rand mcnally good but...

I have used a RM for 2 years and in a word, no. I no longer trust what I see and definitely keep my eyes open for non-truck legal routing. They should stick to making atlases, which they do well. Electronics, no so much. Garmin's dezl760LM is now my GOS of choice. And it boots up and shuts down in about 2 seconds. The Rand...MUCH longer.

 

those gps are great tools,but that is as far as it goes. good up to date road atlas will serve you a lot better, but that is just my opnion

 

I don't use GPS and I prefer MC Atlas.

I've been experimenting using my Android tablet with google streetview to 'drive thru' to receivers and shippers on google. I wouldn't use the driving instructions which are for cars but there is value to the streetview.

 

What model are you using? The only time my 520 ever put me on residential is when I'd turned off truck mode..

 

1) atlas to verify route and check for low bridges/restricted routes

2) local directions (if available) and google maps on my phone to get a birds eye view of the destination (and verify the local dir....so far ive corrected a few)

3) enter route for day into gps the night before, including final,rest,fuel stops and any added waypoints to force it to follow opti-craps' stupid routing

4) street signage rules over all!

I had the rand 520 till it died last month, it was ok but not nearly as accurate as the 720 is. so far I have yet to catch it steering me wrong.....still ive had good results following the above, rule 4 is the supreme rule. the rest just gets you pointed in the right direction.

 

I'm a googleahaulic. If you haven't seen it, go into maps, zoom in on an area, use satellite view/Street view features to check out the area then route as needed to keep you out of neighborhoods and goat trails that a "truck gps" will eventually send you into. Just thought I'd share it. Didn't see it mentioned.

 

The day someone makes a GPS that uses Google maps all the others will be obsolete. Not sure why someone hasn't done it yet.

 

Ya no doubt. I'll buy it for sure. Also like being able to type "Truckstop" or any business name into the address bar and having it search. Then saving the locations it's super easy to pre trip on the fly and get distance /drive time to saved locations.