OTR Drivers - How often do you get online?

After almost 3 years OTR, I finally broke down and got myself a cingular aircard, and I love it. Before that I used the regular wifi at the t/s which is okay, provided you are parked in a good area for catching the signal. Now, no matter where I park, I have a good signal. I'm kicking myself for waiting as long as I did to get the aircard!!!

 

I couldn't use cingular. Them and at&t (now the same) use a different type of cell tower all together. I have a us cell tower in my neighbors back yard and that is the ONLY cell service out here.

 

Maybe this is discussed further in the thread. Could it be tax deductable though? Just wondering

 

doubt it. all the taxes are the fcc charges and all the other b.s. that phone companies like to throw on there. and if it was at all posible to be tax deductible i don't have enough deductions in a year to mess with it. besides i need over 5000$ in deductions a year to make it worth it in my tax bracket.

 

my companies supplies most everything for me so I don't come close to the amount of expenses I need to even make it worth my while to itemize.

 

We go online using a Sprint card. The cost is comparable to the Cingular as is the coverage. Haven't found anywhere I didn't get a signal yet. Nice thing about the air card over the TS Wi-fi is that you can use it when you're stuck at a shipper/receiver. It has also come in handy on the occasional load where the company doesn't have directions because it is a new shipper/receiver. We've gone online and gotten directions from mapquest (just type in the address) and then go to the atlas to make sure the roads are truck routes. Really handy since we haven't gotten GPS on the truck yet. I don't like going online while going down the road (while the co-driver is driving of course). The bouncing of the truck tends to make it difficult to type and use the touchpad or mouse. I will do it in an emergency, but I tend to wait until we're stopped. Great for checking out weather conditions where you're going also. I'm always amazed at how quickly the weather can change when you're driving. Yesterday we left 78 degrees in CA, drove through a blizzard in Flagstaff, to thunderstorms in TX. Nice to know in advance so you can plan for it. There are so many different ways to get online now while on the road. Just do your research and choose whichever way works best for you.

 

I found the sprint coverage to be horrible. not to ention they flt out lied to me so I promptly returned it.

 

folks, i have a new laptop that i am taking with me if i go on the road, do any of the companies have wirelessonboard for a laptop? I can get it wireless thru verizon for $80 a month but that is high. but i can be on the internet anywhere veriozon goes.

 

google maps is also another great website to look up directions. it even has live traffic updates. if you want something more portable, it has google maps mobile for free.

www.google.com/gmm

download it to your phone and purchase a bluetooth gps receiver (60 bucks on ebay) and you have a navigation system at a fraction of the cost.