Using my Garmin pickup-truck GPS with my semi

A car unit will not take truck attributes into account.

Mark

 

i use a tomtom, its not a truck gps you just have to use a little common sense and always call and get local directions. i use it mainly for milage and for street names because more often then not those little signs are missing.

 

I have used a non-truck Garmin unit in a truck with reasonable success. But I was running local in mostly farm country with 35' flatbed trailer and making deliveries to residential addresses at the time. So I wasn't on designated truck routes most of the time anyway. Also I'm pretty aware of what GPS can and can't do so I know when to trust it and when not to.

When I switched jobs I started running 53' vans into cities and more urban settings. I kept using the same Garmin for a while and it never got me into trouble but only because I didn't allow it to. There were many times when it wanted to route me through residential neighborhoods, down truck restricted roads and under low bridges. So I was having to adjust the route it wanted to use fairly often which got to be a real pain.

I got tired of having to babysit it so much so I invested in a Garmin Dezl 560 and I think it was worth every penny. I can follow the routing it gives about 99.5% of the time with no adjustment at all and when I do need to adjust, its usually not major. Now that I've seen the difference, I would never use a car unit in the truck again. The truck units cost more but not that much more. If you're going to use a GPS in the truck, do yourself a favor and get a truck specific unit.

 

I have a Garmin nuvi and work as a day driver for a foodservice company. Be warned they will not help you with bridges, weight restricted roads, roads that dont allow trucks etc.....They will always try to send you the quickest way to your destination, which is by avoiding highways in some instances. Best bet is to buy some good maps and use your GPS as another tool along with your maps. I have had to rely on the GPS in some instances and it can get you in some scary situations if you arent paying attention where it is sending you.

 

i have a car gps. its a pile of crap when it comes to truck routes, low bridges and stuff like that. Plan ahead; i look up all my roads in the rand mcnally paper back book before hand. Never just type in and go, you will be sorry. Use it as a tool but dont rely on it. I have 100,000 miles on this garmin car gps.

 

if you drive a lot at night. sometimes you will run into signs that aren't visible for some reason. (trees, shrubs, or flat out missing).

i originally started with my phones sprint navigation. untill it routed me down a street to get to the highway. 5 miles down that street was a sign that said 12.5 and a bridge. and the freeway on the other side. luckily i was driving a flatbed. but decided after that i better get a trucker gps.