The Latest Turn By Turn GPS Devices

I use a Rand McNally GPS and Atlas. I just picked up a new atlas.

One time in Ohio I was leaving a shipper and was being sent to another strange place. There was construction on the truck route, and a lot of NO TRUCK roads. A driver gave me some directions to get going the way I needed... well... guess what, that way the road was closed. Before I knew it, I was pretty much lost.

No cell phone signal. No GPS signal. Couldn't use the Qualcomm , cell phone, or GPS.

So, I pulled out the ATLAS! (GASP!)

It was a crazy 100 miles or so through some small one-road towns, narrow shoulder-less back-roads, and a maze of NO TRUCK streets, but it did the job!

The GPS will ask you to go the "long way" sometimes, so it helps to know where you're going and not rely 100% on the GPS, but, I use mine for weather, traffic conditions, and on-the-fly alternate routes. It takes some finessing to get it to work right sometimes, but has helped me a bunch. Also the traffic service and weather relies on wifi, and the traffic is 20 bucks a year.

Excellent !

A great lesson in using all the tools available to get the job done. :)

Thanks

The Rand McNally site has the Rand McNally Intelliroute TND 720 LM for $230 , Factory Refurbished.

Has any one tried the refurbished models? The concept has always creeped me out a bit... lol

The Rand McNally site has the Rand McNally Intelliroute TND 720 LM for $230 , Factory Refurbished.

Has any one tried the refurbished models? The concept has always creeped me out a bit... lol

It's actually difficult to find a new model of the above mentioned on the site.

The Rand McNally site has the Rand McNally Intelliroute TND 720 LM for $230 , Factory Refurbished.

Has any one tried the refurbished models? The concept has always creeped me out a bit... lol

It's actually difficult to find a new model of the above mentioned on the site.

Amazon - New Rand McNally Intelliroute TND 720 LM $283 ... worth the difference in price for peace of mind, imho...

The book you listed:

2014 Deluxe Motor Carriers' Road Atlas (DMCRA)

is the one to get. It's easy to find - it's the one with the spiral binding.

As for GPS, it's almost a Ford vs Chevy thing. All the Commercial GPS's do well. Nobody brought up Garmin's dēzl, my preferred GPS. Though Rand McNally literally wrote the (map)book, so the battle tilts in their favor.

I've been eyeing up the Rand McNally TND Tablet.

It has GPS, Dash Cam (to document any non-preventable's) and will serve as a backup for my Laptop when needed, for e-mail, web browsing. Plus it has a real nice big 8 inch screen. The best prices are online around $ 499 through Walmart and a few others that did not have as glowing customer reviews.

Rand McNally TND Tablet

But, as ButtonUp pointed out, I'm not going to be stuck holding a bunch of technology not receiving a signal, so definitely will have a Hard Copy Atlas with me in the truck. The new 2016 is currently on sale at 1/2 price on the Rand McNally Shop for $ 39.99 ... shipping $ 6.95 plus tax.

2016 Deluxe Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas (Laminated, Spiral-bound)

Most of the mobile phone type gps apps will work without a cell phone signal to some degree. waze for example will if you have already been somewhere or if you don't throw new directions at it continue to work when you lose cell phone service as long as you have a gps signal. google maps I have found to be iffy once you lose cell service however you can download offline versions of maps so if you know how to get to a general area you can then save an offline map and get navigation for that. but like others have said a good ol hard copy is your best friend when the **** hits the fan.