nightthrasher
Seasoned Expediter
Can anyone tell us where we can buy p c miler, and is it really the best out there?
p c miler
- Thread starter nightthrasher
- Start date
dieseldiva
Veteran Expediter
It's the best out there, sort of, for getting an accurate number of miles, anyway. And depending on the modules you buy (Streets, HAZMAT, Fuel Optimization, Tolls, POI's, Zip Codes, etc), it is the best there is. Somewhere around 85% of all trucking companies use PC Miler, as does the IFTA and DOT, other agencies.
It's also ridiculously overpriced (which is why it's nearly impossible to find out the pricing anywhere online). The individual modules alone cost more than many standalone GPS units. From a purely cost effectiveness analysis perspective, you'd be hard pressed to haul enough freight to justify the cost of an $800 Garmin, but such a unit has many other benefits, tangible and intangible. You'll never haul enough freight to justify the cost of a full-blown PC Miler for an individual truck. For carriers, it's priced according to how it's to be used, number of trucks, lots of factors.
Basic PC Miler, which gives you Zip Code to Zip Code mileage, is $895 for the single license owner/operator version. If you want door-to-door directions using actual street addresses, add the "Streets" module $1000. If you want the "HAZMAT" routing module, another $1000. It gets real ugly after that. For Fuel Tax reporting and basic mileage, though, many truckers can get a lot of use out of PC Miler. For them it's more cost effective. For most, a good Garmin or Tom Tom and dirt cheap eTrucker software does the same thing.
A medium sized carrier, however, depending on the modules and how it's all integrated into their system, could pay half a million dollars or more to have PC Miler installed into their system, and it would be very cost effective for them to do so. For an individual trucker, not so much.
It's also ridiculously overpriced (which is why it's nearly impossible to find out the pricing anywhere online). The individual modules alone cost more than many standalone GPS units. From a purely cost effectiveness analysis perspective, you'd be hard pressed to haul enough freight to justify the cost of an $800 Garmin, but such a unit has many other benefits, tangible and intangible. You'll never haul enough freight to justify the cost of a full-blown PC Miler for an individual truck. For carriers, it's priced according to how it's to be used, number of trucks, lots of factors.
Basic PC Miler, which gives you Zip Code to Zip Code mileage, is $895 for the single license owner/operator version. If you want door-to-door directions using actual street addresses, add the "Streets" module $1000. If you want the "HAZMAT" routing module, another $1000. It gets real ugly after that. For Fuel Tax reporting and basic mileage, though, many truckers can get a lot of use out of PC Miler. For them it's more cost effective. For most, a good Garmin or Tom Tom and dirt cheap eTrucker software does the same thing.
A medium sized carrier, however, depending on the modules and how it's all integrated into their system, could pay half a million dollars or more to have PC Miler installed into their system, and it would be very cost effective for them to do so. For an individual trucker, not so much.
I believe CoPilot Truck uses PC Miler map data, thereby giving you the accuracy of PC Miler without the too high price. Though, accuracy within a few miles is generally achieved these days with most mapping programs.
CoPilot Truck is not perfect, but it does provide HAZMAT routing and truck routing that has helped us numerous times; but like all other programs, it does not get it right every time.
CoPilot Truck is not perfect, but it does provide HAZMAT routing and truck routing that has helped us numerous times; but like all other programs, it does not get it right every time.
You'd think that, but it's not. PC Miler is very, very accurate, CoPilot is not. Too often it tells you to turn left when you should be turning right. Sometimes it's off by miles. The latest version of CoPilot is better than earlier versions, but it's most definitely not the same mapping and routing data as PC Miler. If it was, no one would buy PC Miler.
Within a few miles is worthless. It needs to be within feet, not miles. Can you imagine your mapping program telling you to turn left on Cherry Street in 400 feet, when Cherry Street is actually a few miles behind you? Most mapping programs these days are within 10 or 20 feet, especially if they use a GPS receiver.
Having HAZMAT is a very important thing, obviously, if you haul HAZMAT. For the most part, on the major roads and routes, especially HAZMAT routes, CoPilot works very well. If you haul HAZMAT, CoPilot is very tempting, just don't expect to be able to rely on it as your sole source for routing. Experience, common sense, paper maps, and other mapping programs should probably be used, as well.
For me, personally, any laptop-based routing program is no longer a viable option, as it takes too much attention away from driving, usually at the very time both the driving and the computer each require the most attention. I prefer a standalone dedicated GPS unit. If I hauled a lot of HAZMAT I might be highly tempted to have CoPilot on the laptop in addition to the Garmin, then alter the Garmin's routing to account for the HAZMAT routes that CoPilot gives me. But I'd be driving with the laptop turned off.
jaminjim
Veteran Expediter
Turtle said:For me, personally, any laptop-based routing program is no longer a viable option, as it takes too much attention away from driving, usually at the very time both the driving and the computer each require the most attention. I prefer a standalone dedicated GPS unit. If I hauled a lot of HAZMAT I might be highly tempted to have CoPilot on the laptop in addition to the Garmin, then alter the Garmin's routing to account for the HAZMAT routes that CoPilot gives me. But I'd be driving with the laptop turned off.
