or a offramp is moved. and that is probibly becaouse of how long it takes for the info to get from the state to the map makers.