Why do trainers swear by maps?

I'm the old school hard core paper map pusher that gets your butt out of the no mans land that your super deluxe fancy GPS and Google Earth, Google Maps put your s##### A%%%% in. When I ask you why you're in the situation you're in and you say "my GPS told me to" and you're 100 yards from driving in the river I am tempted to let you drive into aforementioned river because commons sense plays a LARGE part in being successful and surviving in tucking. Clearly I should have let you drown because you can't fix stupid and it shouldn't be allowed to reproduce. OBTW
I was a network admin and build systems on the side for fun. I was playing in DOS before you were out of diapers

 

Using an atlas aids you in reading road signs. You dont have to use an atlas. You dont have to use a GPS.
You HAVE TO be able to read the signs.

Had a stretch load, wide and tall and heavy too...going to a job site. Did my homework. The maps, GPS and Google earth. Even called the receiver. Google earth would only give me an approximate location. The last turn on to the last street, the sign said NO TRUCKS.

Double checked everything. I'm in the right place, on route. But the sign says this is restricted road.

Called the non emergency number to the local cops. This place was downtown in a metro area on the waterfront. Small bridge, small island brand spanking new industrial area. The cop took me in his car to the site (you stinky fellas can't do this).

The next time I went to that site, the sign said NO THRU TRUCKS.

 

I started driving OTR in 2008 and my trainer had a truckers GPS and we wasted so much time one day with that stupid thing. You use your map book then when get close call shipper/reciever and get good directions. GPS are fun but learning to use a mapbook in my opinion is smarter

 

Maps have been around longer, than people. therefore this is why we swear by them. a Motor Carrier Atlas also has all the information you need as far as restricted routes, low bridges, weigh stations, etc for 95% of what you're going to be doing. As far as getting into and out of shippers and consignees, your best bet is to call them up for directions and write them down if your company does not already have them.

I use both style actually. I have a dedicated newelectronx trucker gps that I use with my atlas to get from town to town. on a regular i find myself calling in for directions to places i haven't been to before. i also pair this with google maps (using the satellite view) for backup directions. this helps to identify landmarks. its more of an art and easier to navigate that this ways.

I suppose a map is a tool and one you should master. Why? Because you'll never learn how to use one unless it's beaten into your head before hand.

 

Well thats all well and good while you have internet access so what happens when you lose it? You'll be in a whole lot of trouble that's what, while the guy with the paper map will be doing quite well huh?

 

How did we do it all of those years ago? Rand McNally and a stack of city maps from all over the country, along with a notebook filled with phone numbers... Oh, and those rolls of quarters.

 

Just stay off the boardwalks...

 

People don't always understand the actual issue with the point they're trying to make. It isn't electronic versus paper, that's not the point. You can have the same issue with a paper map as with a GPS if it's a strip map. A strip map is a series of pages with a strip showing part of the route and turn by turn directions. It was what you got from an electronic street atlas in the 90's before GPS's.

The problem with a strip map is you just have this narrow path. With a gps you might see ten miles to each side of your route so you can travel I-80 across Illinois and have no idea you ever passed close to Chicago. Just using a gps you have little to no chance of recognizing cities simply by the layout of the major roads. The blank stare as people try to explain alternative routes marks you as a newbie.

I still have that problem because I don't know the road numbers. Compared to a 3'x2' printed map there isn't much detail on electronic maps. It isn't that printed maps is the only solution. I keep Trucker Path up zoomed to about a 60 mile radius on a tablet. That gives me positional awareness, where in the world am I. Using just GPS you might be lucky to know what state you are in. Just for giggles and grins one company handed out a map and had us label the states in orientation. Running mainly I-81 you could think West Virginia is a tiny little state, flat state at that from all you know looking at a gps.

That's the real issue, tunnel vision. Their point is you ought to have some idea where in the world you are. That Google traffic does you no good without some idea what your alternatives are. The correct answer is bypass downtown during the morning rush by taking the beltway and not a city street. You may need to make that decision long before your gps asks you if you want to reroute to avoid delays.

An atlas is really the easiest way to get the big picture, what major metro areas will you pass through and what are the major viable routes through it.

 

Last month my cellular telephone broke and I had to make a call. Let me tell you, stepping into that phone booth at the Flying J and putting those quarters in was such an amazing experience; it was like stepping into a time machine and being teleported back to 1998.