Do Any OTR Truckers Still Use Atlas's?

Post that question in the support thread for rand and mark will find out why.

 

Multiple times, matt; in these GPS threads, I've taken the time to explain why GPS alone is foolhardy. Your only response is "BAH!" I'm not sure you'd except any of the knowledge I could pass on if it didn't fit your preconceived notions. I could (and have on here, multiple times,) teach you much about the hows and whys of handling a big truck in crappy conditions. Would you learn it, or would I get the "I park when it gets bad because I'm a safe driver!" ? Your posts here really make me wonder if you're willing to learn. And then there's the million and one little tricks that might just keep you from sitting on the side road, broke down. After 30 years, there's not a lot I don't know about the mechanics of a truck, and what you can and can't do to get rolling.

You see, I'm not against GPS. I think they make fine tools. And it's not because I'm old and cantankerous (Shut up, 'olhand!) that I think GPS-only is a bad idea. It's because I can see the limitations and drawbacks that you have blinded yourself to seeing.

I guess I'm a glutton for punishment, but I'll spend a few minutes giving you a perfect example of why you should carry an atlas. I really don't need one, much like 'olhand, but I've discovered over the years that I'm a very visual thinker. So while I don't have to look at the map, doing so triggers my thought processes to where I can (and do for the new guys who work for me) walk you into a place you've never been as if I was sitting next to you. But that's not my example. In the past, one of our runs involved picking lease returns in Michigan to come back to dealers in the Upper Midwest. There were times where I might have 9 units at 9 different locations. Now those 9 units might all go the differing locations, or they may just go to a few, and if I'm not careful about the order I picked up, I might have to unload and reload units multiple times before I delivered them. So I have to minimize both mileage and the number of times I handle a vehicle. There were also limitations on where to place the units within the load in order to keep height and weight in check. (Well, ok. Height in check.)

Do you really think it's feasible to plan that out on your GPS? It is far faster to visually estimate enroute times to decide if it's worth picking up a unit you'll just have to unload multiple times later, or if reordering your pickups, or even backtracking makes more sense. Yes this is an extreme example, it was also about 4 years of my life. And while a few of the stops were on almost every load, many were at little podunk places you might see once a year. It was a task that an atlas and Google maps made much easier; the atlas for the rough configurations, and Google maps to verify the likely combinations. Did I use a GPS on these trips? Absolutely! It makes finding the right streets in strange cities far easier and less stressful. Did I trust it blindly? To quote the pilot in the very first kamikaze pre-flight briefing: "You ####### crazy?!?!?!?"

 

I got lost today. My fault. Called customer, asked for directions. Given. Directions spot on. Issue is state of SC (South Carolina) for GPS users since probably don't know state abbreviations, didn't have the street I need labeled correctly. I have company GPS, ignored it. Once got turned around. Pulled into WalMart pulled out my Rand McNally Atlas and found alternate, eaiser route. Took it. Got there in good time. Checked GPS routing after I looked at atlas, was trying to get me to turn around from exit I didn't take 10 miles back because wasn't a truck route. Which I learned thru my atlas. And mine is programmed correctly. Company provided so needs update. Had it my way I'd get rid of it but arrival and depart messages tied into it.

Btw...route referenced earlier out of OK, already knew as best route because I love reading maps and have been doing so since I was a child.

Also, earlier this year my Qualcomm went down and I was out of cell phone range. Most young punks on here would be crying home to mommy not sure what to do...i grabbed payphone at truck stop. Called company gave me info, wrote down by hand. Called customer on both ends for directions. Checked atlas got best route in line with fuel stop. Picked up 5 hours early, delivered 12 hours early and didn't use GPS. Didn't have, need or want it. Its amazing what your brain can do.

 

Btw I'm not some old worn out has been, I'm 33. Been driving a year. I have fixed computers that were unfixable, I worked for cable company 3 years, I know my way round technology.

 

I can program multiple stops on my gps and can either let it automatically sort them by which makes more sense (a to b to c) or I can manually rearrange them if I have to (b to c to a).
I would first let it do it automatically and check the route it gave and depending on the pickup requirements I'd either go the way it planned or move stuff around.
There is nothing that I have found or been told a atlas can do that my gps cannot already do easier and faster.
I understand what your saying, I just trust technology that gets updated every week as opposes to a atlas that gets updated once a year.
As far as stopping for weather- never done it and never will. I'm from Iowa. Snow, rain, ice, sleet, hail, fog. It don't bother me. I'll just slow down and turn on the doorways and roll on through. Only way I'll stop is if the road is physically closed by the dot.
Now the mechanics is a area I could probably use some knowledge about. I know my way around a car well enough but big trucks are a whole different animal. As a company guy there are limits to what I will even attempt to fix. Lights, adjusting brakes (watched a YouTube video on that), basic wire splicing, fuel filters, stuff like that I'll do but beyond that it's better going to a shop.

 

Lets say you spill coffee or whatever you drink on your GPS unit. It shorts out and quits working while you are driving. What will you do? Probably pull over and wonder wtf am I? If I spill coffee on mine. No biggie pages are laminated, I keep rolling.

 

I don't drink coffee. Plus I have 2 gps plus my Qualcomm plus 6 navigation apps on my phone. The odds of ALL of them failing to work in one day is astronomical and if it did happen I'd park the truck because my luck has went straight to hell, no way should I be driving if I'm having that bad of a day.

 

So, you've spent a lot it money on laziness. K.

 

Maybe you don't read what people wrote, I said coffee or drink of choice. You have all those tools and yet the easiest one to use, the atlas, you don't have. I'm gonna ask this and you will probably throw a hissy fit, but do you even know how to read a map? Its okay if you don't. The dumbing down of this country began way before you were born. If you don't know how to read one just let me know and I can teach you. Free of charge.

 

Actually I haven't spent any money on any of that. How does using tools to make my job easier and me more efficient make me lazy?
I was always taught to work smarter not harder. So that's what I'm doing. I've found the most efficient way to do my job.