Attention all GPS and Map Quest users !

Discussion in 'Trucking Electronics, Gadgets and Software Forum' started by dancnoone, Jan 12, 2009.

  1. dancnoone

    dancnoone "Village Idiot"

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    May 6, 2007
    Mississippi
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    A warning for all you guys. Especially the newbs.

    The fine for traveling the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi (and Tennessee)...starts at $1500.

    Unless you have truck specific routing software, pay close attention to your routing !! Garmin, Tom-Tom, Map Quest, and others WILL route you on the Natchez Trace.

    We have had 4 trucks in the past 8 days nailed for this.

    NONE of the bridges are rated for 80k lbs. So the further you drive, the higher the fine. The roadbed itself, is not designed to handle the weight.

    This parkway runs from southwest Mississippi into Alabama and Tennessee. It is a Federal Park roadway. And, failing to pay the fine will result in a warrant being issued for your arrest. They WON'T suspend your license. They WON'T report the ticket.

    They WILL send US Marshall's to pick you up, wherever you are.

    How you get back home, is your problem.
     
    dawgfan Thanks this.
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  3. dancnoone

    dancnoone "Village Idiot"

    9,922
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    May 6, 2007
    Mississippi
    0

    Yeh..but obviously too many aren't taking the time to look at it.

    CFI, Landstar, Allied, and others obviously don't pay their drivers enough to afford a map.
     
  4. Working Class Patriot

    Working Class Patriot Road Train Member

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    Jan 17, 2008
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    That's just like the drivers that worked for my old construction co who would get stranded because they refused to part with their cash to get back to the yard.
    Buy the friggin' atlas it's a tax write-off...the twelve pack and the pizza are not.
     
  5. dancnoone

    dancnoone "Village Idiot"

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    May 6, 2007
    Mississippi
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    I suspect these drivers are high tech truckers. Who won't take the time to read the map. They just turn the GPS on and let it do it's thing.

    I have 2 GPS with differing software (Garmin & PC) they both route me on the Natchez Trace.

    It cost me 20 miles one time in TN. Because I didn't look at the map, before I took off. I didn't make the mistake I'm seeing around here now days. I know better than to get on the Trace LOL.
     
  6. Working Class Patriot

    Working Class Patriot Road Train Member

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    I trust the GPS as far as I can throw it.
    It's for reference and not 100% accurate.

    I trusted it once to lead me to a fuel stop and it was way off....never again. :biggrin_2551:
     
  7. Scarecrow03

    Scarecrow03 Road Train Member

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    Sep 27, 2006
    In Your Head
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    I use the Google Maps application I downloaded onto my Blackberry. I've started to get lazier and lazier about double checking it for specific directions. For example, today I went to my shipper without calling for directions. I just used the Google Maps with GPS on my phone. As a result, I got lost and ended up on a residential street. Luckily I wasn't late, but this was still a lesson learned. Phone calls, map reading, and other "old school" forms of routing are still the preferred method.
     
  8. Biker

    Biker Medium Load Member

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    Jun 14, 2008
    Tampa, FL
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    Yepper. I always trip plan using my atlas first, and then see if the GPS matches what I've routed out. I tend to use the GPS for a rough guesstimate on arrival time. Although, there's been a couple of times where my directions were totally FUBAR and the GPS helped reroute to the shipper.
     
  9. Working Class Patriot

    Working Class Patriot Road Train Member

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    With all the technology available to us, the one sure thing is to call the shipper or the receiver. You never know if say the Garmin will bring you to the right address and it tells you to make a left where a new concrete median is blocking you.
    My favorite is when it tells me to make a U-Turn...right......spread axle love U-Turns especially on crowded narrow streets.
     
  10. postmandav

    postmandav Medium Load Member

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    May 18, 2008
    south portland, maine
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    This just happened to me earlier today. I have been stung by my gps before. I needed to go to a warehouse in Amarillo, TX. The gps took me on a road that looked as though it was heading to warehouses, from a distance, it looked that way. when the gps said that I had reached my destination, I was basically in the middle of a field on a farm road.
     
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