Rand McNally intelliRoute TND 500

I have been on 2 trips to california from toronto. The main highway we took was the I40.
I got the TND today and entered the street we went to and it does not mention the I40 at all.
What do you guys take when you go out there from Michigan?

 

Where in California?

Thanks,
Mark

 

los angeles

 

I-40 is a southern route going E/W... if you are coming out of Michigan or Toronto, OH(?) and headed to LA...why would you go straight south and then west? Why not get on I-70 to I-15 to I-10?


Does your trainer know how to go from Point A to Point B in an efficent manner? Just looking at an MCRA you can see I-40 is way out of the way.

Thanks,
Mark

 

For a number of reasons: First, I can customize the route in Streets & Trips far faster than I can look up the route in a road atlas, then write it down and the exit numbers. As a matter of fact, because I have Streets & Trips set to use primarily major roads, about 95 percent of the time the routes calculated by Streets & Trips are identical to my company supplied truck routes and thus don’t require any manual customization at all.

Second, I can plan my stops, i.e., rest areas, turnpike service plazas, and truck stops, far faster than I can by using a truck stop guide and a road atlas. I can also search and then route to a truck stop with a scale, for instance, in a small fraction of the time it takes to do it manually as well. Plus I can see the individual POIs and their locations on the map.

Third, I can then receive voice guided and visual turn-by-turn directions, which virtually eliminates missed turns, eliminates out of route miles, and also makes following your routes in adverse winter weather driving conditions especially at night far easier.

Fourth, with Streets & Trips the Bing maps feature is built into the interface. Thus, to view a truck stop for instance, or a Wal-Mart Supercenter you may want to shop at, or a particular intersection, or a particular exit, or a shipper location, or a consignee location, etc., all you have to do is click a single button and a handy aerial photograph or bird’s eye view pops up in a browser window.

Not to mention also that the road atlas only has major roads, while with Streets & Trips I get street level mapping. Hence, I can actually follow my company supplied final directions to the shippers and consignees on the maps before I ever drive them and discover beforehand if there is a problem with the directions, and then have plenty of time to correct the directions beforehand long before I ever drive them. Have you ever tried to zoom in with the TND 500?

Indeed, had I realized that joining the 21st century would be so convenient; I would have joined it far sooner.

Well I was like most people in that I already had owned laptops for years long before I decided to join the 21st century when it came to trip planning and navigation. Thus, for me it was a choice of spending $60 vs. $500.

However, at first I was hard headed, very naïve, and gullible, as like a lot of people I waited until truck specific GPS technology became available, researched, and purchased the TND 500. Nevertheless, during the process of discovering what a horrible piece of junk the TND 500 actually is I became exposed to Streets & Trips via a fellow truck driver friend of mine who had previously tried once before to no avail to convince me to use Streets & Trips, but because I was so inexperienced, hard headed, and naïve, I had previously ignored him believing that you needed a GPS capable of providing truck specific routing. Little did I know that they are far more trouble than they are worth and completely unreliable in any event.

Not to mention that just because you purchase a truck specific GPS doesn’t mean you don’t have to also have a laptop. I mean if I didn’t have a laptop as well then I couldn’t have ever updated my TND 500 and believe me it needs updates. Indeed, to use a TND 500 you must also have a laptop in addition to the GPS. Hence, it is infinitely more expensive than using Streets & Trips on a laptop you already own.

Actually, because you can do everything far faster and efficiently while virtually alleviating driving out of route miles, joining the 21st century for me at least has ended up putting more money in my pockets that otherwise wouldn’t be available if I was still doing it the manual old fashion way. Thus, I wish I had taken the plunge years ago in that regard.

Indeed, going back to a $10 atlas, a $10 truck stop guide, a pen, and paper is akin to going back to driving a truck without air conditioning vs. a truck with air conditioning. While I could do it if I absolutely had to, I would hate it and also make lot less money because of it.

Not to mention also that even if my company didn’t supply me with the truck routes, I would still continue to use Streets & Trips before I would ever use the TND 500 again because the TND 500 wasn’t reliable in any event, calculated longer routes, and was also plagued with tons of other issues that made using it prohibitive for average drivers, and because I could still make sure my routes are legal and still save time using Streets & Trips vs. the TND 500. Not to mention that it is a hell of a lot cheaper too and it just works without all of the brain damage I was subjected to when I was still using the TND 500. In addition, because of other features that you don’t get with the TND 500, to me it is a far better product on top of it. There is no comparison really.

You can also do the same thing with Streets & Trips and do it far easier, efficiently, and faster. Not to mention you could use the differential in price between the two competing products on other things you need to purchase too. For instance, with the Truck Stops Plus add-on, you can search and route to truck specific POIs far faster and easier than you can with the TND 500. In fact, it is not even close. Not to mention that it is far more accurate as well. Plus you can see them and their locations on the maps when you are driving or while you are planning your trips.

