Thank you. Yeah I am curious to know how many trucker GPS units can sent the audio via bluetooth to headset
There's your answer. When you get your solo truck I would use my own RM or Garmin TRUCK GPS. I promise he Qualcomm GPS will not find lost of address and will show you how bad it is during training. The RM and the Garmin TRUCK GPSs make a low fewer mistakes than the Qualcomm GPS. Training is all about keeping harmony in the truck, showing your trainer you can follow company rules and procedures, so you can get your solo truck and do things to gain experience. Never forget when you are behind the wheel your license is at risk, even if the trainer said to do something wrong the cops will not give him a ticket, but you. Instead of arguing with your trainer, in case there is a conflict between the legal way, the company way, and the trainer way, ask questions. Don't immediately go into confrontation mode and big speeches. "I thought the DOT said drivers can't do X?" The shortest route to your solo truck is letting your trainer see you follow directions, pay attention, ask good questions, and can be trusted to make basic decisions safely. NOBODY wins an argument with their trainer or their company. Even if you win, you will lose. Your Mileage May Vary, YMMV.
If your Garmin has an audio out jack, but doesn't send audio by BT, you can get a $25-35 BT transmitter. I'm betting your Garmin will do what you want. Look around the Garmin manual or the website FAQs.
Good advice thank you. I plan to for use use my own trucking GPS (provided they don't forbid it) once I go solo.
Personally, I would just not ask the question about using your TRUCK GPS after you get into your own truck. The QC only requirement is pretty strange. I would probably ask questions like "is this forced dispatch, forced fuel stops, forced route, etc as a group not associated with anything event in particular and maintaining a "I'm eager" and "FYI..." sort of demeanor. It might be better to even learn those answers online or looking for them in company literature or presentations without alerting anyone you are thinking about the GPS issue too much. Personally, I would use my TRUCK GPS when solo and comply with company routes and stops but not use the Qualcomm, or only use it to enter the current position and the next stop/destination, assuming the Qualcomm is tracking if your current route has been queried in the box. If the company and trainer have no indication you are "going rogue" by using a reliable GPS it may be something they never look for inside the Navigo/Qualcomm. If you ask the question and get a clear "use only the QC" you are painted into a corner. If you don't ask the question you will likely get at east one free "oopsie" if they detect you using your GPS (truck only, please). I don't mean they will allow you a free get lost, be late because of being lost, but if they discover you are using the "non-mandatory junk GPS" they may just remind you to use the junk GPS. You'll have to judge the situation on your own. I learned a few years ago sometimes it is best not to ask a question if you are pretty sure the answer is going to be "wrong". You can get away with more things if you don't get a reputation for being a renegade, a rule-breaker, etc. Most companies think truck drivers are not super clever, also. If you play up those two things it can sometimes give you flexibility in key situations. It won't allow you to "be your own boss" at a company, but there may be a thing here and a thing there where flexibility really helps you out, especially if you can keep your record clean and reliable.
I think that is a good approach. I like to ask questions here and kind of go with the flow when interacting with with the company (driver traimer, DM, etc).
I've done a few minutes research on the Garmin Dezl OTR 700 truck GPS I have. It is less than a year old and much newer than my RM 740. I don't see that the Garmin will connect to the truck stereo or headset via BT unless the headset is a Garmin Dezl headset. It appears, similar to the RM 740, the BT feature is locked down pretty well. On the Garmin you can pair the GPS and your phone via BT and use your GPS to make and receive phone calls. It does not appear possible to connect a non-Garmin BT headset to the Garmin GPS and listen to turn-by-turn directions through the headset. You should search for yourself just to make sure if this is true. You might try the Trucking Electronics section of the board Trucking Electronics, Gadgets and Software Forum I have a question posted on Amazon page for the Garmin Dezl OTR 700 to see is this is possible. As a backup, you can obviously use your phone's GPS and any BT headset should provide the on ear turn-by-turn directions. I don't know if the common BT headsets (Blue Parrot, etc) at truck stops have the induction coil gizmo that works with the hearing aids and other hearing assistance technology. If you need to go that route I would suggest you consider getting the cheapest paid subscription available to Trucker Path app for your phone. That app is great for many reasons. I shows Google Traffic info, so you can see traffic jams before you get there, truck stop parking reports, etc. That's all free. If you subscribe to the cheapest price subscription or above the routing for trips changes from the free Google Maps routing for cars to a truck specific routing that considers low clearances, weight limits etc. Since the app runs on your phone and any BT headset of your choice will work with your phone this should be a guaranteed way to get turn-by-turn directions piped into a headset if your GPS doesn't connect to a headset. On a side note, you might me able to use the "reasonable accommodation" requirements in the ADA law to allow you to use your own GPS if this issue with Qualcomm really becomes a sticking point. Hard of hearing issues must be included in ADA, no? There's got to be some way to make this happen.
Thank you. So far I found this link for Garmin Bluetooth Headset Compatibility with Automotive Devices | Garmin Customer Support But I like the idea of installing trucking GPS software in a phone or tablet since the headset will already work. I know I can figure something out, my concern is going out with the trainer and not knowing what the set up will be. I am probably going to have to just hope I can hear the GPS well, and if it has a good sized display with the map, that should actually work fine.
I don't have MUCH hearing loss and I found the GPS speakers to be plenty loud enough to hear their turn-by-turn directions while driving, except sometimes in heavy rain. I also may, or may not, have worn foam ear plugs while driving. The good thing about not know the setup in your training truck is you will just get used to whatever setup it has. Trucker Path is a free app on your phone. It just provides a ton of truck-friendly features on top of Goggle Maps routing and Google Traffic layers. If you subscribe to the paid Trucker Path it will then add truck legal routing. Google Maps only provides car-friendly maps. Using Trucker Path there is not an elaborate software installation required. Just a brief download from the Google Play store, if you have an android phone. I don't know if Trucker Path is available for IOS or not. If I started over, I may not even buy a truck GPS. I might just subscribe to Trucker Path so I get the truck routes, etc. Nobody reading this should be tempted to get a car GPS or expect Google maps to route trucks safely unless they are operating in some very truck friendly areas. You'll figure out something and we can help if you need it.
