Maps ??

Co-pilot 11 is supposed to be pretty good. It is a mapping & GPS software all in one, designed for truckers.

 

Bad idea and dangerous !!!!!!

 

yep......

 

Once you've been driving a while, except for finding your drop off point, do you just ignore maps and head down the road? As a company driver, do they tell you which way you have to go?

 

Yes it is a bad idea but my husband uses Microsoft streets and trips with GPS on his computer to find his pick ups and drop offs

 

Too many truckers just head on down the road and expect to get street directions on CB. I don't think they can read. It was satisfying to help them whenever I knew the directions.

I think there was more professionalism in the old days. We did not have Qualcom, cell phones or laptops. We used pay phones, often making long distant calls to consignees where we wanted to arrive before they opened in the morning. We protected our road atlas with a leather folder. We collected city maps. We planned our route and sought advice from other drivers before starting out. After scouting a new destination, we wrote a note for the dispatcher's files. We kept a notebook of street directions just in case we would get another load to the same place. I have kept all of these maps and note books for reminiscing. Occasionally, I look at them and remember the challenge faced by irregular route drivers back then.

 

I also recommend downloading 'Google Earth'. It shows things that MapQuest won't, such as there is a break in the street that will not show up on MapQuest. I help my hubby out at times double checking the directions he gets, and use google earth a lot for that. There have been a few times where I have saved him some major headaches because a street shows on MapQuest as going all the way through, when in actuality, the street does not actually go all the way through. You definitely have to operate that one when you're parked though. It's a very fun one to use, as you can actually see the terrain and even most of the time see the buildings etc. Some of the satellite images they used to create the views are a bit blurry, but most of them are pretty clear.

 

Trucks handle differently than cars. Trucks respond to every irregularity in the road surface, wind change, etc. If you take your eyes off the road for a second, the truck will be changing lanes. Of course, I exaggerate. But seriously, don't imagine accessing a map on your laptop while driving a truck.