trucker gps usage
- Thread starter LDB
- Start date
Jefferson3000
Expert Expediter
That's a relly big "whoops...."
Note the links on that site to other GPS "oops" . I'd heard this one . Man follows GPS directions onto train tracks, into dummy hall of fame - Engadget
Falligator
Expert Expediter
Just about 3 days ago my Jenson tried to get me to go down a Dead end road to get to another one. All I had to do was go to the end of the street and turn right. DUH!. Also several instances where there was no road. I'd like to know who programmed that one. Oh, one more thanks to North Carolina for shutting completely down the highway ramp and forcing me to detour another 5-6 miles out of my way. This happened when I was travelling west on I40 to I77 near the Greensboro area. They have a ramp completely shut down during the night hours. Thanks to my navigation system I was ok... NO detour signs either. They just force you to exit the highway.
If the GPS tries to send you where there is no road the road has probably been relocated within the past few years and the GPS is badly outdated . That's the case with the GPs my wife has . Newly constructed roads around here aren't recognized and when I use one it shows me driving through a field and tries to turn me around . I don't think even the best GPS will give you the ideal route . You can choose the quickest , shortest , least traffic , no tolls etc. but only experience will give you the best combination .
EagleRiverWI
Seasoned Expediter
I was going from Rockford, Il to Niles, Il just north of Chicago. When I tried to route myself around a possible low overpass and on to Touhy Street, my DeLorme had me exiting I 90 out of the locked service gate at the Des Plaines oasis. I have been using DeLorme for 12 years and it is my favorite. I tried them all. I wish I could e mail them the route so they could see how rediculous it was.
One thing I really like about DeLorme is that is gives you the option of manually adding a new road that is doesn't know about. You're on some new bypasss driving through what DeLorme thinks is farmland, and you can tell it to add the route as a new road. It's very kewl. The new I-40 bypass around Winston-Salem and Greensboro was just opened up the other day (5 minutes before I hit it), so you no longer have to go through downtown. None of the mapping programs are gonna have that.
I used to sell GPS units, mainly for marine use. Many could handle *chips* that had navigation charts on them. I sold what was at that time a top of the line unit to a guy with a 45ft boat. He had it installed professionllly. All was right and good with the world, or so I thougt. I had told him MANY times as I sold him the unit to ALWAYS check his route against *real* charts before he left and ALWAYS remain behind the wheel. WELL, guess what? He put in a route, did not check it, programed it into his auto-pilot and left port. When he was out of the harbor into open waters (Lake Erie) he set the auto-pilot and went down below for a few too many drinks. He and his 45ft boat plowed straight into the island that he forgot to plot around. He tried to return the unit as defective. (after he got his broken arm set) His big mistake was tellling me the entire story BEFORE he said he wanted to return it. I did not make the return on the unit and got an *A* for not laughing until the jerk left the store. Layoutshooter
Broompilot
Veteran Expediter
GPS are an AID not a Guarantee, sooner one learns this the better off one will find themselves. Use it as a TOOL not as a Wish and a Promise, or VS VS.
I love mine will never do without, but I use commonsense with its directions and more often than not some FRUSTRATI0N such as a Bridge that states 26Klbs when I am 77Klbs. OK NEXT PLAN. Aint taken that CHANCE.
I love mine will never do without, but I use commonsense with its directions and more often than not some FRUSTRATI0N such as a Bridge that states 26Klbs when I am 77Klbs. OK NEXT PLAN. Aint taken that CHANCE.
Critter Truckin
Expert Expediter
So all this about jacked-up GPS routing leads one to beg the question... Why doesn't mapquest have a site for trucks, seeing as how most of us aren't getting a copy of PCMiler? Sounds like a winner to me.
I Don't think I would use MapQuest for trucks if they had it. I find that MapQuest has more mistakes in it than most anything else I have tried. We have Delorme in the truck. It seems to have fewer mistakes than Streets and Trips and has more of the features that we are looking for. I bought an external GPS modual and mounted it on a post on the mirror frame.
Works good. It only cost $99 and has been up there over a year now. The ones that came with programs don't seem to hold up all that well. Layoutshooter
Works good. It only cost $99 and has been up there over a year now. The ones that came with programs don't seem to hold up all that well. Layoutshooter