GPS: stand alone or on iPhone?

If the flatfeet catch you fiddling with any kind of smart, cell, pay-as-you-go phone while you're driving, they're liable to give you a very expensive ticket for distracted driving while using said phone, whether you're talking on it or navigating with it. Many states now ban the use of hand-held cell phones for anything while driving.

Get a truck-specific GPS if you need one.

 

Or you could make the BIG leap right into the 21st and join the rest of us

My wife bought me one four or five years ago and I wondered if I would even use it. Then when I got my first load after I got it, it was mining equipment to Los Angeles, and a couple if forklifts coming back. I'd never been there before and assumed they would be on the outskirts like most other places that stuff goes. When I looked them up in my big atlas they looked like the were right in the middle, with a huge freeway that had exits that looked like snakepits. I mounted the gps and headed down, and was dumbstruck it, I had a bunch of stops in little hick towns through Nevada and Cali and it knew all the little street names. When I hit LA it talked me straight to both stops and out of town like I'd done a hundred times. From then on that big atlas just sat over on the seat under a layer of dust.

 

it's what i'm using now. and i'm checking out a couple of programs i found. they cost $50 for the trucker license. but the car is free.
road test the car before i buy the truck license.

kind of getting tired of just a standard screen. would like to see some actual graphics like a program i was using 2 years ago. you knew you were in the mountains or the city with that program. made for some really nice night time driving.

 

I'm not sure what to do. I can spend the money on a trucking GPS or I can go the tablet/gps software route. Most are saying that I should get a dedicated gps. Thing is I WANT the tablet combo but don't want to buy it if it's not going to be an effective trucking gps :-/
I know not to rely strictly in technology so I'll have a road atlas as well.

 

I agree with having a road atlas, and a trucker gps.
But have read a few things in the previous posts that I think need some updating.
I use an iPhone 5, while Siri and Apple Maps which have improved somewhat, still does not feel
reliable to me.

The BEST iPhone navigation app is GOOGLE SEARCH and it's totally free, You must also install GOOGLE MAPS for it to work
properly. GOOGLE SEARCH is an amazing app. It is VOICE controlled to begin with, and the maps
app integration is excellent. To get full use out of the maps, you will need a Google account (also free)
after signing in it will allow you to save all of the previous destinations, and it also keeps a history
of all your map searches. They use some big tech to show instant traffic and delays, how they do that
is another story. But it works very well.

Battery life is not an issue, when you're able to keep it connected to a
power source for constant recharging.

BUT having said that, remember that none of that will work without cell coverage! Been there!
This is a good reason to also have a REAL GPS, which doesn't depend on cell coverage, also true for
Android devices as well.

Happy trails!

 

get a tablet with gps. and buy copilot.or some other truck gps app. it'll cost you as much as a trucker gps. but you can do much more with a tablet that you can't with a gps. google comes as a standard app. and it's free but requires internet. you buy copilot or whatever. it's a full fledged map on your device that requires no internet.

i'm all about the value of a dollar. and i just don't see it in gps units anymore. there's free apps that can do all the fancy features the expensive units do. but the expensive units can't do internet, email. play music or watch movies. or games.

handheld units had there day. but like everything else in technology. something better comes along to replace them.

 

Whatever you use, be sure to use a proper mount. I personally like RAM Mounts. Not cheap, but use one and your tablet/phone will NOT go bouncing across the truck when you hit a rough patch.

 

i have my tablet mounted to the trim in the roof. using zip ties.

them suction cups just don't seem to last.

copilot software is what i've been using. nothing else. and i can NOT complain.

i've found 2 other programs though. that are only $50 for the trucker version. one is be-on-road. uses maps by navtgeq. the other is navigator. uses maps by tomtom. i'm still trying to get them downloaded so i have no reviews.

 

Thumbs down on Garmin Dezl. I'm totally disappointed. I've tried to throw it out the truck window but my wife keeps stopping me. I mostly ignore it and just use my iPhone GPS and my mapbook. Shame on Garmin this unit isn't as good as the their much cheaper car models. My Dezl is for sale for $100

 

I won't even read the full post.. ANY gps or navigation system should be used as a tool to help guide you to your destination and nothing more. Weight height and restricted truck routes should always be looked for. I've seen roads go from truck routes to not in a day because of construction or otherwise. Please only use them as your guide and always look at your signs!