Microsoft Streets and Trips?

[loner1]

Do any of you use Microsoft Streets and Trips with a GPS locator instead of a traditional GPS?

I purchased the program and installed it in my laptop. I intend to use it exclusively, but I'm wondering if anyone has done this and if it was very reliable.

Thanks for your expert input - LOL

 

[piper1]

A search (especially of the Tech thread) will yield a treasure trove of info on this.

 

[pelicn]

We use it. We are a team, so one of us usually has the laptop on our lap. I don't know how it would be for a solo. As far as the program, we like it except it's not for trucks, so check the motor carrier atlas when using it.

 

[loner1]

We use it. We are a team, so one of us usually has the laptop on our lap. I don't know how it would be for a solo. As far as the program, we like it except it's not for trucks, so check the motor carrier atlas when using it.

I'm a cargo van - so the fact that it is not for trucks shouldn't matter too much, I wouldn't think. It seems pretty reliable for you though?

 

[Wolfeman68]

Do any of you use Microsoft Streets and Trips with a GPS locator instead of a traditional GPS?

I purchased the program and installed it in my laptop. I intend to use it exclusively, but I'm wondering if anyone has done this and if it was very reliable.

Thanks for your expert input - LOL

I've been running Streets since 2006. I updated to the 2008 version which I'm running now, and will update again in 2010. It's pretty reliable but you need to pre-trip and not just trust it to pick the best route each time. It's like any other computer program. If you use it enough, you'll come across a glitch now and then. The most important thing to remember is that it is designed for cars and not trucks. If you are in a cargo van, no problem. If you're driving a straight truck or tractor, you need to pay attention on how it routes you.

That said, there are two programs that I found to "amp up" the Streets program.

The first, Truck Stops Plus loads the Streets program with the following:

The Truck Stops Plus 2009 template transforms the popular Microsoft Streets & Trips routing and navigation GPS software into easy to use trucker’s software. It is a new add-on template that replaces the standard out of the box template that comes with Microsoft Streets & Trips with a special template called the Truck Stops Plus 2009 that contains more than 8800 trucking specific points of interest, including more than 4100 truck stops, which includes all of the major franchise truck stops plus more than 3150 independent truck stops. Also included are more than 2150 Wal-Mart Supercenters, more than 1650 rest areas, turnpike service plazas, and picnic/parking areas, 788 state weigh stations, and new for 2009, 107 Blue Beacon Truck Wash locations. The Truck Stops Plus template is a first of a kind high tech truck stop guide and Wal-Mart Supercenter locator tool on steroids, and together with Microsoft Streets & Trips it will handle all of your routing and GPS navigation chores. It’s everything you need plus much more!

Their website is: Truck Stops Plus It's the best money I've ever spent.

The second is a small download that when activated while Streets is running will stop your screensaver from coming on and establishes several "Hot" keys for the Streets program. It only works when you turn the program on, and is not attached to the Streets program. It also has routing options more detailed than what Streets offers. I am particularly fond of the one that routes you around toll roads.

You can download it at: S&T Keys 2009 - Hotkeys for Microsoft Streets & Trips 2009
This is version specific and will work on only the same year version of Streets

With these two programs, Streets is on steroids. If you need any help or have any questions, just let me know.

 

[aileron]

I am in a cargo van and I use a laptop for my gps. I bought a tom tom, but gave it away after a while. I love the BIG screen.

I use both Microsoft Streets & Trips and DeLorme Street Atlas. Usually, when one doesn't find the address, the other will.

Streets & trips has some major deficiencies that Street atlas doesn't, so I use Street Atlas 90% of the time.

 

[xiggi]

I use streets and trips and nothing else. I will check into the addons Wolfeman mentioned for sure. Most of the time it works great for me. Sometimes I have to go back and adjust the preferred routes settings to get around tolls etc, but it has never really steered me off track by anything major. The more you use it the more you learn what to watch out for.

 

[Turtle]

I used to use a laptop with Streets and Trips, until I realized just how insane it is for a solo driver to use a laptop while driving. Laptop users will justify it, heck, even I can justify it, but it's still insane, just the same.

Why spend several hundred dollars when you've already got a perfectly good laptop and you can turn it into a very reliable GPS unit for less than $100?

See? I can justify it, too. Still insane, tho.

Streets and Trips is a great tool, and I use it a lot, just never while driving. I use a Garmin for that. Scour the Tech Forum for all the pros and cons. Ideally, you should use the laptop for a week or two, then use a standalone unit for a week or so, see which one makes more sense for you. You may go back to the laptop like Aileron did (but then again, he had a Tom Tom not a Garmin, plus, he's a FECCer, and, well, you know how they are).

If anyone tells you that using a laptop while driving isn't a distraction, you can bet real money that they'll say the same thing about a cell phone.

 

[pelicn]

We also have Truckstops plus as an addon. I agree with Turtle, I can't imagine using it as a GPS unit as a solo.

 

[xiggi]

I used to use a laptop with Streets and Trips, until I realized just how insane it is for a solo driver to use a laptop while driving. Laptop users will justify it, heck, even I can justify it, but it's still insane, just the same.

Why spend several hundred dollars when you've already got a perfectly good laptop and you can turn it into a very reliable GPS unit for less than $100?

See? I can justify it, too. Still insane, tho.

Streets and Trips is a great tool, and I use it a lot, just never while driving. I use a Garmin for that. Scour the Tech Forum for all the pros and cons. Ideally, you should use the laptop for a week or two, then use a standalone unit for a week or so, see which one makes more sense for you. You may go back to the laptop like Aileron did (but then again, he had a Tom Tom not a Garmin, plus, he's a FECCer, and, well, you know how they are).

If anyone tells you that using a laptop while driving isn't a distraction, you can bet real money that they'll say the same thing about a cell phone.

