"whats the best software for trip planning?"

Get an MCRA (Motor Carrier Road Atlas) and learn how to use it. Look at the beginning pages and note the many pages of general information, like Restrictions, HazMat, Phone numbers, etc. Be able to plan a secondary route in case of bad weather.

All electronic devices are AIDs only in that you need to be able to think of what you are driving such as height, width, weight, cargo, etc and plan a route.

I used to work for a company that did have 14' trailers and they would slide to this side of the big river, illegal yes, but you have to get it to the west of the big river. I would take a big note and tape it the dash to remind me of what was behind me.

Electronic devices are not 100% perfect. They do contain errors, but relying on an electronic device may lead you into trouble sometimes. No DOT officer will take that as an excuse.

You are the captain in charge.

If you cannot read an MCRA then what happens when your electronic device fails? Your DM will still count on you making your run.

Mark

 

No replacement for a good trucker friendly road atlas. GPS is a great tool if used in conjunction with the atlas. I also suggest pen and paper, write out your turn by turn instructions on paper with all scheduled stops then set the GPS to that route. Good quallity trip planning before you depart will save you a big headache down the road.

 

Agreed! Always have a current RM Truckers Road Atlas for all the info that is in them. For computer assisted route planning, I used to use Delorme on my laptop, but find that using both Google Maps and Mapquest (each has particular features I like) online does all that you get from most any software routing program. Mapquest is especially nice for selecting different roads, Google is hard to beat for satellite views of where you are going. Best of all, both are free to use and provide more than the typical GPS unit can provide. I have never found a GPS unit that does quite what I want it to do. I do use the one in my Qualcomm MCP200 unit, but I diverge from where it tells me to go frequently. I would also add, that being online has extra advantages. You can check state road closure or maintenance information to help make road choices.

There is just no single source that will give you everything that you need. Only solution is a combination of tools. tirednaz and Mark offered about as good as advice as you can get. There is no substitute for pen and paper along with all this technology. With so many tools available, there is very little possibility of a driver having a problem getting to where he/she is going with very little stress. Use ALL the tools available and in combination.

Cliff