Looking for a good gps

Like the others said no GPS with truck routes is 100%. I have a Tom Tom and I use it in conjunction with my altas. Whenever I plan a route with the GPS I also go back and compare it to the atlas. The GPS comes in more handy for letting you now when a turn or street is coming up, and letting you know such things as how many miles you have left. But personally I would not use the GPS alone.

 

Thank's guy's, I'm going to just use my gps with my atlas. But i am going to invest in that copilot when i get enough funds, just wanted to see what you other truckers used.

 

Co-pilots ok except brightness as previously stated. Still not able to give up my $50 atlas as stated. These stupid programs you would think you could tell them I have a 53x102 trailer overall length of t/t is 70ft. height 13'6 in haz-mat and it could route you legally. But noooooooo I think DOT kicks back a percentage of the fines it gets on out of route trucks. Doubt it but makes me wonder. Maybe some brilliant sole from one of the gps manufactures or an enteprenuer will see this and actually make a good GPS system. Wouldn't that help.
Another neat item I use is a program called Driver's Daily Log. You can download that program and a print module for most major companies and most popular keller log sheets. Do you log print it out and sign it nice neat lines crystal clear print as long as the ink holds out. It tells you when and where you are legal and keeps the idiots from safety mailing you those ever so friendly love letters

 

My advice, of course! Would be to NEVER TRUST THE GPS alone. However, they are becoming cheaper and more sophisticated. POI maps (points of interest) are being updated constantly for devices such as the TOMTOM. Still ya gotta check up on them.

POI's are "Points Of Interest". These are continually updated, because users all over the world update them, not waiting for companies to do it for them. Each time a Tom Tom user anywhere updates his GPS, he can add his POI's to the list.

I haven't begun searching, but I am sure there are maps out there, and if not, there will be.

I like the TOMTOM after my research because the amount of free aftermarket software for them. It's the most flexible, with the cheapest maps .. and user defined POI's. Loads of resources, and the price is right. The TomTom One v3 is $99 on Amazon.

The U.K. and Europe have many free POI's that you can add to the TOmTOM. One can be easily made for the U.S.A. by googling for Low Clearances, or Google AITA clearances. Someone should make a P.O.I. for this. I have not finished searching. There are many POI's of whatever people want. Wal Marts.. Waffle House.. whatever. Additionally, on the TomTom you can set it to warn you of a oncoming bad deal.. 5.6 miles ahead of time it will warn you.

Great stuff eh? Google 'POI-factory clearances' there is one there people are working on.

 

While checking out the postings on GPS uses, I've read many postings that mention Qualcomm. What is Qualcomm? I'm seeing that it gives directions/routes. Does it do this road by road, and is it vocal like a GPS? As for the best GPS type unit to purchase, wouldn't the company that a person drives for be able to recomend a good unit, because not only would the driver benifit from this, but so would the company.

 

Qualcomm is a satelite communication system deployed by most companies in their trucks. It allows the driver and dispatch to communicate without having to use the phone in most cases. It delivers load information, directions and more.

You can search for Qualcomm on the web for more detailed information.

 

I have an older Tom Tom Go and a newer Garmin Nuvi 200W. They are both equal in use, I like the wider screen on the Garmin better, but the Tom Tom has more bells and whistles. Neither of them do a bread crumb trail like my (stolen) Garmin 60cx handheld did. Sure needed it when I was out in Midland in the oilfields, talk about getting lost in the middle of nowhere!

 

After endless poring over reviews on the net I got my TomTom ONE V3. Eh didnt like it. The USB is 1.0 very slow. It worked GREAT when I first got it. THEN.. I tried to update it with TomTom HOME. Big mistake and I never could get it work after that. It does NOT have the "SD" card for updates. I should have caught that. I am exchanging it for a Navigon 2100. 'Cos I want the text to speech, the firmware has been upgraded, it has the SD card, and it seems like a "deal". The germans are working hard to make even another firmware upgrade..this unit has lots of bells and whistles.. I might end up regretting this, but did not like the Garmin c530 which was the other one in my price range *cheap*. I do not like it's bulkiness. People say the TomTom is hackable, but is it ever finicky. The HOME software didnt work, tried just copying the files with explorer..and kablooey. I used Tigerdirect, and they cheerfully swapped it, even thought it was a refurbished one. Yeap. Breadcrumbs? I will have to look this up on Google.

 

When I trip plan I use various maps. First Roehl uses an opti-stop system that gives you a preferred route. Next I use Microsoft Streets & Trips, this gives me a visual overview of my route plus I can zoom in to see a closeup of how to get to the shipper or Consignee. I check all of this against the Rand McNally truck atlas to make sure my route is a truck route. Finally I use my GPS a Garmin Nuvi 260. The Gps is great for giving me an eta and showing me where my turns are. This is especially great in Chicago traffic. I also get the directions off the qualcomm. Even with all this I still keep the brain engaged.

My wife loves my GPS because it has reduced my stress level by a hundredfold and this has made our phone calls much more pleasant.

 

Worldnav is TeleType GPS stand alones. I was looking at one myself but so far I have not heard anything good about them yet. As a matter of fact I was on another forum looking to see what people were saying and found out the owner or one of the owners of teletype was posing as a customer and doing phony reviews trying to make themselves look good. So just beware.