My first truck driving job was driving for Schneider delivering to Walmarts in Oh,Mi,In,Ky and WV. 90% of the time the directions were accurate. They had location codes in the qualcom and you could simply pull them up....no need for a GPS.

My second driving job was driving to the same place every single day delivering auto parts......no need for a GPS.

I started driving tankers 3 months ago and my whole attitude towards GPS has changed. The places I have to go to are often on small country roads that are not on my map. I get accurate directions from my company about 60% of the time. I often end up having to call up the customer to get directions to their plant and I often get bad directions. It is no fun hauling 45,000 pounds of moving liquid and having to stop and turn around in 3-4 parking lots because you can't find the right street. That liquid slams into the front of the tank and can really ruin your day!

I was lost in the city of Orangeburg,SC one morning and was so pissed off I was about to scream!! After I finally found the place and made my delivery and went straight to a Pilot and bought a Garmin GPS!! The GPS makes my job a hell of a lot easier but you have to be carefull because they will sometimes attempt to send you down residental streets were it may be difficult to make a turn. The recalculating ability is real nice.

I USED to think GPS was a waste of money and were basically for people who could not read a map. It was easy to find Walmarts becuase they had a huge sign lit up that you could see from a mile a way. The chemical companys I now deliver to often have very small signs that are not lit up are often on small streets in the country and can be difficult to find at night. My GPS has made my job a hell of a lot easier

 

I've often marvelled at the drivers from years ago who didn't have access to this technology. To me, it's like the difference between horses and buggies and automobiles!
While mine's an invaluable help (her name is "Esther"--and we argue a lot!)-- I depend on her only up to a certain level. She's like 4th in line: Me, my Atlas, my compass (don't laugh!), then her.
Wouldn't give her up for the world, now, though!
Jewels
P.S., I'm glad you got one!

 

Check your private messages.

 

Young Lad...a word of warning. Use your own common sense, if you did not buy the expensive Garmin, with Haz-Mat routing on it. There are lot's of places and routes that Garmun Nuvii is going to tell you to take, which you simply can not use, because of your placards.


Garmin is great for getting you there..but remember that it is based on Automobile routing software, not trucks and haz-mat. :thumbsup:

 

I suppose I am still stuck in the horse and buggy era. I can't see buying something that is still not accurate for the trucking industry. If I spend that much money I want to make sure that it will do what I need it to do. My Rand McNally still serves me well and I don't have to worry about accuracy. If I have difficulty finding a place I can use that new fangled technology found on Mapquest. Sorry guys, I am not yet ready to make the plunge.

 

Well, seeing how even your $500 trucker version GPS, even with all the trucker stuff turned on, will still lead you down (on rare occasions) low bridges, non HC routes, etc.....so that in my opinion makes it no better than mapquest.

THAT SAID, i've got Microsoft Streets and Trips on my laptop. i've got a HUGE screen, auto re-routes when i make a wrong turn (yeah, like that ever happens, haha) and come with or without a GPS receiver (kinda pointless to get it without it). I bought it at Best Buy for around $90. That alone left $400 in my back pocket. Why go blow a few hundred bucks on a garmin, tom tom or whatever, when it has a smaller screen, and none are 100% accurate anyway.

I've got an atlas, i've got my QC and a grease pencil. and i use them for almost every trip. So the vets who've been around since the 1800s driving trucks who say you should be able to find your shippers with a sextant and the stars, just dont understand the whole concept. Work smarter not harder. I'm willing to bet those drivers think that we shouldn't get to use A/C or a heater because their trucks didnt have those when they were drivers. =)

 

Rand McNally is not 100% accurate and contains only major roads (except for large cities). Between the internet and GPS, I haven't needed to use an atlas in over 4 years.

Oh wait, scratch that. I needed to use an atlas about 2 weeks ago to determine if a highway was truck legal, but then I routed it in my GPS, and it gave me a better alternative.

 

I use mine for a writing table

 

I find it much easier to just call the shipper or consignee for directions if needed. They know the area and how to get to them in the easiest manner and I save $500 on something that doesn't work efficiently. If it gets to the point where they are 100% accurate and the price is reduced enough I might consider it. I can't see spending $500 on something that is inefficient when I can spend $10 (on sale) on something that has served me quite well for many years. Besides, it would be distracting to have a screen on my dash all the time. I call that working smarter.

 

I have used Rand McNally for many years. I don't recall ever finding an error. Again, a phone call solves any problem in finding a shipper or consignee. I will wait until they get the bugs worked out on these GPS systems.