Freaking Qualcomm/GPS frustrations! Any suggestions?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by stylez80Nine, Apr 3, 2019.

  1. KillingTime

    KillingTime Road Train Member

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    Someone be driving down a Jersey boardwalk here in a minute.... Found the shortcut to Europe.
     
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  3. lovesthedrive

    lovesthedrive R.I.P.

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    Sorrento Maine
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    If it really bothers you. Turn down the volume and put a towel across the screen.
    A trainer I had taught me to use a grease pencil and write the trip one the center of the windshield. Then you can follow directions that you should have realized with out the GPS.
     
  4. Flat Earth Trucker

    Flat Earth Trucker Road Train Member

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    My personal rule of thumb is to drive as much as possible on interstate highways as close as possible to shippers and receivers. However, this is exceptionally difficult in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

    Pennsylvania is the only state I've ever driven in where youy intended destination may only be a few miles away as the crow flies, but you would need to drive twenty miles to get there.

    To make matters worse, my truck gps would consistently give me the longest possible route to a destination. It's like there's collusion between Rand McNally and Big Oil to have you drive all these extra miles.

    Another thing my beloved gps liked to do was route you to take an exit prior to the exit you should take. This happened in New Jersey, and I ended up driving five miles on some winding and narrow road to a truck stop that had an exit a hundred yards away.

    This is precisely why these guys who recommend using a truck atlas to override a truck gps route are absolutely right.

    What makes Pennsylvania such a challenge is that many of its roads that are ok for trucks ought not be since they meander through small towns with sharp turns that require a tractor trailer to use the other lane with traffic traveling in the opposite direction.

    Spend the money and buy your own gps and atlas because the Quackycomm gps is a nightmare to use.
     
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  5. stylez80Nine

    stylez80Nine Light Load Member

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    New guy after 3 months to a year I’m gone can’t take the bs just need the experience
     
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  6. TankerP

    TankerP Road Train Member

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    Holding the steering wheel
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    That's the spirit.
     
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  7. rbrtwbstr

    rbrtwbstr Road Train Member

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    in the bush somewhere
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    You could always unplug the black box, get a good truck atlas, and use payphones to call the shipper for directions, forget cell phones.Then use the mileage tables in the back to trip plan.... Go old school. Enjoy being different!
     
    D.Tibbitt and stylez80Nine Thank this.
  8. rbrtwbstr

    rbrtwbstr Road Train Member

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    Jul 11, 2012
    in the bush somewhere
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    You know, I had lunch one day with a friend who always has the latest new gadgets that come out. We were talking about our jobs, he's a CFO of a small company. But he asked me a question about how I find my way around in unfamiliar places.

    I don't use GPS, and so I told him I use an atlas and the phone to call ahead. He looked at me in bewilderment and said "you do know we're in the 21st century don't you?" I just shook my head and chuckled.

    Little while later, we take a road trip down 81 to Hagerstown. There was an accident, and traffic was a fustercluck. He's in the in the passenger seat losing his mind. Worked up in afull blown panic because the road is closed, and he doesn't have his GPS to tell him where we are going. I was driving, and know the area well, so I'm avoiding 11, because everyone was on 11 at that point. I ran a few back roads, bypassed it all, and got back on 81.

    I think until that day he figured I was some Neanderthal truck driver. That changed his mind.
     
  9. jammer910Z

    jammer910Z Road Train Member

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    I wonder just how much they'll stand behind the driver when their "preferred route" draws a hefty fine because of a 15ton weight limit, or even worse ?

    I have a good guess.
     
  10. JC1971

    JC1971 Road Train Member

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    L.A.
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    It's infuriating that most cities and towns don't post a truck route map on the internet. Is it that hard to post a PDF file? I've even looked up the city municipal code to see what their designated truck routes are and even then they're not often listed. One even said see Appendix A (or whatever) available at City Hall. @#$&.

    I really wish there was a requirement for all divisions of government from state level to township to post a truck route map showing routes, clearances, and weight limits. It would be even better if this was shown on Google maps.
     
    uncleal13 and D.Tibbitt Thank this.
  11. Numb

    Numb Crusty Curmudgeon

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    Jan 30, 2012
    Charlotte, N.Carolina
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    GPS drivers, don't where you ,don't know where you've been.

    driver at a company lost his signal, boondocks area, had no idea how to get back to interstate that was 3 miles away.

    I had called to verify directions and wrote them down!! imagine that!
     
    JoeyJunk Thanks this.
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