GPS systems for trucking.

yep...........

 

I use and recommend the Garmin Deizl 510, though the one with the 7" screen should be equally good. It is just a tool, not to be relied on more or less than any other tool. Use your map, GPS, common sense, road signs, and advice from other drivers to get a good idea of what lies ahead. If you get yourself into a situation, ASK FOR HELP!!!

If you total the truck and blame the GPS, you deserve a good old fashioned ##### kicking. A driver for. D.M. Bowman, Inc. made a wrong turn and when he realized he shouldn't be in the area he was in, he tried to make a u-turn near a rail-grade crossing. He hung the landing gear on the tracks and was subsequently struck by a commuter train. The train was empty, except for the engineer and four crew members; but the damage was estimated at $349,000. The driver was so stupid, he had to be told to get out of the truck by a cop to avoid being hit by the train. He proceeded to blame the whole incident on his GPS. This type of person has no business driving a tanka toy, much less a CMV.

 

Let me ask you how you know this and.......................are you sure?

 

I have worked for several major carriers and a few smaller carriers over the years and the last company I worked for that used satellite/AS-400 dispatch the fuel optimization and routing was specific to the trip dispatched and was NOT always a legal route for the length/weight of the truck. YOU are the final arbiter of what route you take. Keep the OOR variance down and pay close attention to posted weight limits, especially in PA; where many former truck routes are now posted for 10 tons or less.

 

From what I've collected so far from this thread is that, having a motor carrier atlas and a gps are just tools. Ultimately you'll need some common sense. If an area doesn't look right to you, stop and call someone for directions before proceeding. I know sometimes road construction can throw you off and the people who do maps don't update whoever makes the maps/gps which causes confusion. I've had gps run me into dead ends and ive had maps that did not reveal newly made roads. Looks like the other tool you'll need is a phone to call where you are dropping off your load. Stopping and asking for directions are pointless these days, it isn't like it was before LOL!

 

Nothing man made is always correct.

 

One of the biggest reasons I started using GPS and Google Earth is because a lot of the time when you call your shippers and receivers you get a hold of someone who doesn't know their east from west and their north from south, much less the correct way to route a big truck in. Everybody says always call your shippers and receivers, but calling my shippers and receivers was a big waste of time for me.

Therefore, I started using Google Earth, which is a free download, and with Google Earth I type in the address and hit search. Google Earth will then locate the shipper or receiver or at least put you close. Then once you locate the shipper or receiver in Google Earth you either look at the overhead view, the street level view, or both views depending on the situation to find the driver entrance.

Once the driver entrance has been located, you then place a Google pushpin in it, and then access the properties for that pushpin by right clicking the pushpin and choosing properties. Finally, copy the coordinates of that pushpin from the properties into Streets & Trips.

Last but certainly not least, use Streets & Trips to give you turn-by-turn directions directly to the driver entrance of your shippers and receivers. You can also save all of them in Streets & Trips as you go. Indeed, when you go back to them again in the future you already have them saved on your map. Thus, all you have to do the subsequent times you go to them is right click them on the map and choose add as stop. I also have saved all my company terminals and drop lots in this way as well. Try it!

 

Yet another good and worthwhile set of navigational tools. I am sure there are many more that I have not thought of and some of those possibly worth trying and adopting for regular use. That is one of the best uses of a forum like this.

 

Why??? Would you recommend that a business that sells and installs tires forgets about air tools too? Might as well, they always did it by hand back in the old days, right?

People need to get over themselves with this kind of opinion. If a tool is available that can make a job easier, why not use it? I know that some of the crusty old super truckers have always gotten by without cell phones, the internet, and GPS technology, but it's a changing world. Why not make yourself more productive if there is a way to do it?

As some of the other people in the thread have suggested and went without the aid of a GPS for my first few months of driving. Eventually I bought one, and wouldn't consider going without it if I didn't have to anymore. It has saved me a LOT of time, and a ton of headaches.

I used the Rand McNally 510 for about a year and a half, and then bought their 7 inch model. Both of them are EXCELLENT, and I highly recommend either one.

As others have said, they are not 100% accurate, but they are correct far more often than not, and that makes them worth using.

 

OK here is my .02. I have a Cobra 8000 in my truck, I also have a 2013 truckers atlas in the seat next to me. I also have a GPS in my Qualcomm unit. I don't just use one of them for a end all be all. Having a good sense of direction is important when you are navigating. Make sure you know how to read the road atlas, it will work even when the electronics don't but doesnt really help when you are driving in L.A. and you can't remember the next Freeway to take or how many more miles to nearest rest area is because you really need to empty your bladder.