Maps ??

Map Quest can get you lost faster than bad directions on the CB.

 

That's why I usually use it in conjunction with google earth these days, and my hubby & I haven't had any problems - then again we are usually just double checking directions he has gotten on his qualcomm. By using it in conjunction with Google Earth, I mean that I look the location up on mapquest to see where the location is, then pull the city up on Google Earth, and find the location on it. It's just a matter of knowing how to use the tools, especially if you can't afford any of the expensive toys, or don't want to spend the money on them.

 

You can do the exact same thing on MapQuest. Just click on the "Aerial Image" tab located in the upper right-hand corner of the map.

 

Just as a footnote.............

when deciding their is a shorter route consider the
LOW CLEARANCE/RESTRICTED ROADS listed in your motor carrier maps....
Too many drivers with my company have been fired for low clearance accidents..........too many bridges are not labeled or poorly labeled.

It only takes a couple of moments to check the list..........saves you time, money and your career...........

Have talked to a couple of people the co-pilot program works very well for them......already has truck restrictions included for routing. Some of the trcukstop cb shops and computer shops are offering the program w/out the antenna cheap.........

Remember last thing.............shorter is not always faster or better.......
Try to calculate area conditions traffic congestion and time of day when making these decissions............saving even up to 100 miles can cost you an extra hour and fuel ..............

Good luck and be careful out there..........

 

I use my Rand McNally Atlas, Delorme street atlas and google earth for the most part.

Whenever possible phone the customer. They can give you all kinds of information like if you can park on their lot overnight, if there's a truck stop close by, restaurant close by, if you can pull right into a dock at night and be unloaded first thing in the morning, if there's any construction that will give you issues, if they are strict on appts or will load/unload you early etc.

The same goes for other drivers. My company has many regular stops and being still pretty new I still get many I haven't been to yet. Often I can get all the important info from another one of our drivers. Of course this only works when I'm at one of the terminals for the most part but that is where calling the customer comes in. I'm 'slowly' learning just how much a difference it can make to know the little things like which direction to approach the customer from so I can easily set up a driver side back.

 

You can not beat a good laminated atlas.

 

here here, thats what my husband uses. he gets directions from the qualcom and then rechecks the route on his atlas, that is the safest way to do it.
plus, you have to look at how long your trip is going to take and where you think you are going to stop, and nothing beats an atlas for that.

 

Just spoke to someone recently who stated their are currently 4 states in the process of making a law against drivers having laptops in operation in front/side of them while operating vehicles. I have not verified this yet.

If I remember correctly WI. already has a law against having anything mounted to the front windshield ie. gps, notepads, satelite radios.

It is of course as someone else mentioned unsafe to try to operate in this manner.

 

Jash - I did briefly read something about laptops and driving but didn't read the article and have no clue where I run across it at. We have no laptops so no need to worry about those laws.

Rand McNally's New 2009 Motor Carriers Atlas is out, hubby picked up one at a Petro in PA on 9/18.

Mapquest has aerial viewing, I go down to street level and "ride" along with him when he gets near a shipper/reciever that is located in a city/town.
I have also found that the route provided on Mapquest and the route given to him via Qualcom has been right on the $$$. I always use FASTEST time instead of shorter distance though. I have and will reroute him onto Interstates if it will use less time....time is money especially with governed speeds and practical miles.
Also discovered that company directions will screw you just as quick....put hubby onto a road where trucks wasn't allowed just yesterday.

 

None of the "GPS" tools should be considered as your only source of information. Given that there are really only two for truckers (CoPilot and ..arg, I forget the one from Teletype), there's not a lot of competition to drive improvement. Everybody's heard of CoPilot, so that's the typical answer to "what should i use?"

I'm a company driver. Therefor, they provide me with OTR routing,and -upon request - local directions. I can't change the routing, but I can - and have- had the local directions changed.

I keep a thorough record of each of my trips - including whether the local directions were accurate, what they were,and what changes I requested.

Local directions in combination with GPS or something like google maps )I use that on my POS Blackberry( works out quite well