Noob, here, FNG, which ever way you want to put it, I am fresh out of Truck Driver Training School, 12 weeks and starting my first trucking job pulling ag commodities on Monday. I have been reading every freegin review of GPS units and the results have been confusing at best. I look at Garmin Dezl units, TomTom, Rand McNally and overall Amazon reviews are overall 4+ and, when I get in depth and read specific reviews, I see complaints about being routed down Non-Tractor/Trailer roads or low-bridge roads, etc. What is the Freegin deal here? I have used hand held Garmin units in the past and they have worked well so I lean that way. Enough Blah, Blah, Blah, What is your favorite unit? What do you find positive and negative in the unit? If you would, let me know units you have used that you just about pitched out the window because they just sucked. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks and Drive Safe, keep 'er between the ditches.
TomBow
Your favorite GPS unit and why
Discussion in 'Trucking Electronics, Gadgets and Software Forum' started by TomBow, Nov 21, 2020.
Page 1 of 5
-
-
Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds
Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.
-
I use google maps. I bought a garmin dezl several years ago but rarely use it.
Years ago I had a little Tom Tom one that worked great. It had ozzys voice on it. Hilarious. Sadly it got stolen.JForce28, jtaran06, Dino soar and 1 other person Thank this. -
The Rand Mcnally Overdrye has lots of bells and whistles, it will overlay weather, keep track of time zone you are in and terminal time (both show on main screen), it is much, much more robust than the dezl. It has hundreds of settings and imo is really sweet. The only problem is that it can be buggy. But, they came out with Overdrye 2.0 version like 2 weeks ago. I use both the Overdrye and Dezl because at various times either will have a tendency to do a stupid route or act up.
The Dezl is much more of a basic unit, but seems maybe better just on navigation alone, although it also has a bug where it will say acquiring satellites and just lock up, and lock up bad, like where you have to leave it unplugged for a few hours and keep trying to turn on and off. Dezl much more no frills.
The Overdrye is also a tablet, so you can load apps on it, etc. To fully utilituze a lot of the features on the Overdrye you need an internet connection (real time traffic, weather, wind speeds, etc.). I use the tethering on my unlimited Verizon smart phone. I like the Overdrye so much I'm tempted to buy the new one. It's just really really slick. I'm new to this industry but let me put it this way, I trained using the Overdrye 8 and when I went solo bought the Dezl. I was really let down and disappointed, so much so that I bought the Overdrye 8 anyway because it is too slick not to have one. That's why I have 2.
If it were me, I would go with the new Rand Mcnally Overdrye 8" II and hope they got some of the bugs out. I believe it will set u back $599.TheLoadOut Thanks this. -
I was using Smart Truck Route. But once my atlas came in the mail, I use Google Maps. I make the route, and check there's no restrictions against the atlas, and away we go.
Muskie and austinmike Thank this. -
austinmike Thanks this.
-
Navigating while driving a cmv requires a set of skills and common sense,no gps will ever offer a full solution.
Study your route before you hit the road,know the limitation of maneuvering a big long vehicle and use everybit of information available to you like road signs,step by step directions provided by the shipper or the receiver.
No need for expensive gps,any good smart phone is good enough.
The best feature i like is satellite view,it allows me to have a better understanding of an area or a road before i commit.
Last,experience is not something you can get off the shelf.
Good luckBlue Zombie Trucker and tarmadilo Thank this. -
May I just say, Wow, my people! I so very much appreciate the info and help you're sending my way! 'scuse my if I am getting all warm and fuzzy but F It, Thank you! Mucho appreciado my peops! This is just what I need, the straight poop from actual users. My thoughts, if a GPS unit will benefit my ability to get where I need to go and avoid low bridges and restricted routes, cool, and if doesn't drive me insane in the process, I am all for it. Your info is invaluable! Uh, did I say Thank you yet? Seems to me, the real benefit of a dedicated Truck GPS is finding spots to park, fuel and shower my stank away and not so much for routing, other than giving you a baseline route which you check against your atlas.
mpow66m Thanks this. -
I don't know if it's my phone or my settings but I have problems with Google Maps.
For example I put the origin and destination and it will give me a choice of which way I want to go. Sometimes I pick that choice and somewhere during the route it changes itself.
I have had times where I checked the step by step directions and I took off and headed there and all of the sudden and tells me to make a turn and it was not on the original directions.
The atlas is good for the interstates but there are other roads sometimes that are just truck restricted.
I would like more input also because I lean toward the Garmin dezel.
For me I really just need a good truck GPS.
I don't think it really has to have a whole lot of extras.mpow66m Thanks this. -
Use to use RM but the are constantly breaking down.Just threw 2 in the garbage.Now i use Hammer GPS,works fine,just needs a couple of add ons like '"save location" and "detour route" and id be happy.Cuts down on aggravation 100%,I use on my P&D route.Its 100% free.
Last edited: Nov 22, 2020
tarmadilo Thanks this.
Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds
Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.
Page 1 of 5