What is your choice for routing software

[guest]

I am searching for and looking for advise on the best routing software for my laptop.
I am currently using MS Trips & Streets. It has saved me some miles and seems to be OK. I'm sure there is a better product out there, but I am looking for suggestions from some of you Veterans.
If you have any suggestions, please post them and if possible the URL of the site where I can check out the product.
Thanks

 

[The Gibster]

We use TruckMiles, it has a great feature where you click 'fuel' at the top of the screen and icons of the fuel and truck stops come up all over the screen. Makes fuel choices easy.

We also use Mapquest, Yahoo, and Streets and Maps; and a couple of times TruckMiles found the address where all the others could only get us to the center of town.

Try TruckMiles.com, I don't have the box anymore.

 

[rode2rouen]

CoPilot Truck

www.alk.com


Rex

 

[gojack]

Delorme Street atlas w/GPS

http://www.delorme.com/streetatlasplus/default.asp

Accurate Mapping and routing
Full white and yellow pages entire USA.
will search by address, name, phone number reverse look up etc.,
You can add routable roads and add notes to your map, handy!
Search for - along your route..,
say Wendies or TA or Office Supplies etc.,

was not paying attention once, was running on fumes,
rural Ohio late at night,
Did a radius search from my location, called closest gas stations
to make sure they were open and had diesel, saved my Butt.

New GPS is single wire USB and runs off laptop,
so accurate It shows which side on the interstate you are on.
Route Calculations are based on road class (you plug in your interstate speed, State Route Speed etc, and it calculates on your driving speeds, fuel stops based on your MPG and %tank to fill-up at.

When I can not find a place, and no-one is answering their phone, I have run a search on the street name and call business close by.

If you have multiple drops and picks like I do, very nice to calculate
shortest routing.

Biggest problem for me is the other drivers calling me for directions.

Read posts about Copilot, looks good but $$$

Dave

 

[rode2rouen]

My thinking is the extra money spent on CoPilot Truck will be justified when it routes your 13'6" high D unit around a 13'3" overpass.
That doesn't seem to be the case with the other programs, which appear to be more auto oriented.

Rex

 

[gojack]

True, on heigth restrictions

I drive a Sprinter

 

[kempers_gramp]

Although using a laptop for routing could prevent the purchase of a GPS unit, I would suggest the purchase of the Garmin 2620. About $1,100.00. Yes, it is a healthy price to pay for routing "software", but consider that your laptop is not made to be used in a truck, sitting on a stand, the floor or the passengers seat, while driving down the road. Neither the integral components, nor the external components, i.e. the hinges, disk drive, etc. will hold up to the abuse of a truck on the road, for extended periods of time, unless you have an extremely smooth riding truck. Still laptops are not designed with this purpose in mind. I don't know about computer software for routing, but the Garmin 2620 with voice activated routing, will tell you where to turn, when to turn, and if you $%^&ed up. I mean missed your turn. Then, if the latter, will immediately re-route you to get you back on track, as if you meant to arrive at the consingnee, for instance, from the north instead of the south. It also has truck routing, toll avoidance, dirt road avoidance...etc...etc....

The Garmin also has search features for the immediate area, the route area, or any area that you can think of within the U.S. and Canada. There are way too many features to list here!!!!!

For those of you considering the purchase of a GPS, I would strongly suggest spending the extra money and buying the best unit available to you.

I had originally purchased the monetary equivellent unit from Magellan, but after not finding a street or two, and being excessively routed to my destination, I decided to give the Garmin unit a try, and boy am I glad I did.

The time and money saved on fuel, not to mention lower blood pressure, because I am the man who knows where I am, and where I am going(even ask my wife, she'll tell ya) in about 2 months in shorter routing and not "looking" for the pick up and delivery locations, not to mention a Wal-Mart, or a place to fuel, or having wrong directions from dispatch (like that ever happens), I would say that It will pay for itself in a year or less.

Just my opinion, take it for what you will.

"I'm not much, but I'm all they have".........Kempers_gramp

 

[FlameMerc]

I don't mind the $$$$$$$ if it does all you say. My question is, Does it have Truck routing like the Copilot? Don't need to take the box off my truck.LOL Drive Safely..........Butch

 

[kempers_gramp]

Don't know for sure about co-pilot vs. garmin.....I haven't seen what co-pilot has to offer.
I would assume that co-pilot probably is geared a little more toward truck drivers, although the gps does have truck routing.
Go to your local rent to own place down the street, rent one for a month,(for a bizillion dollars of course), and try it for yourself. Just an idea.

