routing your trip

Most companies give you a route to follow. Fuel stops included. So if you reroute, you'll also need new fuel stops.

More and more companies are getting completely anal about their routing. It's best to ask during orientation.

 

accually the route they give you is a suggested route, but you have the final say as to how you run. you must use a motor carrier atlas and be sure the routes you take are legal routes and that you are not going to find a low underpass. if you get on an illegal route and you are caught, it is your problem. you pay the fines. so you must make sure what route you take is legal for your weight and size.
and if the company states you must follow the route they say, then you reply with will they pay the fines.
the driver has the final say, as long as you do not go too far out of route with the miles.

 

Thats true. The bad thing about this is the shortest route is sometimes the worst route. Some companies route you and open your fuel card for a designated stop along the route...so youre kinda stuck along their route. Why is this bad? Well, they plug a start and stop point in a computer. This doesnt cover things like road constructions, steep and tight mountain goat paths, rock slides, closed roads, bridges out...etc. Deviate from the route and you can be in a bind for fuel.
Then you get to play phone tag with some deskjockey thats never been anywhere and refuses to open your fuel card because you didnt stop at the designated stop along the designated route.

 

The route taken for a load, also depends on what the freight is. Some hazmat requires a stated route and notifications to local LEO types. There is ZERO deviation from that type of route. With possibly a couple specific situations.

 

I run MD to OK and if the weather is bad in MO, I go south down I 81-I40. I still get there and miss the weather. Better than sitting in the center of MO for 2 days. Use common sense.

 

That wouldn't do him no good though if his company only allows him to fuel at certain locations on I-70 during that trip.

Companies will route you & expect you to follow their routing. Some companies will even charge the driver a fee if they determine he/she went of of their suggested routing & went their own way.

 

That is why I have never worked for a co that routes you. I want to work for the grown up outfits... not the hold my hand across the street JR...

 

You have earned a coveted TripleSix Thank You. Only 5 are known to exist. You win a beer courtesy of TripleSix if you ever happen to be in the same bar as him

Forced routing promotes stupidity in drivers. If a driver cannot route himself to his destination via the shortest, fastest, SAFEST route, he shouldnt be driving.

 

What is the best atlas to purchase? Is it the Rand McNally Deluxe Motor Carriers Road Atlas and are there any others that you can recommend?

What about using the GPS IntelliRoute® TND 500 (for commercial vehicles) or buying the RouteTools CD by Ran McNally?

Just a question...In the atlas does it show length restrictions for the Dragon Tail (US 129) and other bad roads for truckers to drive on? Does a commercial vehicle GPS or routing software really work to avoid such routes?