Do I need to buy a GPS?

And yet you will be hard pressed find a plane or an ocean going vessel without one or both now..

I don' t know how mny times I have called a shipper or a receiver and not get an answer.. how many times my qualcom didn't provide understandable directions..

A TRUCK GPS is about 98% precent door to door accurate if setup correctly.. since the atlas doesn't show street level directions it is only accurate city edge to city edge.

My company does allow us some leaway on routing as long as we meet or fuel stops and the route we follow is more efficent than what we have been given. I have actually been recording dispathed miles vs. my GPS miles and so far my GPS hasn't been more than 10% over. In most cases it's been with-in 2% and more than a few time 5% closer.

To American trucker.. the RM atlas does show weight stations, rest areas and service areas.. I use my atlas all the time to give my GPS a place to pinpoint their exact locations..

I have replaced the Google GPS on my Droid with CoPilot Live 8 Truck and couldn't be happier. While it is not cheap it was far cheaper than buying a separate GPS. However, it does have a few annoyance bugs, but its been quite accurate from shipper to receiver..

 

You dont need one, maps have worked for decades. They are nice, however. I have the Garmin 465T that I got with mount accessories, brand new, for $285 shipped to my door from amazon.com. Its the truck route edition and it has worked excellent for me since Oct. 2010

 

i meant his car gps that he was talking about



American Trucker

 

32 years of driving 3+ years in the Army several as a Boy Scout and never had a GPS! Paper maps will always work when there are no batteries or a bad plug! And they will NEVER amount to that stupid high dollar cost!

This picture should be a good hint also! It came off of a news article in WI!

 

When push button phone came out some folks wanted to keep the rotary dial one. When cable came out some folks wanted to keep the old antenna on the roof(why pay extra ? ) When cell phones came along a lot of folk said why do I need one there are pay phones every where. Do you see where I'm going with this comparison? I've got my Rand mcnally truckers Atlas why do I need a GPS? Get on board you dinosaurs,you might not like it but new truck drivers will embrace the GPS.lol

One more item:When my kids needed a computer for homework,I said I'll never use that thing;what do I need it for? Now I'm online everyday, more than my kids are.

 

Hey Nobody's Mutt.... the OP's question was does he NEED to buy one. No he does not NEED one.

Ever had your computer crash? Well guess what Whining Pup, ANY of your whoopdie-do, must have shiny toys do too. Plus every #### one of them is outdated 15 minutes after you buy them... or ya gotta buy the latest add-on for a hunnert bucks. Talk about stupid.

So the advice stands.... learn maps, learn your highway systems, learn truck routing. Then if you wanna pop for electronic toys have at it. At least you won't be sitting somewhere crying for directions when your toy goes psssst.

Got that Yapping Chihuahua?

 

GPS can see through fog and snow or on a rainy night it shows the street names so you don't have to try to read the signs.

Remember you have to be smarter than the GPS, I chose my own routes many times, "re-calculating".

 

HAHAHA That sign is great.

 

GPS..... love it! Though I won't be driving professionally till the 16th, I have used GPS for several cross country trips as well as the short frequent trips down to Colorado and never have I had an issue with wrong directions. I make a practice of keeping the GPS up to date and receive emails when there is a new update for it. I think its a great tool to have among your arsenal of travel tools such as the RM atlas. I won't be concerned with using a GPS but will use it in conjunction with the atlas and other directions. What better way to arrive at your destination safely and in a timely manner than to use all of your tools at your disposal including GPS?

 

A bad plug? The nifty device goes psst? Out of date 15 minutes after you buy it? Mines 3 years old and I've never paid 80 bucks for an update. I might in a year or two. I guess you've never figured out how much paper maps set you back.

If by chance my device ever suffers from that common "bad plug", goes psst, or exceeds it's 15 minute life span, I suppose I could just wing it like I did back in the old days. With my luck I will be delivering to a customer on an unmarked street and a bad phone number just like in the old days. But more than likely I'll have to ask for directions from someone that has to look at a piece of mail to get his physical address.

My $100 dollar GPS has probably earned me several thousand dollars in efficiancy not to mention the fuel saved and wear and tear on my truck

Paper maps, calling the customer...HA HA HA!