I have a student that can not plan without GPS

When planning for a load a GPS is very useful.
It will give me the miles and estimated ETA, in the correct time zone. I just have to add time for breaks and other typical slowdowns.
No need to get the atlas and start counting miles and figuring the time changes involved.

I can plan doing it the long way, but I prefer to use the best tools I have at hand.
The atlas and local maps are the worst tools these days, especially with a truck GPS that also knows low clearances, weight restrictions and truck routes.
Not to mention places to stop along the way.

Training a student to use old school methods is a must, however. They have to know how, and have some experience with it.

 

Personally I use everything at my disposal. I use 2 GPSs, both for different reasons. I like Google maps in a pinch but the good old atlas is a needed friend. It is useful for lots of things.
Rand McNallllllllly claim that they have put their atlas onto their latest pos the 450 I mean gps. They haven't. You need the map.
All this and lots of experience and I STILL make mistakes.
Any student who can't use a map is working with one arm tied behind his back.

 

Well, maybe a finger tied up.

I have not used a paper map in a very long time.
They simply do not show enough detail.

 

Good luck finding new home build people farms on a outdated paper map.
Get on the CB ask for a local driver. Who the heck has the time/memory/real estate to look at a paper map? Thank goodness not doing OTR, So called trainers limiting my tools.

 

The auto plant I deliver to has their address, their truck entrance, and their warehouse.
Their address is very not truck accessible, just the employee parking lot.
Their truck entrance has no address. (Sure, it's very obvious if coming from the "popular" direction. Coming in from another road, not so much.
Then there is the warehouse 5 miles away... Sometimes the shipper actually puts the warehouse address on the BOL. Usually they have the ship to address as the main plant address.

Being able to use sat view before getting in the area makes the route to the truck entrance obvious....

 

Drivers are in short supply.

Go ahead and belittle them, tell them “you ain’t no Truck Driver!”

You remember that scene in The Graduate, where Dustin Hoffman is given one word of advice, “plastics!”.

I suggest two words of advice:

Line Haul!

 

A gps is just a tool which sometimes does not work properly leaving the driver in a spot, maps work great but they take time to plan a trip and when it gets to the nitty gritty of showing everything they are lacking. If someone insists on just using a gps suggest writing all the turns on a notepaper to use as a cheat sheet when crap turns bad.

 

Not everyone agrees with this: I haven’t opened a map in more than 8 years: whatever works for whoever is driving and safely doing so is okay by me....

 

Turn it off for a month and make him use a paper map only.
Then he will have to learn how to get places without a gps.
I am also a pilot and own a plane. In flight training and flight examination no autopilot allowed and no gps. My plane has both, but they are only a convenience, not needed. Truck driving is really no different, gps is handy sometimes, but no replacement for actually being able to read a map, and road signs.

 

Map reading and trip planning are basic and fundamental skills required to safely conduct a trip. If you never look at a road map, how do you really ever know where you are, or where to take a detour. Drivers need situational awareness. The GPS is a tool, but the real important skill is being able to use the truckers atlas and understand the nomenclature. Maybe because I am a pilot too, I developed that set of skills and it is second nature to me. Also sign reading, I was trained to read every sign on the road, Why? So I could stay mentally ahead of the truck, and not make sudden last second maneuvers. Gps usage can make you lazy reading signs, just sayin.