Don’t put your trust in google maps

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by Old Man, Jun 29, 2019.

  1. SteveScott

    SteveScott Road Train Member

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    Yep, which is why I said he was a very wise man.
     
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  3. Jenn72

    Jenn72 Medium Load Member

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    I use smarttruckroute app. I also have my garmin. I input my route into both and then look at my atlas.
     
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  4. KillingTime

    KillingTime Road Train Member

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    .... Your user name.... Has Google told you where the edge is? Have you tried to find it? (I bet you've tried to find it. Lol.)
     
  5. Six9GS

    Six9GS Road Train Member

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    After thinking more about it, I realized that it is not the main route planning stuff I am really concerned about. A decent, fairly recent trucker atlas will provide me all I need for the main highway routing (I was a cartographer, so I can do maps, not a problem there), it is my concern with routing through a city to a destination. Typically, atlases don't have fine enough detail for the routing into and out of a destination from a main artery. I was looking for help running a route through a city to help avoid roads you can't be on, or would be more difficult to follow. What do you guys do for that routing? I've thought that a GPS app could help immeasurably with such information as long as it takes into account you're driving a semi instead of a 4 wheeler. How do you guys do that?
     
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  6. Lepton1

    Lepton1 Road Train Member

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    I use a Rand McNally GPS and Google Maps. GM is excellent for seeing your route in Street View or Satellite View. You can read signs, like "Truck Entrance is on 3rd Street" and realize the address alone is not enough to get where you need to go.

    For running permitted loads (oversize and/or overweight) I plug in the final destination and hit Go. THEN I study the routing on the permit and start adding Via points, working backwards on the route. After each Via point is added I zoom in to make SURE the routing is correct. Often either RM or GM does funny things on those Via points. I input the routing in both RM and GM and run both of them.

    One important thing to remember is that once you hit a Via point you need to hit Continue in both RM and GM. Once you do that it will calculate the route to the next Via point. OFTEN it will go haywire in either program and take you in unexpected directions, like make a right turn, drive 5 miles, then execute a u-turn to continue straight...when you really just needed to turn left. This is where studying the route on those permits pays off. I memorize the route, make the correct turn, and let the GPS programs catch up. It might take some time for the programs to finally go on the correct route, as THEY get stubborn about trying to route you back to that u-turn.

    Monday morning I deliver to a construction site in downtown Pasadena. There are strict times and routes to get in and out of there. I have already plugged in the routing. I shared the route with the other drivers by text message, using the Share feature in Google Maps after building the route.

    Using Via points in a GPS is extremely helpful. Build your route through the city.
     
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  7. skellr

    skellr Road Train Member

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    A dedicated GPS does help with "unexpected rerouting". There is an accident or road construction, with a truck gps it's like a having a city map right at your fingertips, just "pan out" and look for roads suitable for trucks. they are usually yellow on the map. You can quickly look for an alternate route... almost....

    Unless the GPS device decides to lock up/freeze up on you because the manufacturer uses the cheapest hardware possible. they really don't handle situations like that very well. They aren't beefy enough to handle displaying the map while you are moving and while you are resizing panning the map around. I got into it a few times with the "Support techs" about it and they just went full denial that there wasnt a problem. And you won't get any help from calling them. They just want you to send the unit in for replacement, which isn't a solution because they are shipped defective, something didn't just break, it's low quality junk to begin with. "there is a hole in the bucket".
     
  8. Lepton1

    Lepton1 Road Train Member

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    There's a forum member that actively answers technical questions about the Rand McNally GPS. One of his posts explained that ALL GPS units are powered by a computer chip that will never approach the computing power of Google. That's why I run Google and my RM at the same time if I am in urban areas or getting close to destination.

    Google gives the added benefit of telling me there's a slowdown in X miles ahead, causing a Y minute delay. It gives suggested alternate routes, which I don't take if I am unfamiliar with the area. Another newish feature is it will advise if there is a speed trap ahead. Quite a few truckers would have benefited from that feature yesterday!
     
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  9. JudgeRightly

    JudgeRightly Bobtail Member

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    I recommend just looking at the satellite view to check for bridges. If there are, look at Google Maps Street View to look for bridge height signs.

    If you still have doubts, either get out an atlas, or route around by adding stops between your starting point and your destination to routes that are more likely to be truck routes, or both if necessary. Been using nothing but Google maps for the past 5 years or so (been driving for 5 years) and I've rarely had to use my atlas.

    As one of the users said above, "trust, but verify."
     
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  11. Eowyn

    Eowyn Medium Load Member

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    I’ve used plenty of paper maps, but still can’t fold them properly.
    (I’m not under 30)


    But......they really should be rolled up.



     
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