Why do youthink it takes more attention than a stand alone GPS?
Why do youthink it takes more attention than a stand alone GPS?
It's about averting the eyes and changing focus. One, I have the Garmin mounted on the dash within finger's reach while my hands are on the wheel. I'm holding onto the wheel and I can point with one finger to touch the screen of the Garmin. Two, where the Garmin is mounted it is very nearly in my line of sight while driving. Glancing down a few degree at the Garmin is even less distracting than glancing over at a mirror.
With a laptop, no matter where you mount it, you have to avert your attention to it, then focus in on the space that has the information you need, be it the little car thingy that shows where you are, or the directions line for your next turn. With the Garmin everything I need to see is right there in the same space as a business card.
That is particularly important when you have several quick or complicated turns to make within a few hundred feet (a few seconds) of each other. At times like that it's quick and easy to glance back and forth between the Garmin and the road to see the turns coming up 100 feet from now. With a laptop there's too many fractions of a second wasted in refocusing back and forth, and you know what can happen in the blink of an eye.
While driving, you can also make route changes and look stuff up quicker and easier on the Garmin than you can on a laptop. And you can do these things with minimal distraction, far less distraction than a Bluetooth cell phone headset. Doing these things on a laptop while driving is just insane.
I'm a computer geek, so at the time it was really the only option I considered. Pay $100, $200 for software and a USB GPS receiver, or pay $800 for a standalone unit? Puhleeze. That's a no-brainer. But, after getting a standalone unit, I can look back and honestly say that I was a fool to use a laptop in that manner.
I now use a laptop as a laptop, and a standalone GPS unit as a GSP unit, and they both work better. And I drive safer.
With a laptop, no matter where you mount it, you have to avert your attention to it, then focus in on the space that has the information you need, be it the little car thingy that shows where you are, or the directions line for your next turn. With the Garmin everything I need to see is right there in the same space as a business card.
That is particularly important when you have several quick or complicated turns to make within a few hundred feet (a few seconds) of each other. At times like that it's quick and easy to glance back and forth between the Garmin and the road to see the turns coming up 100 feet from now. With a laptop there's too many fractions of a second wasted in refocusing back and forth, and you know what can happen in the blink of an eye.
While driving, you can also make route changes and look stuff up quicker and easier on the Garmin than you can on a laptop. And you can do these things with minimal distraction, far less distraction than a Bluetooth cell phone headset. Doing these things on a laptop while driving is just insane.
I'm a computer geek, so at the time it was really the only option I considered. Pay $100, $200 for software and a USB GPS receiver, or pay $800 for a standalone unit? Puhleeze. That's a no-brainer. But, after getting a standalone unit, I can look back and honestly say that I was a fool to use a laptop in that manner.
I now use a laptop as a laptop, and a standalone GPS unit as a GSP unit, and they both work better. And I drive safer.
You are correct, in a GPS, turn by turn, context. I only meant that on runs, like say from an address in San Francisco to one in Philadelphia, the mileage will agree, more or less, with the run offer for the load.
Hey has anyone used the CoPilot 11 yet? I think the mapping data is the same as PC Miler. The difference is the use of the data within the program. PC Miler is designed for usage by transportation companies to send you routing information. CoPilot uses the same data only in a live format. If you're given poor data from the company, CoPilot would just duplicate it.
Kat
Kat
TwoMotherTrkrs
Seasoned Expediter
Love our GPS. Actually, we have 2: a Kenwood (with Garmin GPS built in), and a Garmin hand-held that we can mount anywhere. One backs up the other.
My Garmin Street Pilot is not perfect... It still gets lost ocassionally, and has sent me on a few unnecessary detours, but for the most part, it's accurate, easy to use, and gets me where I need to be in a fairly competent manner.
I also carry a laptop with the latest version of Microsoft Streets and Trips, but I only use it when the truck is parked, and I have time to play with it to find my best route.
I also carry a laptop with the latest version of Microsoft Streets and Trips, but I only use it when the truck is parked, and I have time to play with it to find my best route.
Another benefit of the stand-alone units: the "reset trip data" feature on the Garmin Nuvii (and I presume on similiar units) is great for keeping track of mileage driven in each state, for fuel tax purposes. Just reset at each state line, (make a note of miles driven, before it disappears
) and it resets the miles driven to zero, without changing anything else. I love my Garmin!
) and it resets the miles driven to zero, without changing anything else. I love my Garmin!ThibodeauxBayou
Not a Member
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