new hometime policy?

Like a lot of rules...usually started by some "saftey" person...they are telling you one thing for liability sake...while knowing full well that you are going to do it your way....GPS...hmmm...what else?...hmmm...log books.....hmm.. just sayin'

 

I am a Lancaster driver that stays out 2 weeks at a time, rarely leaving Texas. I go home every other Friday and come back out Monday. It has been explained to me numerous times that the policy is on the 4th day of inactivity the truck must be turned in. Well my truck is active on Friday, so my time starts on Saturday, truck off, on Sunday, truck off, on Monday I roll. And oh yeah, the truck is at home with me since I live the prescibed distance from the terminal.

When I need more than my 2 days, the truck goes to visit the shop with a grocery list of nagging problems, and a comment that I don't really need the truck for several days. The lesson is get on good terms with the service guys, they can be a help, but they need to know beforehand what you really need.

 

Yet I heard here the new trucks are getting GPS?

What is dumb is where I picked up today wouldn't integrate because I was too far from the address on the PP.

Think we could update?

Why bother!

 

I always ran a GPS at Swift... My Swift mentor always ran a GPS...

Now a nickles worth of free advise, turn the volume OFF. Do not follow its route, follow your map route or Qualcomm.

First week solo with my GPS put me on 3 "No Truck" roads, and caused me to have to call police in order to turn around due to low bridge in Jersey City.

""W-H-A-T T-H-E F-#-#-K !!!!".... yeah... that was a fun week.

 

lol...I don't need a GPS to lead me into trouble...I do that without GPS...and with any other way I go about it.....I think some folks only get screwed up because of GPS?....that is hilarious!

 

Company directions many times run you down cow paths and through towns to save miles.

GPS should be check against the map. Why one time I was in Maricopa Ca................

 

I always do my homework and compare the GPS routing with my Rand McNally. The low clearances are listed on your map. You can program a good GPS in legs to alter its routing. I can zoom in and point on my screen and tell it to go there. I can also zoom down and have a Google earth view of the building and parking lot.
It's a good idea to get into the habit of calling the customer. Most, nowadays have voicemail directions to get you in there the right way. Especially in Jersey City, NYC boroughs and Chicago. Alot of little towns have one way in and one way out also.

All that being said, GPS are good in between cities, then do your homework for the departure and arrival. You get what you pay for. So invest in the best GPS on the market since you live on the road.

Are you sure you were in Jersey City? There's two low bridges in Elizabeth next to Jersey City I know of. Jersey City is only 2 miles wide at most and 8 miles long. Everything is off of Truck Route 1/9. There's only a few streets that run north south and TR 1/9 is one of them.

You get up in that area, call the customer. Stay off any highways that the name ends in "Parkway".

You go to Jersey City again. When you go across the 1/9 bridge, the next light you can only turn left or right. You turn left, a couple blocks is a truck friendly restaurant. That restaurant has a police station right down the road and it's safe for overnight parking. Two-three blocks east of that restaurant is a drug infested truck stop you don't want to go to.
You can also come across the 1/9 bridge into JC and turn right. You'll see a bunch of abandoned warehouses there. I've parked on the side of the road there before and nobody bothers you. Catering trucks stop in that area too.

 

I was going to a LARGE retail supply yard (Can't remember name now) early Sept 2010. Qualcomm info was all jacked up, not enough detail for area in any of the 4 maps I had, and it was my first trip to the area. Cop was nice enough to lead me to the place, his dad is a driver. Tons of construction in the area also.

 

When I am routed into areas that are new to me now, I pull out my laptop and take a look at aerial photos on Google Earth.

It really helps when trying to lay out a plan of action. Usually one way streets are marked with arrows etc on the "Map view" and in "Satellite view" it enables me to see real pictures of the lay of the roads.

Then I write my directions on Post It in black marker and stick on dash in plain sight. Easy to find, easy to read, and I am pretty confident in my chosen path.

If I am not sure if a road is a truck route I can often see if big trucks are driving on the street in question.

Just another tool but not fool proof. Everything helps.