Who here has a good GPS?

I was told by a fellow driver that Roehl recently sent out a notice to it's drivers of the ONLY approved GPS devices. It seems several drivers weren't paying attention and kissed a few bridges. I am working on trying to get a copy of that list. I know the TND-500 is on the list and likely so is the Garmin.

Tom Tom? - HAHAHAHAH

 

If you are dumb enough to rely on the Garmin's turn by turn directions, then maybe you aren't smart enough to be driving trucks. I got my Garmin for Christmas. It's a pretty good tool, but you have to understand it's limitations. It's not programmed for trucks. I use the maps. Also another cool feature is you can ask it where the fuel stops are, leave the list pulled up, and as you approach an exit, it will tell you what fuel stops are there. You see one that says "truck stop" and there you go. Pretty cool. It's also great for finding Walmarts around you. But, you still have to use common sense.

 

I don't even rely on the directions given to me by the trucking company I work for. If I did, I'd have hit bridges that way too. Directions, wherever they come from, are not going to be correct 100% of the time. That's why we still need human beings behind the wheel.

 

why does everyoen call it a pc miller? does miller make sense in any form? Truck GPSes are a total joke. They cost hundreds more, and they still run you under low bridges and such if you dont use your brain. You can pay a trucker cell phone bill for 6 months for what they cost.

I have a Garmin Nuvi 255TW. This is not a truck GPS. It works great. You use an atlas or a qualcomm based route and check the route it gives you. You call the customer and ask how to get there. You check the route. You write down the route you're taking, because usualy the GPS will send you down a way you dont want to go. When you make a turn that is different than the GPS says to go, it recalculates, and it usually doesnt take that long before it shows the same route youre taking.

You absolutely do not ever trust any gps. hell, one time mine routed me to someones house. The address was correct. Apparently it was a North and South named route, and my GPS did not recognize it. LOL.

 

Usually they do that really well and even have industrial park roads in them. Hell, the indianapolis terminal for werner's entrance is its own road, and it has the name of that road in it. Turn by turn works perfectly until you get off the highway. Also, you can add locations to it, like a nice hole in the wall truckstop that is a few miles off the highway, etc..

When i first went solo i kept having issues with not finding roads because the signs were stolen. A flashlight aint goign to help you there....

 

I have been using tom tom for the last couple years, along with my Ran d McNally Atlas, of course.
I switched to CoPilot for truck this year, and the maps are absolutely horrible!!

I cannot believe they charged me the full amount for this terrible software, have just informed me they provide no support for it, and have no updates.

Apparently, they are working on new software.

This company sucks big time, and they got me good!!

Joe

 

Garmin 1490t here its reasonable but looking for something more trk friendly

 

Under no circumstance waste your money on ALK CoPilot truck for handheld.
I suspect the one for the laptop is the same, they say it uses the same maps.
Old, out of date maps. I bought it in June, and it took a couple months to find out how horrible it is. What a waste.

Rand McNally TND 500? probably much better, at least their paper maps are good.
I will be following this thread with interest.

Joe

 

June? That had the old maps on it. Download new maps came online in July for those. After that update that unit is an effective GPS now.

The laptop version is still badly out-of-date though at this point though, like you say. Awaiting release date of an updated version of that one.

 

My husband was told about the Cobra 7700 as being trucker friendly, by a couple who drove team. Anyway, I bought it for him and he loves it. It even shows you where truck parking is, like what Mcdonalds have truck parking, motels, etc. It is a bit spendy, but heck it is tax deductible. It cost $499.99. Hope this helps.