TruckingGPS

I would spend the money and get this thing. .... http://trucking.randmcnally.com/cto...iroute_tnd/intelliroutetnd_details.jsp#fourth

 

The netbook with the cam was a great idea. I just visited with everyone back home sitting here at the hotel with Skype. I'm not very familiar with the GPS yet but everything I've read says that they are a great tool but never rely on the GPS....they still say the Atlas is your best bet.

 

I went with the 119$ garmin GPS, One my company sets my routes so the gps rarely follows it. Two its invaluble when you get within a few miles of your destination, 90% of the time I never have to call for directions. But the best investment is a laminated Truckers Atlas you cant go wrong there.

 

Take a look through the Electronic Connection area if you want to read up on them.

Personally I don't think a truck gps is worth the extra money as none of them are quite there yet. A GPS is a great tool for finding addresses, locating points of interest, figuring out eta's and knowing what street is coming up. A cheap garmin with a couple of poi sets will do that as well as any of them. As for routing, you can't count on any of them and need to verify the route even if it is a truck specific one.

 

Before you do, you might want to read the reviews at Amazon.com.
Most are not very favorable.

 

I got the TND 700..I like it. It in NO WAY is 100% just like any of them. I did help me out in Brooklyn, NY. It is PRICEY though. It is also difficult to learn how to program you route. All and All though I do like it.

 

I just bought a Garmin Street Pilot c330 off of Ebay. A friend of mine has one and it's handy. Cheap, too....50 bucks. You can set all of your PoIs, plus he added all of the rest areas, weigh stations and truck stops on it.

There was no way I was gonna spend hundredS of dollars on a GPS. I just couldn't see how it made sense when this little cheapo did basically everything I need from one.

 

Another vote for the Rand McNally unit. Money well spent.

 

You should rethink what you're doing with that GPS. It is programmed for a 4-wheeler. It will try to lead you down residential streets, has no clue what kind of clearance you need for a CMV, load limits for bridges or restricted truck routes.

Either you know where you are going in the first place and are just using it to tell you present position, or you're setting yourself up to take your trailer through a barbershop eventually. None of the "truck-qualified" GPS units are perfect, although they're better than trying to trust a cheap unit for routing. The best way to do your routing is to open the Rand-McNally Motor Carriers Atlas, and see what the road net looks like yourself. Quite frequently the unit will send you way out of your way just to keep you on an interstate, or will take you down a toll road when a perfectly acceptable non-toll exists. Yup, they're great for finding where that street you need to turn down to get to a receiver is in the dark, but trusting some programmer-geek to get it right with the stakes you are betting with a CMV is something else. Outside of the Rand-McNally TND units, the database updates for trucker-GPSs are few and far between. The road net in this country changes monthly if not daily, especially on non-highway roads. In otherwords, the database it is routing you off of is probably obsolete as soon as it is installed. There is no substitute for YOU being responsible for your routing using the RMCA, and internet mapping sites such as MapQuest or Google's Earthview - and using the GPS just to let you know where you are and to provide reasonable estimate of how far you are from your destination.