Drivers, why are we using GPS units?

Heck, I just finally tossed out my 30 year old fold-out paper road maps of each state. Now I keep my dog leashes in that door pocket!

 

How do you build you're own route on the Navigo. That would be handy.

 

The wife got a new jeep with navigation so I got her old GPS (car) the only thing I use it for is the arrival time and to remind me at night that I don't miss an exit. I do not rely on it though for that I use my truckers atlas, never let me down. Also I carry the Truck stop/rest area book

 

best....response...ever

 

When I worked in receiving I never got tired of those calls. It meant the driver was showing up.

 

Realistically, you have to be smarter than the GPS. Lots of drivers say they are but few today can truly live without one. Too many drivers today, instead of using the GPS as a tool, end up letting the tool use them.

For me personally I use them for my last few turns (esp in a dark industrial park at night, trying to read street signs) Google maps works great for looking up traffic flow down the road. Their alternative routes are often retarded, even for a car. But I know longer have unlimited data, so I use the phone GPS even les, as it really eats up data.

I have never bought one, though as the prices keep dropping it is more practical today. I have only used my phone (google maps) and whatever Kenworths system is on some of our company trucks.

No box on the dash or windshield is better than a driver with some decent common sense.

 

At home, I have at least two shoe boxes full of old city and state maps. Used to really clutter up the truck. Never getting rid of good old laminated rand mcnally.

 

In my experience those recordings tend to contain a rate of speech impossible to copy down, if not understand, and have no "repeat" function. "Announcement" recording times tend to be limited, and shippers/receivers tend to be approached from ~4 directions. If directions from your approach happen to be last, and you don't get them all, and have to call back.... Of course I started driving when cellular service was charged by the minute, and every minute was 25 cents, so...

Where did you get the idea it's their job to provide every single purportedly "professional" driver directions? Has a taxi driver ever asked you for the phone number at your requested delivery point so they can call for directions?

In the vast majority of cases I think it behooves the company salesperson/manager of that account to collect directions, once, and then distribute them to drivers.

Edit: One carrier I drove for had a Qualcomm function where you put in the phone number and up they popped. Unfortunately, the drivers permitted to enter them were not proficient at composing directions. The first I followed, with all the faith in my heart, led me into a difficult to exit residential area. I later learned from the driver that was deliberate, a joke, and he felt it was hilarious.

Most of the remainder were vague; "for about 2 miles" "at the tan building", and/or wrong and/or difficult to interpret and/or/because they were riddled with typos.

 

X2 fatdaddy I've been unloaded early a lot of times by asking before I got there. Plus you can find out what driveway etc to pull into. Or when not to get there. That being said I use my GPS for eta but I would never depend on it fully. I can count on my hands in 20 years of driving the amount of times I've been given wrong directions or been told not to phone for directions. Obviously you have to be polite and courteous on the phone.