Rand McNally 730....any good?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by americanmadetrucker, Dec 1, 2015.

  1. Mark Kling

    Mark Kling Technology Contributor

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    Statesville, NC
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    RM is not ignoring you. They were reported to HERE when you submitted them the first time. HERE has not corrected them yet as noted in my access to HERE. RM nor I control HERE and the speed of when they process their corrections. HERE does not belong to RM, nor RM to HERE. All we can do is submit the corrections.

    Chicago/Phoenix -

    Allow/fastest - 40 to Flagstaff then down 17 to Phoenix with Gallup in the route.
    Allow/Shortest - 40 to Albuquerque then down 25 to US-60 over to Phoenix.

    So it is not a routing issue, it is simply the difference between two settings that you can change.

    Why Bother - Why bother to tell the other driver they have a flat, why bother to tell the other driver they have a light out, why bother? Because in the end all your Fellow Professional Drivers that use an GPS win. But why bother? Let the next driver report it, but wait,,,, why should they bother,, maybe someone else will report it and in the meantime, several years past, drivers post threads and the GPS companies get slammed with issues that could have been resolved a few years prior so the OP's and others that read the threads will think a product is not worth looking at or buying. One person can make a difference. One person can get issues corrected, but why bother, let someone else worry about it?????

    Again, this is becoming a support thread, which the OP did not intend. Any issues with the TND should be directed in the TND Support Thread.
     
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2015
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  3. double yellow

    double yellow Road Train Member

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    The shortest legal route for a 48' 96" trailer is less than 1715 miles & 26 hours.

    i55
    i72
    i35
    us54
    i40
    AZ77
    AZ377
    AZ260
    AZ87
    AZ202


    Going down to Socorro, NM (RM "shortest") adds 35 miles and 55 minutes

    Going through flagstaff (RM "fastest") adds 48 miles and 14 minutes.

    Following the RM for just that one trip will cost the truck owner $35-$48 -- and that's assuming you get it to take i72 (which it will not consistently do -- it often picks i44 which is an additional 37 miles / $37).

    Fact is, following RM routing will cost you thousands of dollars each year in additional miles.

    That's pretty damning considering its main job is routing...
     
  4. Mark Kling

    Mark Kling Technology Contributor

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    Statesville, NC
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    You are looking at routing you like. The GPS is a computer. It cannot know what routes you want. It has a set of parameters you put into the settings and based upon that and what the segments of the map database hold it will try to route you.

    Without looking at the roads above, I can guess some are class 2 and 3 roads. They have a lower priority over a class 4 and 5 road. RM does not control the classification of roads. They can tweak some to "force" a route if a certain road is not truck friendly, but legal to drive on. But again, we are talking about millions of miles of roads. If they tweak a road, then only that will change during a compile.

    Back when the stand alone GPS started the car was given a set of maps, if it did not route right the person usually did not care and no input was given back to the map companies. HERE and TeleAtlas are just a couple of what are used.

    Then about 2008-9 the truck GPS started to come into play. Many issues were found since the main focus was on cars. But, trucks need to have a more precise routing due to restrictions. As the issues for restrictions and routing were found they were submitted and corrected. Ten's of thousands of corrections have been submitted since then.

    You may like a certain route and the next driver likes a different route. Any Truck GPS will use what you have set for settings and route you based upon the parameters in the map database. If you wish to take a certain route, then simply drive that route, the TND as any other GPS will "now" see your change and readjust the route based upon your direction of travel. Add "Via" points also helps to adjust the route.

    But, simply putting in a route while you are in a static mode will bring back a route based upon your settings based upon the set parameters in the map database.

    The Truck GPS is simply a tool to help you in the day to day decision making of your business no matter if you are a company driver or O/O or L/P Professional Driver. It should not be blindly used as the maps and restrictions are not 100% and will never be for a perfect set of maps.

    All I can say is, if you find a restriction or issue, post it in the support thread and I will look at it. If I can duplicate it or I see a missing restriction then I will report it. If I cannot duplicate it, then I will usually ask you to PM me and I will continue to work on it even to the extend of you sending me your unit so I can look at it more in depth.
     
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  5. GWIZ2260

    GWIZ2260 Light Load Member

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    I also sent in numerous issues to no avail. Why would I continue to waste my time? Although I do like my 730, it had numerous issues. Mine used to crash routinely until running the diagnostics on it. Navi.exe had numerous problems and was refreshed and works much better now. The routing it chooses at times is beyond belief. Most of the time it is pretty good.
     
