GPS or good old maps?

You will need a good trucker printed USA atlas but don't invest any significant money or time trying to secure state or city maps. They are not printed with tuckers in mind, costly, and not terribly effective in many situations. Besides, most larger carriers today will have directions to 95% of their shippers and receivers sent to the truck that are -for the most part- accurate

 

Atlas is your friend.....how do you think all the freight used to get delivered.....all this technology is great...don't get me wrong...but a little time with an atlas will always get you there.

 

I believed the exact same way as the other posters to this thread..UNTIL I purchased a Rand McNally GPS for truck drivers.

Yeah yeah, I can read a map and trip plan with the best of them..but my GPS showed me routes that I could take (if I chose) that I normally wouldn't have considered..it also tried to take me on routes that it considered shorter/quickest that I knew was a pain in the rear..

I love/cherish my trucker friendly GPS for accurate time of arrival to shipper and receiver, alternative routes and the turn by turn navigation when I get close to a shipper/recvr..heavy traffic, attempting to read street signs, change lanes and make turns..

The GPS will give you all that information with plenty of time to make adjustments.

My advice: Old school trip planning combined with modern technology is the BEST!

 

gps,

atlas is old fashioned technology that always required a phone call once you got into town. besides looking at the map to plan your route. back in them days. english was also the main language for the most part. (time consuming method.)

today, just about the only english langauge i can find. is on my gps. and i have a brand that don't seem to be used by many truckers. it's been very reliable in not steering me down streets or highways i don't belong. but i also know to look for the signs for that rare occasion it does want to steer me somewhere i obviously can't or shouldn't be going.

gps doesn't require any time to route your trip. it don't require a phone call. it gives you ETA. and miles to go. along with speed limit and a whole host of other features. and even traffic jams.

one thing i hated about trucking when i first started. is not knowing where i'm at and how far i had to go to each point. gps was unheard of back then. gps makes the trips go by so much faster.

only time my atlas gets used is for all the other information it provides.

like mentioned above. atlas is your friend you don't want to be without. but to me. it's a friend i don't hang out with much.

 

Trucker atlas is your best go to item. Then calling the customer is another big help. GPS is reference only. Which means you still need to watch the signs pertaining to commercial vehicles. Also Google Maps is a big plus especially the satellite view. You can get a good view of the customers yard and if there is truck parking on street.

 

I do both plus... an Atlas is great for getting from city to city. I also have a TND 520 gps which is excellent. I back all this up with a laptop that has MS Streets and Trips which gets down to city level mapping of all US/Canadian cities. Finally I look up the pickup/drop sites on Google Earth. I often enter the lat/long of the truck entrance on the GPS.

I cant tell you how many times I go to the address to find the entrance is around the block... or that the address is for the office and the shipping center is elsewhere!

Each tool has it's own strengths and weakness. Atlas doesn't cover city streets; GPS can screw up; computer needs power (and in my case, a wireless modem). If your company gives good local directions an atlas is just fine.

 

Both. I have one of those Rand carriers atlases and a truckers GPS. The GPS is helpful for determining arrival times and for me, on this last trip, planning my fuel stops so I'd hit the scales at legal weights. (Got a real heavy one this time. Little stressful.) As the GPS is not perfect, I've got the atlas for determining if my route is truck friendly.

 

Ya know, thinking about it..my GPS does alot more than get me from point a to b..

Truck stops on my route or in the area.. Rest areas..Walmart that allows truck parking..

speed limit on a particular stretch of road. Construction zones and detours with a touch of a button.

I don't normally like technology..but your TRUCKER friendly GPS will quickly become your best friend/co driver.

 

SUPER EXCELLENT ADVICE!

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!