Trip planning on gps

i look up everything on google maps
with different route options
look at shippers and receivers with aerial view to see the truck entrance which is often different then shipping address
then adjust accordingly
if gps wants me to get off exit 22 but i want to go to 36 i just mute it

 

Change your settings so it doesn't route you "shortest" miles on us and state highways. Or find points of interest close to the route you want to stay on and make numerous "waypoints" till get to destination. Enter in your destination, then back out to main screen and hit where to again and enter in a waypoint, then when you hit "Go" select add to current route and brings it up on the current destination you have and can position it where you want it to be on the route for it to follow. The 560 has a make a trip that you can enter in numerous waypoints so can save it as a trip.

 

This does not sound like Garmin routing assuming you have everything configured properly (truck size) and "Fastest Route" option selected.

But you also need to understand Garmin has a lot of erroneous weight restrictions in it's database that are in many bizarre locations that cause it to not behave like you'd want or expect. This is my biggest gripe with Garmin truck GPS systems.

Tell the device your gross is under 28,000 lbs so as to eliminate being routed around "weight restricted" bridges or roads that do not exist in reality, but only in the mind of the Garmin device. Or, switch to car mode if you're in the central or western US and have a pretty good idea what is going on.

Also, once you put it a destination, view out to full trip view and make sure everything seems appropriate, if not, turn off navigation and proceed, and you can re-enter the destination later once you get closer.

You can manually select "waypoints" but I find that to be a hassle unless you're running real close on time and need to know the precise miles to determine if you can make the appointment 1700 miles away. I have not found a truck GPS that works the way I think a trucker GPS should work in terms of both routing, and clock/break/distance management on cross country runs. But they are still vital IMO and have many benefits once you know and understand their weaknesses and how to work around them.

 

I'm still waiting on a feature where I could be in navigation mode and I knew I had currently had 8 hours drive-time available ... where would I probably be in XX hours driving my average speed on expected roads? And it would put a pin on a map and zoom to a 50 mile radius of that point so I could be setting a target for the next break or could I get to the other side of major traffic before rush hour, etc

 

it all becomes second nature after a while.........hopefully
and sometimes you just need a friend to tell you where closest Dunkin Donuts is

 

rand mcnally has TS along route
the $4 pocket guide is useful too

 

Mapquest will show2-3 different routes and the miles.