I ain't much, but I'm all they've got.

Kemp

 

[geo]

i have just gotten garmin 2610 which is the same as 2620 have'm load 2gb card
and they load it for free and save a bunch of money and get 100 dollar rebate and 955.00 to 855.00 after rebate and has truck routing
and any kind of routing you want
order from tvnav.com, 877 625 3546
they will do layway, when you send last payment they will send unit
will take comcheck or check (will have to wait 10 days for check to clear than will send unit)or money orders
yesterday had to go on some 2 man del's the truck we used didn't have
working cig lighter so had to do it the hard way looking at city map's
we did ok got lost a few times, he said next time be ready and bring garmin so we don't have to work as hard
garmin 2610 we route from where you are to where you want to go to next
ex from my house to work or from my house to eo office in ky and back
and if you have to take a detour will route you around it
it's great unit and saves me about hour a day as don't have to look
at the map just follow the arrow

 

[FlameMerc]

I just purchased a Magellan 700. Give me a few weeks and I will let you know how it works... Drive Safely...Butch

 

[Trucker don]

I use a Laptop, Streets and Trips 2004 (To be Upgraded to 2005) I also have Garmin GPS 18 deluxe. Since I drive a Big Truck. I must be careful as to which streets I go on. Using Streets and NRoute (Garmin) PC Miler. I can find most places.
I did find that It gets me to the front door. My problem was that Quebec Streets are not meant for Big Trucks. Plus it had snowed. I mean lots of snow. Big piles of snow where I should be truning into. I had to back down this narrow street. I couldn't turan the corner becauase of the narrow raod, Buried fire hydrant, and the fence buried in the snow on the corner. Not fun backing out on to a street with cars on both sides. They weren't there when I got there in early in the morning.
www.gpscentral.ca has lots of GPS goodies plus all the hard ware to dock said equiptment. They are in Calgary,Alberta. They do, excuse the pun. Fedex


>Although using a laptop for routing could prevent the
>purchase of a GPS unit, I would suggest the purchase of the
>Garmin 2620. About $1,100.00. Yes, it is a healthy price to
>pay for routing "software", but consider that your laptop is
>not made to be used in a truck, sitting on a stand, the
>floor or the passengers seat, while driving down the road.
Stuff deleted

 

[chaz]

I just purchased the Magellan 700 also. I hope to sign on with someone with just my cargo van. I dont know how well it would work for big trucks. So far, I do love it though. It has the whole United States and most of Canada programmed in it. It has voice prompts ,points of interests,etc.etc. It has restaurant symbols on the screen and you can just touch the symbol and it brings up the restaurant name,phone number etc. and asks if you want to route to that place. Also the same for fuel,atm machines etc. I just love it. You can carry it from vehicle to vehicle. I priced them at Best Buy ( 1299.00 ) I purchased mine from Tigergps.com for $988.00 including shipping and got $80.00 rebate back for a total of $908.00

 

[FlameMerc]

Well I don't need a couple of weeks to decide about my Magellan 700. I was able to check it out the yesterday. I had to go to Dayton,OH. It worked excellant right out of the box. No programing needed. You won't get lost with this one. If you make a wrong turn it tells you how to get back to your route. Love It....Drive Safely...Butch

 

[raceman]

About three weeks ago I shopped here in town at Micro Center, Sharonville, Ohio, and settled on Streets and Trips. It is side by side with Delorme and the exact same price. It loads in five minutes and you plug in a USB GPS and it is just fantastic. It offers all the same stuff as Delorme, ATMs, fuel stops, places to eat etc. The only problem I have had is the best way to keep the GPS chip in the window and keep the laptop where I can read it. I have yet to actually take it out in one of my trucks as I have been using it in my personal truck. It does not route purely for trucks like CoPilot does. I am ordering that as well from ALK, sooner or later. If you use it along with your truckers Atlas to check for heights and so on, I think it is great. I used it last night to route my drivers run from INdy to Chicago and it seems excellant. Since it is not with my driver it aint helping him much but he has a brand new transmission so I dont feel sorry for him. The cost of this was $129.00 comes with everything you need and runs on laptop. It says it will do things with phones and other handheld items but that starts getting over my head.

Raceman
Two Straight
owner
part time driver of one of my trucks and local TT
15mon.OTR Expediting
1 yr local Expediting