always check google maps

This thread is full of posts from drivers who apparently DO use their brains and choose to better inform themselves AHEAD of time.

While I agree there are more then a few who "don't use their brains". I don't think this is the thread to make that assertion.

 

I was being sarcastic and i do agree about swinging out...not sure it would have helped in this case but the op's point about using all available tools such as google maps could have prevented driver from being in that spot in the first place.
I consider using tools like this and a gps along with an atlas a part of proper trip planning.
i do realize there are those who lack the skills to use these "new fangled gizmos" and they ridicule those that do by calling them steering wheel holders and such...i say ..get with the 21st century..

 

What makes it really hard nowdays compared to 40-50 yrs ago or even less, is the length of trailers, 53 ft vs 48 ft, and old cities with narrow roads, and warehouses that were built without the room to get into them because of smaller trailers. More buildings per square mile, more people, more cars and trucks, etc. Then throw in bridges that are falling apart, weren't built for heavy weight. Then you have cities and towns putting up restrictions every chance they can, even a Rand McNally map atlas I doubt can keep up with it all accurately. Years ago we had a load that one week you could go through the city, the next time around about 2 wks later, they had thrown up no truck signs.

Most states also have interactive road maps now that makes it easier to detect places that may have closures, esp like Wyoming. If you have a computer it pays to keep these links as a bookmark.

Drivers drive in a ever changing world now and must stay up to date with all available means to stay safe and accident free.

 

Friend of mine has been driving 27 years and just got a smartphone about 2 months ago. I had to teach him to text (he was a pen and paper/flip phone kind of guy). He now texts me all the time and his brother calls him a geek lol, my friend says that's OK Leonard is a geek and he got Penny (sorry for the big bang reference). He's done pretty much everything in this industry and is still willing to learn new ways to do things.

 

Another app to use is waze it shows you what is going on ahead of you on the road based on input from drivers.

If I'm near a city it's almost always right on which roads are slow and shows the speed of traffic before you get there so I can know to just sit at a consignee rather than try to cross the gw bridge and it even show where cops are on the freeway.

 

No, but you do what you have to do when you drag a 53 dry van in the NYC metro area and deliver to retail stores in parts of backwoods podunk Pennsylvania USA...

 

You do realize that a 53 turns exactly like a 48 when you slide the tandems fully forward, right? Yes, there's more tail swing, but that's usually not a factor.

 

I'm sorry I don't drive, just hated when we were in tight areas like Edison, NJ, even a in a place in PA, but people were used to trucks and having to wait sometimes for them to get into the docks luckily. He had a Volvo back then so it was longer anyway and there was the one Wrangler dock in Luray, VA that had a 3 foot drop and a very short area to maneuver in. I can't remember him shortening the tandems or not with just regular driving, but it has been several years since I was out with him on the road.

 

Guess I have been wasting my money all these years on that Rand McNally Atlas, since the information is not CURRENT.

I just passed my original Truck Driving School today... Ft Leonard Wood, started back in 1979. Technology has advanced and made things considerably easier since then. I appreciate Power Steering, Air Ride, Google Earth and GPS. All makes my life easier.

If you don't want to use it, don't use it, but don't try to make it sound like a waste of time.

There are times I can reach a nut and get it off with a crescent wrench. I will almost always opt for the ratchet and socket however. Its easier and quicker.

Use the tools availible, or don't, that's your choice, others may choose different tools. Doesn't make them wrong, nor make you right.

And for the record, California is mostly wide open, other than the Bay Area and downtown LA, not much that's very tight there compared to the North East, The Mid Atlantic, Chicago etc.

 

You forgot Oakland, Sacramento, And the entire L.A. county. And there's other areas.

I use tools, just like you all use. I just don't look at my destinations. It's a waste of time. Becuase you get close. And have to detour. Or, it's a dead end street. Or, it's surrounded by no truck streets. Heck, i've even been on no truck streets. Those are actually my preferred places. Because there's no acreage for the receiver or shipper. Which means sitting out on the street. Which means they drop what they're doing to get to you. So that cops don't harrass you. Rather then sitting around for who knows how long.

So, let's say you look at your destination. There's no place to park. When you get close. Your only option is to stop 3 hours away. Out in the dessert. And i guess write your instructions down. Because there's no way i'm going to remember my route in my head for 3 + hours.

Everyone has their own way of doing things. Looking at my destinations, just isn't one of them. And scoping my route also isn't one of them. I spend too much time getting unloaded and reloaded and dealing with traffic as it is. I don't have time to scope out the routes. I value my sleep. The faster i can do my job. The more time i have for sleep. The sooner i can go home.

I don't have a long haul job where i spend all day at the destination. Then sit around waiting for my next load to go somewhere. I go out, unload, reload, fight the traffic. And come home. EVERY trip.

You all have your operation, and your ways. I have my operation and my ways. Out and back, in a POS time consuming state. That's all i go, mostly.

55 mph. 50 million people. Shippers and receivers closing at 2 p.m. I don't have a couple of hours to spare with google. I want to do my job. AND GO HOME. I have a very trusty gps that very very seldom steers me on a wrong street. And if by chance it does. I have eyes and brains to NOT go where i don't belong. She gets me there in a timely manner. And gets me out in a timely manner.

i use what i use. it works for me. occassionally i'll use google for traffic, but, other then that, don't need anything more. I'm getting what sleep i can. and going home. If that makes me a super trucker. then oh well. I don't care. I do my job. and i go home. EVERY TRIP.