Getting Lost Questions ???

For me the trouble with GPS usually begins when you need to request it to reroute. Then for some reason it goes all haywire and will have me go back and forth or in circles in order to get on a freeway onramp that's right in front of me. It's not so bad if the obvious solution is right in front of your eyes, but if you are trying to find a customer in the middle of an alley in Philadelphia and you need to reroute, then best to park, then look at the Preview before proceeding. Using Preview has saved me a lot of headache. At times I'll need to set parking brakes, put on the 4-ways, then break out the laptop and find out from Google Maps how to get out of a pickle.

As for calling ahead for directions, that's also got me in trouble on more than one occasion. Folks don't think about truck hazards, so unless you know for sure the person you are speaking with is really knowledgeable about truck issues then take those instructions with a grain of salt.

Bottom line is that you the driver are responsible for getting in and out safely. Use as many tools as necessary to get the job done. At a minimum I'll use my RM atlas, Google Maps (with Street View), and the company Qualcomm nav system (which I need to "over ride" with more intelligent choices a time or twenty).

 

Your absolutely right! That's the problem too... A mistake in a big rig can be costly! It can also kill someone, easily! New drivers get sent out OTR that have never drove out of town, let alone 500 miles. I don't even know if companies are giving them Rand McNally maps anymore for crying out loud. I think a discount for a cheap tom tom is all they get.. I don't want the Feds involved any more than they already are but drivers training needs revamped. I think the states should start doing something. Companies do no more than get you ready to take your test and pass. Even the training schools don't give you much more than that.

I personally carry a Big Print Rand McNally map, a GPS and my wife and I both have laptops and smart phones. We always get the number to the shipper and receiver. I sure have made my share of mistakes and thank the Lord no one got hurt. Best of luck to you driver and please don't feel stupid to ask ANY questions on this forum or a driver at the truck stop, or anywhere for that matter.

 

One thing I use along with RM, trucking GPS, google maps, and calling ahead, is an app called 'All Stays truck and travel' go into the filter and click on every bridge warning that is shorter than your truck. then on the main map it will show all those low clearance locations. That's kept me out of bad situations more than once especially up in the Chicago area. Also as someone has stated, using streetview. If you think the person giving you directions may not be as knowledgeable as they think they are, go to questionable bridges or intersections and look for low clearance or No thru truck signs. Also kept me out of getting into a jam more than once.

 

i've gotten in trouble both from trusting and from not trusting my gps. one time i followed it and it sent me down a road it said had a 110km/h speed limit all the way along, when it was this horrid little logging track with 30-50km/h advisories all along it's steep, windy length. another time i didn't follow it and ended up taking the long way to the tune of 200km (a very long detour when you consider i was only supposed to go 300km in the first place). so now i use the map book and the gps. if i'm not sure, i ask someone. i've never used google maps, but i think it's a tool i will be using in the future.

 

program your gps.

if it don't know how high you are. how is it supposed to know what streets to keep you off of.

program your axle weight. and your gross weight. cuz if it don't know how heavy you are. it won't know what streets. the default settings are ZERO. so it'll route you on any street it thinks you can get on.

when i first got my gps. it took me down a us highway. 5 miles down was a 13 foot bridge. then i found out about the parameters. it was set for 12.6.

now it's set for 13.6. 20k on axles and 80k gross.

2 years later. i'm doing heavy haul to eugene, or. i weigh 100k. input my address. and looked at the route. it didn't match the permit. change my gross setting to 100k and i got a different route. that matched the permit.

having the correct parameters will make a big difference in how your truck gps performs.

 

My worst moment following GPS was in Alabama, looking to unload the last half of the trailer at an auto plant. Everything seemed fine getting off the freeway, then a right turn onto a very narrow country road... well, not like I haven't delivered to factories in out of the way places, no problem...

... then after six miles on a road barely wide enough for oncoming cars to get past me (fortunately no cars) I come to a sign that says, "Paved Road Ends".... and all that I see ahead is a "red gumbo" road after a fresh rain.

We had two options. We could either back up six miles or try pulling forward into the gumbo and jack the trailer into another unpaved side road. We tried the jackknife turn, but then discovered there wasn't quite enough room to complete the jackknife without wiping out a chain link fence in order to clear a ditch on the way out. My brother got behind the wheel and goosed it... the trailer tandems flew over the ditch and made the "far shore" before any issues needing a tow truck to get a trailer right side up.

Turns out our trusty GPS lady thought the delivery address was out in the country, when it was right off the freeway. The address of the plant was so new that Google Maps couldn't compute it and our GPS didn't give us any warning that the address it locked in wasn't the address we typed in. Now I make real sure the address in the GPS matches the address on the BOL, in addition to all the other pretrip bits (RM atlas, Google Maps, Street View, and phone calls).

 

I was once making a 3 pickup in the Washington, PA area. It was from the same shipper, just different locations. They provided written directions to each stop from the previous stop. Stop 1 told me to follow the directions to stop 2 and ignore my GPS as it would lead me to a right turn I could not make from US40. Turns out the entrance road to the 2nd stop split from US40 at a 35 degree angle to a road barely wide enough for a car that included an immediate steep descent, thereby making it impossible to turn right from US40 onto the road pulling a trailer. When I was loading I talked to the loaders about that turn. They said that it's not uncommon for guys to ignore their directions and try to come in from the east instead of from the west. Most have to go up several miles to turn around at a large turnout at a highschool but every so often one of them tries the turn and either gets high centered or destroying the tires on the right side of the trailer, requiring an expensive rescue.

 

The only time my GPS has failed me was when I punched in the wrong address.
Was kind of confusing in the NW when the street is, 10011 3rd st ct se..
It's like huhhh..?

Always double check the address, cause ya don't want to find out at the last second that you should be on the NE side, and not SE.

 

Use every tool listed in this thread whenever you can. And don't forget the biggest tool. That combination of your eyes, experience and brain! No matter what the directions say, no matter what the gps says, if it don't look right, it probably isn't right.
One thing I've found is that many times, the address, and / or the directions send you to the visitor / employee entrance. Which may be nowhere near the truck entrance.
I try to look up the customer on google maps, then find the truck entrance using the satellite view. THEN match this up with the directions given. Then rather than input a street address, I input the latitude and longitude to the truck entrance.
Another thing that can help you in Chicago is to call the number in the RM atlas for help. In the section listing restricted routes and scales, there is a number listed in the Illinois section to call for help in Chicago. Just call them, tell them your height / weight, where you are going to and from, and they will give you the best route, make sure you ask about routes both in and out, in Chicago they are often different routes

 

No company has every given me rand McNally atlas.We used it in orientation .I buy the truckers atlas.My first mistake was in Canada and went in the car parking lot.That was scarey but thank god it was early before any of the employees arrived.Otherwise im pretty sure I would have had a heck of a time turning around.I have a lap top too.Helped a great deal with finding cutomers and/or their numbers.