Suggested Atlas software?

MS Streets and Trip with Truck Stops Plus add on (Google it).

HOWEVER, I agree you should carry an up to date Atlas (Rand/Mcnally) to cross check with or incase the laptop takes an unplanned coffee bath.

 

ms streets and trips with truck stop plus.. like another poster said.. pc miler gps off ebay.. a cmv road atlas.. and what a cheap school.. they should provide a map lol

 

Listen to what your school says. That's what you are there for. Every new driver needs to start with the basics and build from there. When you get on your own, then you can do what you want. You start looking for shortcuts even before you start, I see problems ahead. There will be times you'll need a quick glance at a road map. So you need it and need to know how to use it. You won't have time to boot the computer and get distracted playing with the software. Using a laptop going down the road is considered texting. $2500 fine. There is state by state regulations, low bridges, restricted routes, bridge laws, weight info, DOT phone numbers and a bunch of other pertinent info in a paper atlas you won't find in any software.

You will even find companies that forbid laptop use while in the drivers seat.

With all that said, if your sitting and doing trip planning, I've used many programs over the years. Streets and Trips is by far the best in my mind. But I only use that if I have problems locating a small town on my map or GPS. Usually it turns out to be a undocumented suburb of a big city.

 

Street Atlas Plus is the best software I ever bought. It's not a software equivalent of the Motor Carrier Atlas though, I don't think there is one.

MCRA is great for trip planning, for checking truck routes on the big roads and for getting a good overview of where you are going.

Computer software like Streets and Trips and Delorme Street Atlas are great for getting accurate distances and for looking at a 'map' of the area you're going to once you get off the big road. Very handy for planning your day with stops and such.

A telephone call to the shipper or Consignee is the best for planning your route from the big road to your destination.

There are a lot of tools you'll use but the Motor Carrier Atlas and a telephone call are the two you can't do without IMO.

 

Try Dansville NY to Buffalo NY

Google Maps is telling me to use US 20A

 

Ah, I thought you had the software there and would be able to see the difference in routing as well as the reason for it.

 

That's because Google Maps thinks you're a 4 wheeler and you maybe didn't click the buttons you should have like tolls yes or no, shortest or practical route and did they ask if it was a commercial or personal vehicle?

My 2 programs show either running up 81 to 90 to Buffalo at 251 miles practical OR 17/86 to 390 to 36 to 63 to20 to Buffalo at 229 miles shortest route.

These 2 routes are done by TRUCKING ONLY programs!

Now as to buying LAST years atlas to save a few bucks I sure hope you don't get on a road that the regs got changed on!
Take Hwy 60/62 east bound from I 55 in Missouri towards IL and KY. It got changed this winter to a 15 ton limit on the one bridge in IL over the Mississippi bridge and the fine is $17,000 if you're close to grosshttp://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/il-state-news/Drivers-face-hefty-fines--113038889.html so having a new/old book is pretty much not smart as any new changes in restricted routes or weight limits will be in the book!


Yes I'm as high tech as they come BUT after seeing drivers get robbed with the laptop being at the top of the list or watching MY laptop bounce off the dash due to a moron 18 wheeler running a red light in front of me or the occasional dead battery or OS crash putting all of your eggs in a computer or smart or dumb phone is not the brightest thing a driver can do!


That paper book is easier to glance at while driving AND will not get a ticket that using a computer could get you plus you can't turn the brightness down enough on a screen to keep from hurting your night vision.

Yes looking at anything while driving can be hazardous BUT it can be a necessity as stopping in the middle of the street to figure out where in BFE you are is not always an option!



-If you can't pull over out of the flow of traffic then...

-Put that paper book on the steering wheel open to the area you are in which I hope it already was for when you planned your route.
-Glance down at it and then put a finger on where you THINK you are and look back at the road.

-GLANCE down again and locate with your finger where you are.
-These glances are just that and not a hard look to memorize where you are!

-Don't stare at the map for more than 3 seconds. It will take some time before you get to where you can do a "quickie" at reading a map. But when time is important when you think a change of direction is due then that quick glance is what you'll have to do!



If you're new at foloowing directions then get a grease pencil in a color that shows up in both day light and at night and in the center top of your windshield write the direction so all you have to do is move your eyes to that location and read or check where you are. I say the windshield because you're looking forward and a lot of people can actually "split" their vision between close up and distance sop they are never taking their eyes off the road completely.



If you get the Rand with the plastic pages then you can mark with a grease pencil your route.



BUT: My advice to all you techno geeks is that paper book and paper foldout maps will do you more good when the technology dies from no power, rough roads and a bounced to death HD and a broken screen!



Yes you'll be able to go online and check any states website for road closures, construction zones and changes in truck route restrictions which I did when ever I had a reasonable doubt and even used the newer satellite shots to identify a new customer as that was the cats meow as even thought it's a FEDERAL LAW that in order for mail to be delivered by the USPS the address must be shown on the building! It's a law the USPS never enforced the same as all these companies have college educated people in there that don't have the intelligence to have a sign posted by their driveways with their name and maybe shipping and receiving on them or even on doors behind the building! NO Kidding! They think every truck drivers knows every freaking shipper and receiver on the planet so they don't need to spare the cost of a sign that could be read from 100' away!



-Anyway always have a paper map of the location.
-Always pre plan the route
-If new and in doubt write the route on something that is kept in easy reach and legible in a dark cab.
-If its technical or mechanical, Murphys Law says it WILL break or stop working sometime in the near future and especially when you need it the most!





When sitting doing nothing turn off WOW, pull out the map book and study it. Look at it and start to memorize areas you might be in the most. Can't hurt!