Finding Loading Bays with Maps

I am not familiar with either. I own a 1996 or so era GPS rand mcnally which is way way outdated by now. It was good for finding shippers and recievers with their exact physical address. My problem once there is to determine where the truck goes for loading dock. Thats a routine issue easily solved locally on foot and a few minutes.

I remember one dock in Missouri, it was a block from where we got to and we took over a hospital lot temporarily while one of us walked that block asking about this business. Turned out we needed to follow the street behind the hospital and down a large ramp to a sunken dock. That was why we could not see right away where the shipper was. Technology got us close but ultimately local information and a few minutes looking took care of that issue.

Not everything is in the magic box.

 

The best way that I can think of to do what you are saying is to "save as" a "favorite" or as a "address book entry" - depending on the brand of GPS. Especially if the place is somewhere that you may deliver to AGAIN - save the position on the GPS where the truck entrance, or loading entrance is. Name it something that makes sense to you, like "Staples Dist # 432 in Detroit" or similar.
The truck GPS makers all buy their maps from the same place and them "layer" those maps with their own secret sauce. So to begin with, all of the addresses will take you to the "postal" coordinate location as programmed by the map vendor - not necessarily the "truck" entrance. However, all proper truck GPS will allow you to save the exact truck entrance in the address book to route to NEXT time. It doesn't help on the first trip, but it does on any subsequent trips.
In addition, you can use what @x1Heavy said and if you can clearly see the dock entrance from Google satellite view, then you can touch that exact entrance on your truck GPS ahead of time during planning and have it route you there the first time.

 

PS. - Hint for Hammer. If they were to build in a "save" function that drivers can use to easily mark the truck entrances, and then share that particular way-point data across the user base, they would have a unique and powerful feature not being employed by the other big 3.

 

This feature would make Hammer by far the best Truck GPS currently available. A simple check box one could click to indicate that that location is a dock or truck entrance. Then this data could be shared across the user base.

 

Not in my opinion. Your dock may vary greatly from he dock I need. Sometimes the docks are a half mile apart and on opposite sides of the building. I've seen paper mills that have 5 or 6 different truck entrances.

Just get me to the address, I'll figure out where I need to go after that.

 

I use google maps on my cell phone.
Look up every shipper and reciever before visiting and hit satelite view to get an idea of the layout.

Can usually make out the truck entrance and guard shack, docks will often be identifiable by a cement pad and/or lines against the building. Sometimes you'll have overhangs from the building too. Failing all that, darker trails against the building due to ruts in the asphalt from trucks constantly parking and a wide open area with a road to the street on a side that doesn't have cars.