Do they teach this in school?

NY, and New England are all messed, except Maine who switched mm and exits a few years ago.

 

I used the laminated atlas/dry erasure trick for route planning. When I received my next load on Qualcomm I would lay a 6" ruler on the map with one end of the ruler at my pickup city and the other at my delivery city. Then use the dry eraser to draw a line from pu to del cities, that line shows which routes are viable. Its not an exact science but gives you a general idea for routing. I always double checked the "ruler" routing by doing a mileage check also. The mileage based mm are very helpful for figuring mileage from A to B even if crossing multiple states except those @$%^ states that use mileage based mm's.
I'd buy a new laminated atlas every 5 years just to keep up on highway changes. After 5 yrs of use my atlas were still in very good condition. IMO laminted are well worth the money. Sometimes you'll hear someone selling new atlas on the cb at a discount price, I never bought one that way so I dont know if its a scam or legit.

 

There are only a couple stretches that are that straight through there at no more than about 20 miles. East of Cheyenne is the only one that's really, really straight. Don't get me wrong, it has a lot more straight areas than most, but there are a lot of slight turns that you don't really realize you're taking. Nebraska has some pretty good stretches too though.

 

Yeah, I did 1 run to utah and after that I was ready to get back to the northeast I was so bored driving there.

 

The big laminated Road Carrier Atlas isn't just a map, its a wealth of information! All you need to know is right there in that book. It has a pre-trip guide, log book guide etc... Has all the restricted roads, weights and bridge heights etc... Another really good feature for winter time is that it has a phone number for every state in which you can call and get up to date road conditions. This is a life saver especially when traversing back and forth across Wyoming and such in the winter. It gives you conditions for every mile marker. As any experienced driver knows the roads can be fine in one spot and a have two feet of snow and ice in another!

The Road Carrier Atlas is an excellent tool for newbies! You should buy one before attending school and study the hell out of it! Trip planning is going to be your number one key to making money out there and if you have one of these you can start practicing right away. Like I said, the better you are at trip planning, the more money you are going to make!

Its good to replace it every couple of years, like another driver mentioned, roads change and maps are updated so every two years or so buy a new one. Amazon.com often has really good deals on the previous years edition. Usually up to 50% - 75% off. They can be costly so that's a good deal!

Never, ever depend on or rely on your GPS! It will get you in trouble! Its a great tool to have as a back up or guide but you should do all of your trip planning using your atlas. Like Gravedigr mentioned, using a dry erase marker is a great idea. You can trace out your entire route and just wipe it clean for the next trip! Another good use for the dry erase markers is that you can write directly on your windows with it! You can write anything important like your directions, exit numbers , fuel stops, phone numbers etc... It allows you to keep your eyes on the road instead of fumbling through a notebook or looking for a paper in pen when you have to write something down while driving. If you use a dark colored marker its actually pretty visible at night also.

Good idea Gravedigr!

 

The Road Carrier Atlas updates every "odd" numbered year (2013, 2011, 2009), the "even" years are a reprint of the previous with a new cover.

Even at the truck stops (especially Pilot/FJ), buy your atlas early in the even year, the "discounted price" of the previous "odd" year. It will be the most accurate to date of purchase, and almost half the cost of the "new edition" even year.

 

Technically (nitpick), it's Bayerische Motoren Wërke. I'm not sure why we say "Bavaria" instead of "Bayern" when it's translated to English. But they do have darn-good beer there and lots of it.

 

Why do we call it Germany when it's Deutschland? Sorry off topic.

 

(double nit picking)....you left out the umlaut over the first "e" in "Werke"!

 

Because "Deutschland" is a foreign word...."Germany" is English!

No hable espanole!