Is anyone using a regular tablet for navigation?

It’s a good deal to save you’re points even if you paid for 1/2 off a new GPS it’s a good deal often drivers are selling a GPS used you can get a good deal

 

Wasting points on food and drinks will delay big purchases like a GPS for years. You are trading dollars for pennies, don't spend the "pennies" if you want to fill your piggy bank. You can afford $8 for food you are trying to save for a $500 purchase. IMO many people entering trucking come with low-income habits and those habits will keep your poor no matter how much money they ever make. There are companies with $100 million in revenue that go bankrupt. It's not the money you make, but the money you spend that determines if someone remains broke.

A truck GPS is a valuable tool for your job, spend the money if you need to. No carpenter builds a house with a rock as a hammer. You can sign up for a free 7 day trial with a paid version of Trucker Path that gives truck routing, and not just he car routing from Google Maps. It costs nothing. Every 7 days you use another email address for a new 7 day trial. Here is a link on how to do that. As a former poor person, I noticed people around me convince themselves they HAVE to have something, maybe they do and maybe they don't, then they find or create reasons why any alternative to spending money in a foolish manner is "impossible", then later decide they HAVE to have something else. Saving points or cash for a big purchase gives plenty of time to consider and reconsider that big purchase and makes the cost obvious to you.

Some people sign up for cell service that doesn't work everywhere, then can't use their phone where they need it, then have only bad options and then use that as an excuse for spending unwisely. If a truck driver really is OTR he needs a phone on the Verizon or ATT network, not one of the very very slightly less expensive city-based networks. There are companies called MVNOs that get you on the Verizon or ATT networks without being a direct customer of VZW/ATT and it costs less. Howard Forums is a great cellphone forum and many people will help newbies find a good MVNO, I used Xfinity Mobile for years unlimited talk/text and 20GB of data monthly for $45. Visible is the online-only service of Verizon, there are no people to talk to, but they provide Vzw connection, unlimited everything for $25 per month with their Party Plan. Where 4 users split a $100/mo bill. You don't have to bring 3 other people or even know 3 other Visible customers. Visible will put you in a Party Plan with 3 other people you never know or meet and each of you just pay $25/mo to Visible.

There are many ways to make this happen, but you have to look around and decide what you need, do you really need it, and what's the best way to get it. Don't throw obstacles in your own path and feel put upon.

 

That’s some great advice driver I’ll definitely look into those options gps and a reliable cell are a Must in trucking .

 

You've downloaded what? What's not free? How much does it cost? Trucker Path is free on Google Play's store. I'm using it as I type this. You can try Hammer App, it's also free.

 

5 inch truck GPS will give you all the same info, be easier to mount in more places in the truck and speaks at the same volume. It can save you at least $100 compared to 7 inch version. Most of the help a GPS gives while driving comes from the spoken alerts. If I was trying not to spend the $4-500 for a larger truck device I would buy the smaller version. After using 2 different 7 inch truck GPS units, you are looking at the screen mostly when parked and building a route. Once you start driving you get voice alerts for "turn left/right" and "use 2 left/right lanes to ..."

I gave up on Hammer app as it was too clunky for my taste and it seemed more difficult to add POI to my current route. But whether you use Hammer, RM, Garmin, or some cheap and dangerous cars GPS after enough time you will get comfortable with it and learn to make it do almost everything you need it to do. That's when something better comes out or your current solution breaks. I greatly preferred my RM 740 to the better looking Garmin OTR700 and the Hammer app because I understood it's faults and how it was thinking. I used it for 4 years after RM stopped supporting it and updating maps.