Do I need to get a smartphone?

I'll assume you're talking about fines for playing with you're playing with you're phone and driving, the fines for that can be steep.

For example if you're westbound in Illinois and have heard that you're heading into a big storm or even just in a lot of snow you can stop in a rest area or even a ramp and check the road conditions and weather for the next 500 miles in under 5 minutes to see if its worth fighting through or waiting it out.

A few years ago I was at home near Tulsa when we got hit by a blizzard, watching the news aerial video I was stunned at how many trucks just drove into an area that had been forecast for a few days to get hit by a blizzard and forecast to get 20+ inches of snow then they were stranded on the interstate for 2 days b/c they didn't think to check the weather ahead of them.

I actually laughed about someone being stupid enough not to do basic homework in January or February and spent 2 days stranded and paying a tow bill.

5 minutes checking the weather on their route could have prevented that misery.

 

I dropped my phone in water a couple of months ago and decided to breakdown any buy a smart phone. As it turned out, they had one on sale for 1/2 price. I paid $65 for the phone. I decided to go with prepaid phones so that I could save money. I cut my phone bill in half and the phones are not that expensive, compared to being billed for your cell phone service. You pay a very high price for those "FREE" or "DISCOUNTED" phones. I put off buying a smartphone for some time. I now wish that I had purchase one before now. I have nearly always had the flip phones. You can do so much more with a smartphone than a flip phone. I found a gps app on my new smartphone and really like it. I would like to know the state mileage that a standard truck gps would provide, but the gps app has helped me on several occasions.

With the prepaid smartphone, I pay $60/month. That is more than I paid for the flip phone, but less than with the Sprint were they bill every month. I currently have Verizon. I don't see much difference in the coverage area, but like paying $60 compared to $110. It isn't necessary to have a smart phone in this business, but it sure makes life easier. You can access the internet with a smartphone. I still prefer using my laptop for internet. There are a number of apps available for smartphones. I even have a spreadsheet and accounting apps on my smart phone. It is much easier to see the screen on a smartphone. That does seem to be the way things are heading.

 

I think some or most truckers used smartphones to used for GPS tracking because it can help them to track their locations.

 

maps, weather, exit reports.....yes,yes,yes

 

Mine only gives me alerts for home.

I have the location and gps turned off because I go to Canada.

 

Can I ask a question? What kind of service are you guys getting down in the Eagle Ford? It is super spotty and you have to use your satelite phone all the time? How does a regular AT&T plan do?

 

I would not ever travel without a smartphone. I use an android phone, and I've found some great apps like Radar Now! to track weather in the immediate area - kept me from driving right into a tornado once.

And when my gps wigs out, I can always count on navigation with my cell phone. That alone, has been a great help! I use straight talk - for 45.00 a month, and I get all the data usage free; Text, Voice, and all the rest. The wife uses ATT.