Maps ??

If you don't think typing while driving qualifies as "stooopid", you should re-evaluate your interest in being a professional driver. If you don't know where, how and when you're getting to your next stop ... before you press the "start" button ... you've already lost the plot.

 

I believe the best thing to do is to type in the address and look where it is before the truck is put into gear. There is no need to be putting an address in while driving.

 

Rest areas often have city wall maps for nearby cities. You will see drivers standing there taking notes and planning their route. Truck stops may also have wall maps. Of course, I am old enough to remember when gas stations gave free maps.

 

There are 2 choices if you want truck specific routing with low bridges and restricted routes taken into account. The first is Co-Pilot put out by Alk Technologies. Co-Pilot 11 is designed for a laptop and has a gps antennae that can be plugged into your laptop for real time directions with spoken instructions. The price is around $250.00.

The other program available is put out by a company called "Teletype." They put out a product called world nav which has a couple of different sizes available. The 7 inch display costs about 600.00. This is a stand alone product that mounts to your dash or windshield.

 

How often are the maps updatd and are updates free or not?

 

Depends on what maps you are talking about.
Rand mcnally is updated yearly I belive and will cost you 20.00 with a coupon at a p lot.
Other online maps not for sure you could check with them the online srevice.
Gps maps depending on the manafacture gets updated from time to time garmin charges for the updated ones I belive.

 

Yes Garmin does charge, and it's not cheap. I bought a GPS and 6 months later it got updated. They wouldn't even give me a discount.

 

some wally world's now have the updates.

 

The Garmin 2009' map update is $69.99 at walmart....$79.99 at radioshack

Never use MAPQUEST for truck routing...........you can put in shortest route and it is not.............mapquest makes their money from paid advertisers to direct them certain routes........tourist, etc.

*********************************************************

PLease be very careful when using GPS systems that DO NOT HAVE TRUCK ROUTING INFORMATION............... I have seen and have heard people at my company fired for hitting lowclearances........restricted roads........... getting stuck on NONE roads because they were following the GPS to the letter of the route not paying attention to the road infront of them.
********************************************************

The best system that I have heard when speaking to some safety personnel has been the CO-Pilot system w/gps

Their are some local computer shops/cb shops offering the program only w/out the gps for 20-30-40- dollars The program with the gps antenna in the box I beleive is selling for not sure but $149.00

Even the cheapest GPS at Pilot is $169.00 and that does not even have truck routing.............

Well hope that helps...........J..............

 

Are you a company driver? If so, does your company use qualcomm? If so, you will most likely get your routing from them.

The only thing my hubby & I use mapquest for is in the cities, or if he takes a wrong turn (has happened a couple of times). Most of the time, it is just to check the directions he gets if they sound not quite right to him. Even when I take a car trip, I never use the mapquest routing. I just look at the map and pick my own! Mapquest will have you wandering around Johnson's Barn to get some place when there is a more direct route to be had. I used it quite a bit when I drove limo, but like I said I looked at the map and picked my own path.