If you have or get one of the little net books (great for on the road!) just 299.00 at walmart you can set it right on the dash like a gps.

 

[Turtle]

If you have or get one of the little net books (great for on the road!) just 299.00 at walmart you can set it right on the dash like a gps.

Yup, same with a smartphone. I know a couple of guys who do that. The key is to have it as close to your line of sight as possible, so you don't have to avert your eyes from the road to look it.

Another key is to have the screen as small as practical so you don't waste time in having to focus in on something specific amongst all that screen real estate. A fist at arm's length in front of you should just barely obscure the entire screen. If the screen is bigger than your fist, the screen's too big, or too close.

 

[piper1]

(but then again, he had a Tom Tom not a Garmin, plus, he's a FECCer, and, well, you know how they are).

Mother Fed makes no recommendations nor offers for sale or rent any GPS device. We as independent contractors are left on our own to solve this urgent issue, I almost cried from the stress.

Now that that is said, (and my pom poms are safely stowed) I have used both and found the Garmin a lot less "busy". It is therefore more useful and safe. I do keep S&T for route planning so I can quickly compare different ways to get to a destination if I choose to ignore the directions provided to me.....uh oh I feel that stress coming on again!! I better phone the VRU to feel safe and warm.

 

[flattop40]

As a van solo/team I use nothing but S&T. I have several pretriped runs canned for common runs. Also a map for every flying J so I can get my free showers. I set my Lap Top on a cooler sitting between the front seats with a nonslip matt under it. I LOVE the bigger screen. The dependablilty is about 90%+. Every once in awhile it won't find the street you need so I then request directions from dispatch and that gets me close enough. The street numbers may be slightly off but it will get you with in 1/4 mile either side of it.

I don't see the need for both and with a 17" screen how can you go wrong?

 

[cheri1122]

I don't see the need for both and with a 17" screen how can you go wrong?[/QUOTE]

In the time it takes to turn your head to the point where the windshield isn't even in your peripheral vision, and allow your eyes and brain to refocus on the laptop screen, obtain the info needed, then repeat the process in reverse to look at what's happening around you, you can go very wrong. Catastrophically wrong, before you even know what hit you. Or vice versa.
I started with S&T on the laptop, [though never while moving], and the gps that's located near my field of vision is so far superior it's just amazing. Plus, my laptop stays safely stowed away while moving, which I also prefer.
To each his own risks, I guess.

 

[arkjarhead]

I don't see the need for both and with a 17" screen how can you go wrong?

To each his own risks, I guess.
[/QUOTE]

until someone gets killed.

 

[chefdennis]

I don't use S&T's but I do use a Garmin installed in my laptop. The laptop is installed at eye level right under the rearview mirror on a adjustable "Ram" computer stand that i can move 14 ways till fri...it pivots and bends and bows and likes it !! I added another pivot arm so i could move it closer to my line of sight. I like it amd will not be without it.

That being said, i am waiting on the reviews on the new t 465 from garmin and if it all works as it seems to, i will have one of them in the windshield also, reson being, with a unot that doesn't take into consideration thuck routes, even in a cargo van you ARE going to find that at times it will out you on back water roads that nothing with wheels should ever be on....so havung a way to control the specs for the roads needed( ok you can fudge them and convince the gps you are a 33.000 gvw stragight truck) and keep you on roads that are passable....

But even with a stand alone, i won't give up my laptop...that big screen is the best, especiallwhen at eye level in under the mirror......

 

[jrcarroll]

To each his own risks, I guess.

until someone gets killed.[/QUOTE]

you can set S&T to voice and do not need to look at it all the time. I've used it solo in a van for years. I, like others take time when setting route to look over route. and along the way, usually when fueling I'll look at it again, to refresh my memory as to what exit to take. I only use the voice when in town....

 

[loner1]

I don't see the need for both and with a 17" screen how can you go wrong?

In the time it takes to turn your head to the point where the windshield isn't even in your peripheral vision, and allow your eyes and brain to refocus on the laptop screen, obtain the info needed, then repeat the process in reverse to look at what's happening around you, you can go very wrong. Catastrophically wrong, before you even know what hit you. Or vice versa.
I started with S&T on the laptop, [though never while moving], and the gps that's located near my field of vision is so far superior it's just amazing. Plus, my laptop stays safely stowed away while moving, which I also prefer.
To each his own risks, I guess.
[/QUOTE]


LET'S ALL CALM DOWN!!! My Streets and Trips has VOICE and if you only have it set on turn by turn, you aren't really reading the map. I believe that should be done in pre-trip. I like the cooler idea with a non-slip mat.

I just wanted to know if it WORKS - not necessarily OPINIONS on the safety of it. For that matter, the GPS and the cell phone and the QC and the laptop are ALL distractions. We must all, in the end, work on being careful, responsible professionals.

Thanks for all the input.

 

[flattop40]

You guys/gals are a joke. I use the voice command and when I do look at the screen I make sure I do it when it is safe. I am 45 years old and have been driving since I was 14 and have NEVER had an accident.

Do you talk on the phone while driving? text?( I certainly hope not) take a DRINK of something? Smoke? Talk to your team driver? use a **** bottle? Talk on the CB? ETC...... All are factors for distracted driving.

ANYONE who says they don't do ANYTHING that distracts them is a lier.

I understand the need for saftey but jumping my **** for using a laptop with S&T while driving is going a little too far.

 

[dletheridge]

I've used the TomTom for a while - yes it's not for trucks. That's what eyes are for - to read the signs to confirm what the gps says.

I've added POI's for Truck Stops, Cat Scales, Low Clearances and Chicken Coops.

I've tried co-pilot for truck, but it has routed me through the same routings that tomtom has --- no truck routes.