Good luck to you too but I disagree, Streets & Trips will work for you better than the TND 500 and I ought to know because I have used both products.

 

Mark, Im trying to do the new update (not sure if this is big one we are waiting on). But I keep getting an error :"TND Dock has encountered an Error Copying Files to your TND. If this problem persists, Please Contact Customer Support". I have tried repowering the TND and my computer with no help.

 

After about 6 attempts, I finally got all the files downloaded. Looks like this wasnt the update everyone was hoping for.

 

It seems to be having a issue. I tried it here on HS and I got the same error message. I send my Dock logs up to Rand to have them look at it.

It is not you or your connection. Rand's end.

Thanks,
Mark

 

I have been using company supplied truck routes for normal loads and for HAZMAT loads without any issues whatsoever for more years than I care to mention. In fact, the company I currently drive for wants you to follow the routes they supply to you. In any event, even though I have worked for several different companies over the years, I still have not experienced a single incident with a particular routes being illegal.

However, when I was using the TND 500 I was routed to low clearances, down restricted route roads, through residential areas, etc. Not to mention that I can’t count the number of times it told me to make a u-turn because it said I was on a weight restricted road when I wasn’t

I have never got a single ticket in my entire driving career yet, which is a testament to how thoroughly I plan my trips. However, with the TND 500 you couldn’t plan your trips. It was its lousy long ##### routes or the highway. Not only that, but they were always quite a bit longer and if that wasn’t bad enough, often times when it recalculated the routes, which happened several times a day, it would tack on an additional 70 or 80 miles to your already too long routes. Indeed, it was insane. In any event, one of the reasons I decided to return it to get my money back was because I was fearful of getting a ticket or worse, in an accident.

Actually, I use a stand that cost less than $50. My buddy turned me on to where to buy it. In fact, he turned me on not only to Streets & Trips, but also to the Truck Stops Plus add-on for Streets & Trips, and the stand.

He had also tried to do it once before, but at that time I was too hard headed and dumb and thus waited until truck specific technology came out to find out the hard way. In any event, I wish I had listen to him the first time. I would have joined the 21st century far earlier.

Sorry if I ruined your thread, I didn’t intend to as I was just responding to you and other posters and I’m also new to this forum. Not to mention that I don’t have anything against you and I actually think what you are doing is noble and thank you for it, but by the same token, I’m not going to lie to people and tell them that the TND 500 is a great product, because it is not and I know it because I found out the hard way. In fact, I would be pissed off if someone lied to me.

 

Dead Fish, if you prefer S&T then use it. Without knowing how your TND was set up or if it was up to the current version or any of the problems you had, I cannot say how to correct the issue. You had a bad experience. The TND routes you on legal routes as what is in its mapping database. At this time you cannot follow company routes.

The TND was never intended to have the processing power of a computer. It is a small navigation device.

So you say because you bought a product and it did not do what you felt it should it is a bad product? My Toshiba cannot do what a MAC does, does this make the Toshiba a bad product? Nope, it does what it was build for.

Weight restricted routes, just because a sign is not posted does not mean that that road may not be weight restricted. A well know US route used as a short cut is restricted to 75k yet no signs are posted. It could be that the mapping database was incorrect. x6 in Gary, IN was a good example, it would not route you off that exit, the mapping database was incorrect and had the main street set to 14k. Errors will be made and data will be incorrect. Nothing is perfect.

I find it hard to believe that companies have perfect routing since they get their mapping databases from the same mapping companies. In my short 3 years driving I had their routes put me in front of a 10t bridge and in places where I should not be.

" it was insane. In any event, one of the reasons I decided to return it to get my money back was because I was fearful of getting a ticket or worse, in an accident." The TND will not put you into an accident, you are in control of the steering wheel, you are the one whom makes the final decsion as where to place you truck. To put blame on a navigation device because it might put you in a accident...?

I drove for 3 years. Was I pulled over - yes, the navigation devices fault - no. Was I at fault - no. Simply spot checks. Was I close to having accidents - yes, the navigation devices fault - no. 4-wheelers. But, I used my brain and kept situation awareness.

The most common thing a driver does when he gets a navigation device is they expect it to take the routes they are familar with. I know, it took me several months to feel comfortable with mine. You have to look at the route it is SUGGESTING and make you own mind up to follow it or not.

You listed a lot of general statements as to what the TND did wrong. Give me examples of some of the places or bridges. Anybody can say they bought a TND and "trash" it on a forum. I am here to resolve issues or complaints about the TND.

If you love the S&T so much then please start a thread about it. I would like to get this thread back on track.

Thanks,
Mark