  6. Mark Kling

    Mark Kling Technology Contributor

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    Statesville, NC
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    So you send in an issue and you expect it to be resolved overnight? RM gets your issues and looks at them to see if they are valid or not. Sometimes they already have been reported.

    If the thousands of other drivers had not wasted their time, then the maps would still have a lot of issues. Each day new restrictions are found that were not known before. To have the Maps today you should thank those before you that took the time to address the issue and report it.

    Again, RM submits to HERE and it is HERE that is the source that has to verify and correct the Map database. RM does not control how slow/fast HERE responds.

    HERE is a separate Company, RM is not part of HERE.

    Again, if you had gone to the support thread you would have seen the Navi.exe error addressed numerous times and I replied to each one. I will mention it one more time... It is a hard bug to find and cannot be easily duplicated. If we can duplicate then we can track the issue down. But, to get the error one time and not the next time makes looking in the code very hard. The code has millions of line of coding. Many modules interact all the time. It is being looked at hard and constant testing is going on to try to find the issue.

    Routing again, it routes by your settings matched to the parameters in the Map Database. It is a computer and it has to go by what it has available not by looking at an MCRA and thinking how I would like to go. The map database is more than simply lines in a database. I cannot go into what is in the parameters, but many factors are build in.

    You have your routing preference, the next driver has theirs, the next one has another. All prefer their method of routing. The GPS as with any device has to go by what is available in the Map Database.

    Again,,, this has turned into a support thread and not what the OP intended.

    If you have an issue, routing, restriction, question, then please take it to the Electronic Connection/Support thread for the TND part 2.

    If you post a support question, repost it in the thread listed above..
     
  7. Moosetek13

    Moosetek13 Road Train Member

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    Burnsville, MN
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    Like me with not being able to update in Linux, everyone has issues that they want resolved sooner rather than later.

    That's life.

    I added a memory card a while back so I could do a map update, as well as all the other things.
    By now I'm again out of date, but that is not the point.

    The point is that many bugs got fixed with that update along with the maps getting better.
    My 520 no longer locks up, and believe me I've tried.
    It reroutes faster and the maps are much better.

    After nearly 2 years with it I had all but given up, and then the new maps became available.
    It was well worth the wait.

    I would rather put up with a few bugs now and then and reboot the unit, than be constantly applying updates that may not be reliable.

    The people working on this system seem to be trying to do the right thing.
    And that is, getting it right the first time once they release an update.
     
  8. FuzzFace2

    FuzzFace2 Medium Load Member

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    Angier, N.C.
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    First let me say "my bad!" Ok had to do this run again and it sent me under that low bridge again 11'2" so went around again but this time I remembered the road and where it was.
    US15 BR in Durham, NC. Why they have a low bridge on a BR is beyond me!

    Any way the "my bad" part I checked my settings and found I had it set for 10' ! I changed it to 13'3" and will go slow under that till I can measure my truck/trailer unit.

    Thanks for the help
    Dave ----
     
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  9. Mark Kling

    Mark Kling Technology Contributor

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    Thanks,,, any cross street you can remember?

    I found this - 35.992793, -78.899189

    Interesting,, if you are here - 35.992758, -78.899533, it shows a truck route sign, but on the BR it does not tell you to turn right for the truck route.

    Thanks,
    Mark
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2015
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  10. FuzzFace2

    FuzzFace2 Medium Load Member

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    Yes it is the first one 35.992793, -78.899189 S Roxboro St. /US501 BR, thought it was still US 15 BR.
    I turned right onto S Dillard St. and took that to Holloway St./ US 70 BR heading back to a cement plant.

    It is funny how going from cement plant (S Hoover rd. Durham, NC.) to Carrboro/Chapel Hill, NC. It will send me one way, mostly high way, but going back to plant is takes me thru city streets. I have not made any changes to the GPS, I pick always loaded, so what gives? I would think it would take me back the same way I got there?
    Will have to see how it sends me now that I have how high my rig is in the system ;)

    Well it is what it is a tool to use to get me there and back along with a good head on my shoulders & maps. So far I have done good.

    Thanks
    Dave ----
     
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  11. flatbeb mac

    flatbeb mac Medium Load Member

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    It's alight but, not as reliable as an atlas. Just yesterday, it kept trying to send me hours out of my way.
    It wanted me to get to northern Indiana after entering from Terre Haute by way of 70>65>465>69>18/19>31 wtf? No thanks, 70>465>31 works just fine... Although I really would have preferred the keystone parkway exit over the 31 exit because of construction. I just don't know the bridge heights on keystone.

    That and it didn't know about the bypass around Kokomo that has been there for 2 years.
     
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