Trip planning on gps

If I didn't use one for IFTA I wouldn't have one at all. But since I have one I use it to have good ETA's.

 

I guess my feeble attempt at a joke fell flat. I was joking.....but Rand McNally has to get the updates from the DOT in each state before they can update either one. So the Atlas likely isn't behind GPS updates enough to matter. And often, the Atlas shows future roads, and roads under construction. GPS didnt do that I remember.

 

Besides, I wouldn't say you shouldn't use a GPS. But I would say it isn't necessary to use a GPS. There were truckers planning trips for decades before a GPS was available. Some of these guys out here would be lost at the company terminal without a GPS. I'd recommend everyone learn how to navigate without a GPS so if it breaks, you aren't dead in the water till you spend hundreds of bucks for another one.

 

I've been known to use a GPS like a pilot uses autoland in a cat III approach/landing ... using it to see upcoming streets in fog so dense you could hardly see but 75 feet in front of you, trying to get to a receiver I've never been to before.

I can not imagine driving today with a GPS, if nothing else, I use it as a confirmation of my own common sense and ability to navigate.

And when an unexpected detour is thrown up on you're planned route, they are invaluable.

 

I know you, I followed you to the shipper I had to go to, you know, down that small 2 lane highway with no place to pass.
My Garmin told me I needed to turn right in 4 miles,
but I was behind you, and we came to almost a complete stop at every side road and driveway so you could read the road name sign.
You might need a stronger pair of glasses.....

 

Yes, I agree, a lot of people want to throw the baby out with the bath water
makes no sense. I suppose if you asked them, they'd want to return to rotary phones, too.

It just occurred to me, some here probably don't know WTH I'm talking about ... rotary phones???

 

Seemed we stood in a closet so nobody could overhear our conversation.
(We were fortunate, we had a closet next to the only phone, (had to watch the cord) )

 

Nothing wrong with GPS, Atlas, Mapquest, or Google maps. They are just tools and not the ultimate answer to anything in the trucking world. You have to evaluate any answer you get from these sources.

The one thing I have to warn about Mapquest and Google maps is the times and routes are four-wheeler oriented. For example. I started a new job and I was told to show up a 7:00pm. I got there 15 before the first and second day no problem right? Wrong. By the third day I was informed by the mechanic that dispatches the trucks that I need to show up much earlier. I was told ,"most drivers show up two hours before their appointed time and that way they can finish up in 9 hours." What? This is a 500 mile run, rural roads, average speed limit of 50mph, mountain pass both ways, 101k gross, driver fuel, scale, live load, live unload all in 9 hours. So I marched right up to the front office to see whats going on. There the office staff insisted all their drivers completed the runs in 9 - 9 1/2 hours on the log book. When I called BS the office gal pulled up google maps to prove me wrong. Google maps provided a different route then what we were assigned with the four-wheeler speed limit of 70mph and travel time of 4 hours one way. Here these other drivers were leaving 2 hours earlier, coming back 1-2 later and fudging the log book everyday to make it look right. Office staff had no clue why there were bottlenecks of drivers getting backed up and no one met their scheduled time for anything. All because office staff thought you could trip plan with google maps.

 

well drivers ALWAYS need to be smarter then the office staff
so what's your point

 

Literally the only thing I use my gps for is ETA. I just use my atlas & look up the satellite view of the customer online. Or I just use a little something called common sense. My last trip was from Fresno, CA to Buffalo, NY. 99 58 15 70 76 80 90. Easy.