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

Isn't it shared with 294? Been awhile since I been up that way.

 

Ahhh now I have to look. Lol
huh , I don't know there . I normally run 20 right to 294
Maybe I did get on that

 

I use Qualcomm gps, Google Maps on my Andriod phone and the good ol' Rand McNally MCA for ANY route I'm not familiar with. I have found that it is best to use all 3. Plus my company suggests a fuel stop route along the way and they STRONGLY urge drivers to follow unless there is good cause. The GPS does not always route me the same way my company does. Thats why I plan ahead and use all 3.

 

A gps can't route around chicken coop....just saying...

 

An atlas also has the roads in different colors for a reason, it helps to drag it out and look at the area you are gong to if it is on minor roads. A gray road is very small usually compared to one with orange. There might be a better road going in the backdoor vs going through a town.

There were a lot of times a load was sent to the husband, when I road with him before, that would have been late if we played around very long with the atlas. We knew the general main road, and hit it while I programmed the then used car Garmin. I like google maps though as far as putting the whole deal together in one screen vs 15 pages of turning and following. I have favorites starred now so it is easy to find on the road and preplan a stop.

But truckers having no clue how to map is terrible and they should be teaching a class using all the tools at hand.

And I still hate NJ and NY areas on that side.

 

I hate altas's. Before I got a smart phone, I had a state map for every state I have been in. Altas's are way too compact to show any detail. Now, if you consider Google Maps as an Atlas, I will agree with you 100%. I can zoom in an see exactly what a certain interchange looks like, and with satalite view, you can see if you are going over or under, that helps me alot getting a much better mental picture than any atlas could give me. Now, if I may digress, lately, I have quickly chosen my route and notated exit niumbers and kept the GPS off and stayed off the Google Maps app and just read the signs. It kinda feels like I am going retro, but I want to build the skill.