GPS On Your Truck Equipment

Dutch wrote:

E, I have a two part strategy.

First, I compare my overall route suggestion, with my GPS routing, with my Road Atlas. This gets me familiar with where I am going, as well as which cities I will pass thru. I also make a notation on which streets are listed as a bypass. It is always helpful to be looking for the bypass truck route, and take it, in order to avoid potential tickets, low bridges, traffic jams, narrow city streets, etc. In some rare cases, the bypass will be a waste of time, but you will learn about these situations over time thru trial and error, and talking to other drivers.

Secondly, I send for my local directions, which are usually provided and updated by other company drivers. Sometimes the driver will provide a slightly different address to enter into the GPS, than the one given in the primary load assignment. This is because the primary address if for administrative offices, not the shipping and receiving dept.

Once I have entered into the GPS the correct address, I will then go back to my history page, and select the same address again, only this time, I will enlarge the map, to show the street view of the area of my destination. Then using my pen or stylus, I can check the names of specific streets. This will allow me to familiarize myself with the general area, compare it to my local directions, as well as highlight and route thru any specific streets. This can make it super simple to follow the local directions, which can sometimes be critical to the local traffic flow, as well as the customers preferences on how they want their carriers to be routed in and out of their facility.

The final thing to keep in mind, is that you MUST know when to ignore your GPS, when it tries to send you in the wrong direction, and eventually it will do this. The only way to know when to ignore the GPS, is to know where you are going without it. In essence, your GPS can provide assistance in confirming you are taking the correct route, but it is always wise to know where you are going without the assistance of the GPS. It may in some cases help some drivers, to mute the volume of the GPS, while keeping an eye on it, and noting where it is telling you to make your next turn. If you ever find yourself considering ripping your GPS off the dash and throwing it out the window, turning the volume down can take the edge off.

Great post Dutch. This is almost to the letter, what I do if I am routed to an unfamiliar stop or if the route from one stop (Walmart Store) to the next is unfamiliar. The only time(s) I have issues with the Qualcomm's GPS system is if I need to go out-of-route. If that occurs then defer to Dutch's instructions; "know when to ignore the GPS". If it tells you to make a left onto what is obviously a tree-lined, residential street, don't do it. Or if it tells you to proceed onto a street that prohibits truck traffic, don't do it.

The GPS used in combination with the Rand McNally Trucker's Road Atlas and directions provided by the company/shipper (if provided), is the best approach for safely navigating a trip route.

Lots of good info. Thanks everyone.