Rand McNally intelliRoute TND 500

Okay Mark...I think I got it. Thanks for all your help. You have a merry Christmas.

 

Karl,

In your post to the other navigation unit (Cobra), I read what you wrote and cannot figure out where you draw some of your conclusions.

Re-calculating - if you pull off into a rest area and the navigation unit notices this, of course it will show you being off route. Now since you are in a rest area when it re-calculates it will show you in the rest area and your route will be the same starting now in the rest area.

Unless I physically go off route or miss a turn the navigation unit will not re-calculate. If I decide to swing off an exit and stop at a truck stop, the unit will re-calculate because now I am off route.

All roads are assigned into different types of levels and based upon these levels is going to depend on how the navigation unit will route you on that road or not.

I have roads around me rated at 13k. If I set the navigation unit to 20k, then of course the navigation unit will not put me on that road. If I put 12k, then the navigation unit will allow routing on that road.

Car navigation units are very loose coded, meaning that basically a car can go anywhere. A truck cannot, hence much tighter coding. A lot more has to be looked at if the navigation unit can route you legally on that road or not. This is build into the mapping, and the routers in the navigation unit now look at a lot more data in how they route you.

Is the mapping data 100% - no. Is RM correcting the map data once they find incorrect data - yes.

Rand McNally's navigation unit is not a car enhanced product. This navigation unit was designed with the truck routing given priority. Can this unit be used in a car mode - yes, but the same software is still used - just the truck restrictions being removed.

quote "Plagued with tons of Issues" - Karl, I realize that the driver whom purchases a TND unit will use this in the daily course of his driving. If an issue is found that will affect their driving, then they have all rights to know that an issue is found. I post them on this thread so that they might be aware of the slight limitation that issue may cause. If drivers report an issue, and I gladly accept them being posted, then I research the issue and forward up to RM if I cannot find a solution. In Beta testing you simply cannot put a truck on every road in each city/town/state or country. Local governments post restrictive routing and it never gets reported to the state. RM is being honest in this thread to make you the Professional driver aware of issues and features. I do not know of any other navigation company that actively is in daily touch with their users. I am available 7 days a week for any driver or drivers needing information.

High speed internet - RM is constantly updating the POI's and construction updates. Most drivers stay out on the road for weeks on end. New versions as they are released are also available to the driver while they are on the road. This way the driver can have the latest updates at their fingertips. If you do not have an laptop on the road then when you get home you can update. If you have a laptop and no aircard, then many truck stops offer high speed internet for a nominal fee. The end result Karl is that the driver is always up todate on POI's, Construction and new versions. High speed internet is not a requirement by no means. This offering of updating on the road is a plus for the driver as it is free and no searching deep into a companies web pages for your updates. Simply connect your TND to your laptop and a interface called the TND Dock will appear and you hit the update button and within minutes you are updated.

so, in conclusion Karl, the navigation unit is always going to put you on a truck legal route. If it does not then the way the truck attributes for that road are wrong. Send in the road (state\city\dir\road\mm) and it can be researched as to why. A good example, Gary, IN, I-80 x 6. RM found out that Burr street off the exit was rated for 14k. Of course the TND would not route you on it. Upon research and verification, RM found this was bad data and it has been corrected.

Each navigation unit has its pros and cons. Will one navigation unit met the needs of every driver - no. It all depends on your needs and wants as to what you desire in a navigation unit. If you wish to use a car navigation unit in conjunction with your MCRA, then by all means use it.

Thanks,
Mark

 

Nevertheless the coding is not nearly tight enough at least at this time because the truck routing hasn’t been perfected as of yet. Thus, if I pull into a Truck Stop as opposed to a rest area, the TND will recalculate the routes when I exit the Truck Stops and the routes it recalculates will be dependent on my specific location relative to the final destination and the recalculated routes may or may not be legal truck routes, as both you and Brian both readily admit.

Not only that, but this process of recalculation of routes will inevitably happen several times each day, increasing the probability of it routing you down routes not legal for trucks.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t cross my fingers, hope, and pray that every time the routes gets recalculated that they are going to miraculously be legal, especially when it is my career on the line and at stake, and especially when I know straight from the horse’s mouth that the truck routing hasn’t been perfected.

Hence, if you use one of these truck specific GPS units you don’t have a choice in the matter and you are forced to use its truck routing no matter what, even though it’s ability to do legal truck routing hasn’t been perfected. Not to mention also that it’s more than a little inconvenient to find a safe and legal place to pull over to review, verify, and confirm the recalculated routes are legal each and every time the routes gets recalculated, which inevitably will occur several times a day.

Hell, after finding a safe and legal place to pull over to review, verify, and confirm the recalculated routes are legal, that process in itself might also cause the GPS to recalculate the routes as soon as you pull back on the highway and you will end up having to turn around right away to recheck it again, or just otherwise, cross your fingers, hope, and pray that the recalculated routes are legal truck routes. Now, you may be willing to operate so reckless, but please don’t assume that I would be willing to do the same thing. I kind of value my career more than that.

Hence, what you are in fact paying $500 for is not a truck specific GPS but instead a car GPS that has been enhanced with certain truck specific features, at least at this point in time. I don’t know…things may change in a year. I’ll just have to wait and see and check back.

Like I said…I’ll keep checking back. When you guys finally perfect the truck routing, then I will buy one. Hell, I was hoping to buy one for Christmas this year, but it is a good thing I researched first.

