Stevens Transport aviary

A GPS in my opinion should only be used onced you get close to your delivery or pick up site.Use your map for all other routes.Know where your exits are located,which cities they are in,and what the exit number is and what interstate state highway or US highway you will be taking at that exit.Just saying,You should always know how much fuel you have on your truck and how far it is to your next fuel stop.This doesnt necessarily mean an Opti-stop.Would you be in Wyoming in the middle of winter with no fuel on your truck and no FUEL STOP IN SIGHT.Dont think so.Sholdnt be any different in any part of the country at any time of the year.Pay attention guys,it can save your life and make you money.

 

Actually I think exactly opposite. These GPS's dont seem to route worth a crap in town but do pretty good on the open road. I always look at my atlas and have a good idea of my main routing and make my GPS match the way I want to go. But I always call the shipper and receiver (if I havent been there before) and ask for local directions off of the highway Im coming in on.

 

I use CoPilot on my laptop for trip planning as I can input my start and destination and then add all the fuel stops and any other stops I may or may not want to make. Once it builds the route I can compare it to the suggested route, then check my atlas and see if there are any adjustments needed. During grad fleet the last time I used this method to work up my trip plans as it makes it easy to do your time and distances in the format Stevens wants. I would always write it up on paper then punch it into the qual com macro. Then I kept my notebook with the route and stops etc right in the dash in front of me. Easy to pick up and double check the route on the fly. I would even program in rest breaks and if I didn't need to stop I would just drive on by.

 

does Stevens also send the directions on the qua comm?

 

Yes they send written direction with your fuel stops

 

OR1 coming up this weekend for me, any helpful info...Heard they do serpentine maneuvers during OR1? never even heard of that until a few moments ago. As I went to school In Florida and got my CDL there.

NavyPD

 

Well that was wishful thinking... the did cut the amounts and added more stops, but appaerently missed the entire part about needing to fuel after the scales... they gave me two stops in Arkansas... 130 miles apart totaling 112 gallons... this or course befor the TN scales... I got 50 at the first stop and still did not burn enough off before the TN scales so I took the scenic route... I am just going to ignore the optistop and take the ### chewing... I would rather deliver the load on time and safely without an overweight ticket on my record. I pretty much need to be at 1/4 or less to be legal in TN and 3/8 or less in the other states.
I parked and checled my 8 day tab and saw that yestersay I drove 530.6 miles and today I drove 530.6 miles... what are the odds of that? Took 23 minutes longer today so I guess that is how.long my detour took. Eill be glad to drop this one kff!

 

They had us practicing serpantine... they demonstrated it but didn't really test you on it... graded you but not tested you... everyone pretty much gets the same grade.

 

Yes... I have a BOL that states this load is 42,000... I am in a T2000... I believe their weight to be off... just a little bit!

I am in the 34k range...

 

Just a quick update... first day in class,lots to do and try to get my sea legs. Mike seems like my kind of guy. A little homework,more reading for 2,3 and 5 testing on Wednesday. I'm sure Ya'll have heard all this before. I'm a little tired but keeping on track with my goals so far. Up at 4:30 for the day tomorrow, in classroom at 6:00. Have a good evening.