Unsafe GPS Truck Route Garmin Dezl

When only the best will do! I always kept one or two of those in my truck to check unfamiliar routes before proceeding.

 

it doesn't talk to them....they won't buy it, cuz then, they'd actually have to READ it.

 

Up here in Canada we have an awful lot of trucks doing u-turns on two lane highways that are perfectly fine to drive on.
My Garmin on occasion would tell me to go left when I know I have to go right. Then when you zoom out on the map it would show that 20 miles up the road it then wanted me to do a u-turn and carry on the correct direction.
Another time I knew to take a left, it wanted me to go ahead a block then, make a right, another right, another right then proceed straight ( 3 right turns equals a left turn).
In each case I just ignored it.
I used it mostly just so I knew how far away I was in case a customer called asking how long until I arrived.

 

I do admit out of all of my years driving. I never owned or used one. But I also double check the route with Google maps. If any areas looks questionable to street view I go. Also if I see a semi on the road. There is so many questionable truck routes

 

Were you in NYC? Been under bridges marked 11’6 without so much as a scrape. But I know one spot marked 13’0 and you BETTER not go under it!

 

The above-referenced Rand McNally Motor Carriers' Road Atlas will have lists in it for low clearances & restricted routes -- for each state.

For unfamiliar routes -- one method I've employed was to plan my route with the above mentioned Atlas (which verifies/eliminates low clearances pblms) -- & then manually input this same route into the Garmin Dezl.

The route can then also be modified in the Garmin, if/as later needed.

The Garmin can also memorize this same route plan -- for later use....if need be.

The Garmin will also alert you (if set up & programmed correctly) to traffic problems (like congestion) along your planned route -- before you reach these pblms. This has made the difference between a late load vs an on-time load....more than I care to admit.

The Garmin has also been helpful with avoiding speed traps. Its display always shows truck speed vs the speed limit.

It's much harder to get a speeding citation with a GPS nav unit -- if it's used correctly.

-- L

 

GPS are a fallible tool. Trust but verify. Know they screw up… just like a human. RM truck atlas, google Maps, Hammer app, etc are all great tools if you learn how to use them all…
Biggest thing…. STOP and verify when uncertainty enters the pic… DONT drive blindly into an unknown situation….(as I’m sure everyone knows)

 

Both my Garmin’s require me to enter my trucks details, length, width, height and weight.
Also alerts has to be turned on..not sure if you have..

Although I’ve gotten a couple low clearance alerts over the years it’s still not reliable for truck routing through cities, etc.

All in all it’s just a modified regular gps with truck specific features..weight station locations, truck speed limits, truck stops ahead, etc. None of which provide absolute accuracy.

Mine I just run for my ifta mileage, speed odometer and reminders of weight station’s ahead.

 

I watched a guy pull a 53' dry van down my very very narrow 25 mph residential street once. He took out a few overhead cable TV lines leading to a couple of my neighbor's houses then proceded to drag his tandems over the corner house's yard as he attempted to make a left to head back towards the main road.

This yard has a high bank at the edge where it meets the road. The left side was pushed up so high it pushed the right side floor of the trailer down on top of the wheels below. He was stopped dead in his tracks. Tore up my neighbor's property pretty good too.

I walked up to the driver and asked why he thought it was a good idea to drive down the road in first place. It was obviously not truck friendly. Anyone with even the slightest bit of common sense could see that. He told me his GPS told him to.

I then asked him how long he had been a commercial driver and I was shocked when he told me he'd been at it for over 10 years. Sorry, but he was either lying or too stupid to even be breathing my air.

It took several police officers and two wreckers to get him back out on to the main road. I certainly hope he was fired ASAP after being routed home.

Just like these idiots destroying historic bridges they should all be removed from their positions. If the driver pool isn't cleaned up they are going to destroy everything in their paths until nothing is left.

 

Sometimes the Garmin thinks certain roads can't be used. Once I had to put my total length as 64'. Because for some reason on a road in Virginia. It avoids a road that says nothing longer than 65'....

I still remember when I used a Rand McNally in New Jersey. It wanted me to go down a no trucks residential area. Because of a "low bridge". Only issue with the bridge is road was narrow. Only a single truck can make it through. When I went down that route the GPS freaked out and stopped navigating.