Trip Planning

Sounds like if someone invented a truckers gps, they might make a fortune.

 

Do you guys write out your routes in a notebook or maybe on a computer and save them? Just curious. With all th construction and places you cant drive, seems like saving notes would be useful.
Thanks
mary

 

They do have trucker GPS however I would still not rely on them. No matter what you need to always check your route on a Motor Carrier Road Atlas. Not doing so could result in hefty fines or even and accident. GPS don't always tell you restricted routes and low bridges!

Once you have gotten some experience and have been out there for awhile you will be more familiar with different routes and such across the country. You will know where can and can't go and trip planning will become much easier.

I would definitely keep track of your directions and notes. A lot of places you go you will most likely end up going to again. Besides directions I also used to write down things like Walmarts, vet clinics, book stores, favorite restaurants, secret parking places, etc... so when I was in a particular part of the country I could flip open my notebook and see what was around me and what my options were. Its a always a really good idea to keep a notebook!

 

OK, I am not a trucker yet, going to school on the 4th of Feb, but I have been in land surveying a mapping my entire adult life. I was using GPS systems for surveying back in the 1990s, when you had to map out best satellite time to set up stationary data collecting instruments, for hours at a time, to establish First Order Coordinates on major survey control points. Lots of times, because there were so few seats, we would work at night. Now there are back pack models that do the same work in seconds, and are also in contact with stationary towers broadcasting an interlink with sats 24/7. So the whole system has come a long way in 20 years. And there are two major systems, and though I am out of the loop a bit, there was supposed to be a link up with both systems, ours and Russia's. For many years, commercial GPS was very accurate on horizontal info, but limited, with a built in error for vertical info. That was for National Security reasons, I guess so someone would not build a cruise missile in their garage and program it to fly under the radar somewhere.

I also have owned a GPS system for my car. The last 5 years I have worked doing home inspections, and work around 3 counties in SW Florida. We have 2 really large areas down here, that are in a grid, covering hundreds of square miles, with canals also on a grid system, intersecting a lot of those roads and in most cases cutting them off. Well my commercials GPS for my car would routinely route me down those roads as being through ways, but, had no bridge. The reality is that the info used by commercial GPS systems for cars, inputted maps on a large scale that often were based on old information, like old aerial photos. Even if you buy into updates, these problems are not corrected. Now most major interstates and state roads are routinely updated by these companies. But some cities may be based on maps that are decades old. Last time I used my car GPS, I was on the road for a family funeral, and 5 states away, and it tried to turn me onto a road that no longer existed. I unplugged it and bought a new state map for 4 bucks at a gas station. The touch screen was going bad anyway. Trying to type in a new address was a pain.



I have lived and worked around my area for so long, when I get a job order for an address, I just look up each address on google maps everyday and note how I have to go to get off the main roads. I have worked these three counties for 20 plus years, so I know every major road, and quite a few of the non major ones, and during the day, if I do dun into a problem, I can just use my android phone and call up maps again to get a quick refresher.



Like I said, I have never touched a Trucking quality GPS unit. I do know that the National Park Service has taken steps for Death Valley, because they have had enough people following car GPS get stuck and die, that it was considered a problem. Apparently the maps used originally in most GPS systems were from the 1920s. The Park Service made an effort to update usable roads, and made sure all the GPS companies updated their info, because those guys got tired of going out and rescuing people based on that bad info, or recovering the bodies.



Bottom line is, this is the era of the GIS, and as more and more info is gathered, these GPS units will get better and better. But, some areas will be slower than others to provide the info.


back in 2003, I traveled from Cape Coral FL to Oregon and Washington state, spent 6 weeks, camping along the way, and I used one of the better Rand MacNalley road atlases and it served me well. I figure one of my strengths going into driving will be route planning. It really is not that hard. And the tools to do it are all over the place. Dont be afraid of maps. In my experience, they usually have more info than you need. Just learn to read all the legends and attached info. I even think it is fun and interesting to do that. I always find something I did not know!