I mean why spend $500 for a GPS just because it says truck specific on the box, but yet just like you have to do when you use a car GPS, you still have to check your routes beforehand with a MCRA to ensure that they are legal. If it was really truck specific, meaning that you actually could trust it and rely upon it to do legal truck routing, then that would be another story, but unfortunately it isn’t at least at this time, as both you and Brian readily admit, and I have to thank both of you guys for your sincere honesty in that regard.

Sorry…regardless of the priorities the fact remains until the truck specific routing has been perfected, that is exactly what it is, a car GPS that has been enhanced with certain truck specific features.

Nevertheless, regardless of whether the issues are posted on some bulletin board on the Internet somewhere to make customers aware of the various issues and problems and also to make Rand aware of the various issues and problems, the fact remains that these units are plagued with a ton of issues, at least at this point in time. Maybe in a year from now the majority of the kinks will have been worked out, who knows, but I can’t see myself spending $500 knowing beforehand that I am going to get a GPS that is plagued with a ton of issues. Now, some people may consider me to be a little slow, but #### I’m not that slow.

Moreover, I don’t want to spend all my spare time looking for a high speed Internet connection while I’m on the road, constantly checking for updates, wishing and hoping issues would hurry up and get resolved in the process, and making mental notes of new problems and errors I run into to tell Rand about. Please excuse me as I have a full time driving job already as it is and the last thing I want and need at this time is another part time job beta testing a GPS for Rand, especially since it would cost me $500 for the privilege and would inevitably leave me brain damaged. But hey…each to his or her own, if you or someone else get a kick out of doing that sort of stuff, then more power to you.

In other words, the TND will route you truck legal until it won’t, and the fun of it is you will never know beforehand until it won’t. Thus, if you like spontaneity and living precariously and dangerously, then the TND is for you. On the other hand, if you like your job and career and want to keep them, then you better think twice before you take the plunge if you know what is good for you.

Are you insinuating that you can use the TND without using a MCRA too like you must do with a car GPS device? Of course, you are not, but when you do that will be the day the TND stops being a car GPS enhanced with certain truck specific features, and when that happens, please let me know. I will be the first one standing in line. In the meantime, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

You could say it more accurately as 1% of the addresses where you go. Like I said, these address errors are built into the navtech maps, so unless rand has gone through manually and repositioned every single one by hand (which involves physically going to every location to see where it really is), the errors are still there. That's not really rand's fault, it's just the way it is.

 

Karl, I must say you do like to read into plain information and come up with a new theory.

1. If you have been on the road for any length of time, you will know the truck stops offer high-speed internet.

2. It will route you on truck legal roads, no matter how many times it recalculates.

3. ton of issues - Do you even own a GPS? Reading a thread does not mean a ton of issues.

4. As stated before, the navigation unit is a Tool, your MCRA is a tool, Your calculator is a tool, your common sense is a tool. Combined they all make up how you are going to drive.

I have answered more than once in regards to your posts. I get the feeling you like to take plain honest answers and word them differently at least 15 times to make an odd decsion.

If you are not happy with the answers provided, then no one is forcing you to make a decsion in buying a navigation unit. If you wish to buy a car GPS then buy one. These units offered are not Car navigation units.

Have you even gone to DieselBoss's web site to read the reviews or you just reading the threads and not really understanding how these units differ from a car GPS?

I cannot go into a lot of details on how the navigation unit will get you from point a to point b. This is confidential information. But, be assured it will keep you on truck legal routes.

I cannot keep explaining this anymore clearly.

These navigation units are not car-enhanced gps's.

Thanks,
Mark

 

So you're saying that you put in your start point, your destination point and the Rand McNally TND gives you a truck route. You are then to compare each leg of that route against the Rand McNally MCRA? to make sure it's a legal truck route. so you can trust the Rand McNally MCRA but not the Rand McNally TND? It would seem to me that before the gps was even sent for beta testing that the first information that should have been installed in it is the information from their very own MCRA. If you have to check each route anyway, wouldn't an $80 WallyWorld gps work just as well? Sure you can go through the motions of entering in all your specifics about your truck/trailer but in the end that is just to make you feel like you're doing something. You still need to double check it. Just a thought.
The auto re-route needs to be an on/off option. Before you even start on your route you need to check it, make sure it's a legal route. That in itself is bad enough but to have to recheck it each time you stop is wasted time. Turn the re-route on if you take a wrong turn. If you need a gps to find your way back on the freeway from a rest area you perhaps shouldn't be driving.

Separate question: In DieselBoss's comparison chart he says the TND has *some* lane guidance. What exactly does that mean? At the last second realizing that you need to be 3 lanes to your right in heavy traffic is not my idea of fun. Lane guidance is a feature that would be a requirement for any *truck gps* I would think.

 

I can't tell any of you what to buy or not but i can vouch for the RM unit. I have had mine for shortly after it came out and although i dont know as much about it as Mark, i have put mine through all kinds of tests like the northeast and thru Boston and NYC. It isnt perfect BUT it has never tried putting me on a non-truck route or under any low bridges.

 

continued.....It is a lot true $500 for a gps, which is why you want one you can trust. I owned the "truck" Garmin unit and trust me it let me down several times. Also, with Garmin after 60 days no more free updates. With RM i am impressed with the constant attention and free updates so far. Best of luck with your decision!

 

any feed back from hand's on users yet??

 

Using the TND 500 in one of the toughest areas for driving, NYC............Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, I have used it in all these areas. For such a tough area for driving, the TND 500 has performed remarkably well. Every address I put in has been found, it always keeps me on truck routes. I cant say enough good things about it, without it I would be totally screwed!!