how many of you prospective new truck drivers REELY know how to read an atlas??

Good post, GoBlue. My son's been using computers since age 4. He knows all the cellphone nav apps. He knows twenty different ways to search. Online is his preferred method of getting info. But as a going away present when he gets a CDL he's getting a Rand McNally truck atlas and we'll do a few routes on it to get him familiar with using old-style maps on paper. Electronics sometimes break down but you still have to get there.

 

How could someone not know how to read a map? It's really simple, just follow the blue lines to where you need to be.

 

Maps were poo-pood when drivers started using them. Horse and buggy back then. The old timers would say You shouldnt rely on a map. Turn left at the wind mill. Right past the grave yard. Fallow the creek. You don't need a map.

I haven't missed one appointment with my GPS and google maps iPad.

 

Geography? I've met people here in Michigan who think Washington State is somewhere by New Jersey!

 

Its kinda of hard to read a map when you cant read..no wait they can read,they just dont understand what they read..i.e.....L/P..."I cant read so I'm ready to lease a England truck and get rich"!!

 

I've always loved maps. I've driven coast to coast a few times in a car and can spend hrs in the passenger seat reading a map.
Now as a truck driver my atlas is always within reach. I like checking out alternate routes, finding out other drivers favorite routes,etc.
Now, Google Earth and GPS are great too. When used all together and mixed with common sense you should have no problem planning and executing a route to where ever. I like to KNOW where I'm going. Not to be blindly guided by the GPS. Google Earth lets you see it before your there....Atlas shows the best route, restrictions, and things along the way. GPS helps with speed limits, the other roads around, road names,intersections, etc...
As an old carpenter, you learn ALL your tools get the job done...not just one....and the brain is the most important one
I called my first police dept the other day when I was unsure of a route where there was a weight restriction. I didn't know if I should go around or if I could take a certain city street to where I needed to be. They were so helpful! The police CAN be your friends!! Lol

 

Brood mom and go blue. Geographically Michigan should be given to Canada. Especially the way they try to play sports.

 

i came back on the road 3 years ago. had no idea how to read a map. it was a learning process again.

been local 12 years. never needed it. and my training was very short and breif before going local.

as for getting there. atlas is basically more for cross country and is virtually useless once you get into town. as for which driveway to pull in. as long as my gps gets me there. what more does one want. if one can't read the signs and figure out which way to go. they probably shouldn't be driving a truck.

granted, it would be nice of gps took me to X MARKS THE SPOT every time. but 500 feet is close enough. although sometimes it's been up to 1/2 mile. google nav has been pretty close though. as gps don't have EVERY address in the map.

 

Service calls on the interstate were no problem " East bound mile marker 305". Easy. Finding a location in town could bea pia, one way streets, street signs behind treelimbs, really fun when you get to the corner of Primrose and Primrose in a gated community, trying to find some dude's Porsche that needs a new tire. I've used the map in the front of the phonebook more than once.