Garmin GPS Tips and Tricks

I am always battling my Garmin DEZL 780. Today I learned that when I am entering a destination by coordinates, it is helpful if I actually use the correct coordinates...and I don't mean generally--but Exact Coordinates.

Yesterday I pre-planned my LTL trip. I generally look up the delivery site on my desktop google maps, pin the coordinates I want to go to, and enter the coordinates into the Garmin. That generally works well. Today I'm following my pre-plan and the Garmin wants to take me in directions that I know to be wrong.

Later when I investigate, I discover that I was sloppy when pinning the coordinates on my desktop. I got the pin over the center line of the road and in the opposite direction of travel. So when Garmin was trying to direct me, it wasn't just taking me to the road I wanted to be on, it was taking me to the specific lane of travel that would get me to the pinned coordinates, which was the wrong direction of travel.

Here is the image of the pin where I wanted to be (on the left side of the island) But I had actually put the pin on the other side (the right side) of the divider island, so Garmin was sending me around the block in order to get me onto the right side of the island.

So today I learned something new about the quirks of the mystical Black Arts of Garmin GPS. Be careful of what you ask for, because you just might get it.

 

Just as a starting point, has your buddy updated the 780 software and maps?

So, iirc, the way it works on mine is that the first weight station notification pops up from the top right of the screen and goes about 2/3 of the way across the top of the screen. It says there for, say 10 or 15 seconds, then it shrinks back down to a square in the upper right corner with a scale icon. The scale icon stays there until I get past the scale and then it finally disappears.

And if you need to know the details of the scale, you can touch the square in the corner and it will expand to include the scale details (miles).

 

How do you usually use the Garmin? Do you use "Where To?" and then "Address?" What is the problem with the Garmin and the new warehouses?

After repeated goof-ups on my Garmin, I have started using both the Garmin and Google navigate on my phone. The Garmin still saves me from making obvious commercial navigation mistakes. But at the same time, Google saves me from following many needless detours that the Garmin would take me on. Just yesterday I was on a main trucking road, US Route 202 in New Jersey, and Garmin wanted to take me on a 30 minute detour due to a road closure that Google said wasn't there. AND then when I disregarded the road-closure detour, Garmin warned me repeatedly that I was on a weight-restricted road which was not restricted.

 

Here is a screenshot from the Garmin showing the false road closure on US Route 202 in NJ, and Garmin's last-ditch alternate. This is the screenshot I got as I approached the reported closure. In actuality, Garmin had automatically rerouted me to an alternative route that would have detoured me much earlier, so I'm glad I had Google Navigate also running--which showed no closure. No road closure was there.

 

Here is a screenshot from the Garmin 780 showing the false 4-ton weight limit restriction shortly thereafter along the same US Route 202 in NJ. There must be several hundreds of trucks along this road daily, and yet Garmin still would not route trucks on this route due to a false weight restriction. It is very aggravating to have to regularly deal with this kind of bad information.

 

Yeah, exact lat&long coordinates is how I have been entering many of my stops lately, esp. stops with multiple possible entry points like The Home Depot. From Google Maps, I choose which entry point I think looks best, pin that entry point, then enter those exact coordinates into the Garmin. For a while I tried pinning the exact delivery point, like the dock or the lumber roll-up door. But because Garmin is trying to find the quickest way (or the fewest miles way depending on how you set it up), Garmin will do goofy things like route through a narrow entry point shared with Wendy's Restaurant rather than go another 100 feet to the big entrance.

For a long time I didn't know the Garmin would do exact coordinates, but I stumbled upon it by dumb luck when trying to deal with another issue.

To turn Coordinates on, choose "Where To", then choose "Add Shortcut" then scroll to and select "Coordinates." Then go back to the "Where To" screen and tap "Coordinates" and tap the wrench icon in the upper left corner, tap "Coordinate Format" and select "h ddd.dddddd" and tap "Save."