Getting Lost Questions ???

this may already be covered. But my Dad drove for a time way before gps and he would call a taxi, tell them the address and his rig height and follow the cab to the destination.

Doug

 

Something else that comes into play (If you're getting info on a QC) is the tail end of the address. MAJOR DIFFERENCE when you run into a place that has the same basic address name. Now, is it 601 Cooper Drive? 601 Cooper Street? 601 Cooper Lane? 601 Cooper Avenue? Northeast? Southeast? Circle?

Sometimes, if the city listed won't pull up the address, try the zip code. It may be a smaller town, with the facility using the larger cities address when the actual address is the one for the smaller town. Sounds dumb, but it happens....a lot.

I don't know how many times I use to plug in an address and instead wound up somewhere else because of this alone. Lots of times, this originates with the dispatcher with the info they have on file, even though, several hundred drivers later that have sent in corrections, it's still unchanged and not updated. Other times, a company that is flourishing, will move to a newer, better, more modern or bigger facility and the address hasn't been updated. Whenever I found this to be the case, I'll make the address adjustment in my Rand address book so that it doesn't happen again.

Check the BOL address vs the one you've been given. If they differ, better to start digging right away rather than later on.

Another is large facilities and whether or not you get the physical address of the gate entry into the facility vs the physical address of the company.

And as already been said, do not rely on just one tool, use as many as you can. Phone the shipper/receiver ahead of time. Most often, the automated operator will have directions for drivers. If that doesn't answer your question, especially a new address with a new facility that doesn't exist on any GPS, map etc yet, talk with someone directly in the shipping receiving department. More often than not, you're not the first person that has had this problem and they'll square you away.

Use Google or another map searching engine to see where your QC address is sending you, to double check it.

Use the preview feature on your GPS to see where the last leg of your route will be taking you. You know, the ones where you leave the big road on off onto the secondary roads to the facility. More often than not, this is when you'll run into trouble.

Use your eyes. Look for clues / indicators that will tell you that you don't want to be where you're at or not to go down that road. Trees that overhang the roadway that clearly are too low, narrow road width, residential areas and so on. More than likely because 13'6 loads haven't gone down them. Look for other trucks in the area and where they're at vs where you are.

Bridge restriction signage, No CMV signage, Low Clearance restriction, weight limit restrictions for that road and so on.

"I don't need a CB" Yeah, well this is one instance where it could very well help you out of a pickle or even better, keep you from getting into one in the first place. More often than not, if you get on 19 and ask for local directions and help, other drivers will get you to where you need to be.

I use all that and more. GPS, Navigo on the QC, RM Atlas, Google Earth, Map quest, Google Search, Shipper receiver phone numbers, CB and more.

A level head and a positive attitude along with a little common sense will almost always get you out of a jam or keep you from getting into one with some decent trip planning ahead of time. Always Have a Plan "B" or "C" in the event you do.

 

Heh, and to think we used to get by with a map and a pay phone. Now, if we really wanted to get high tech, we'd buy a Thomas Guide.

 

Do you think there are drivers that still do it with paper maps and pay phones?

 

Truckers don't get lost, we just take alternate routes

 

Well, I still rely on my map and phone more than anything else, so, yeah, just not the pay phone. I use a cell phone, now, for obvious reasons.

I would grab the local phone book, too, to check the maps in there, providing some pinhead hadn't torn them out.

Used to be banks of pay phones in the truck stops as well as phones at the tables in the restaurants.

 

If theres tree branches hittn ur truck....good chance you may be "out of route"....

You can hit 50 shippers with no problem..get overconfident then....BAM!!!!!! You entered the adress on th qc and it took you to the owners house in some swanky neiborhood at 3 am on a dead end street and gotta back up a 1/2 mile and blindside around a firehydrent and a jag to get out.

Could happen....

 

That was modern technology when I first started. We used a compass and sexton.

 

What really sucks is when you actually know where you are going, and have been there many times... Then, due to construction this route is not open... and there is NO way there that big trucks can take. This makes getting lost, seem simple.