navigation programs

[GRB53]

Any routing solution you get should be looked over on a motor carrier atlas to verify the route is the best route to take, and that your not going to be hitting roads with bridges with low clearances, or weight restrictions. That way when your routed by the computer or GPS you should be already familiar and know if that sounds correct or not.

Yes sir, I'm hearing that a lot, so I'll definitely be checking it with the trusty Atlas. My biggest concern I think is those cities/towns that don't have a "blow-up" on the map.
It would be nice to at least go to Google Maps or something to check it out....now I just need to save enough for a laptop!

Thanks Longsnowsm,
Randy

[Longsnowsm]

You can get an inexpensive Acer laptop at Wally World for just shy of $500 that will get you down the road a while. Trips and Streets and an internet connection will probably get you the info your looking for.

Also on the motor carrier atlas you can usually get a better deal on the prior year atlas at big discounts over the latest greatest. I highly recommend the large version with the laminated pages. Makes it a lot easier to read.

Longsnowsm

[Toothpick]

how can you drag and drop from the Qualcomm to your laptop, Oh BTW, I passed my CDL driving test this morning...yee-hah! Should get my very first truck sometime next week...hoping it's not a POS

You don?t because you can?t. All you can do with a Qualcomm is read and write text. Hence, you read your route on the Qualcomm and at the same time you can either read your route in MS Streets and Trips or simply look at the route on the map from point A to point B and so on and so forth. I put my laptop on my steering wheel with the Qualcomm on my lap. Actually, after you?ve been doing this for a while, you won?t even have to look at the Qualcomm hardly anymore, because eventually you will reach a point where you know most of the routes just off the top of your head.

The route on the Qualcomm will look sort of like the following, I-40E, I-65N, Blue Grass Pkwy E, US-60E, Ky-4N, I-64E, I-77N, Stop 01. Just follow your route in MS Streets and Trips to see if the highways match up and if they don?t, then drag and drop till they do. It?s really pretty simple.

Oh...and congrats on passing your CDL and good luck!

[Toothpick]

Microsoft Streets & Trips 2007 will be out on Oct 12th.

The new features I saw mentioned:

GPS receiver is the StarFi III
Full screen driving mode
Internet lookup for business/info
and, I think, a huge database similar to the Delorme Streets Pro (or whatever it's called)

I'll probably pick it up when it comes out. Even though I use CoPilot most of the time, I still prefer S & T.

Here you go...check it out: What's new in MS Streets & Trips 2007

[GRB53]

The route on the Qualcomm will look sort of like the following, I-40E, I-65N, Blue Grass Pkwy E, US-60E, Ky-4N, I-64E, I-77N, Stop 01. Just follow your route in MS Streets and Trips to see if the highways match up and if they don?t, then drag and drop till they do. It?s really pretty simple.

I guess I've never heard "drag and drop" used in that context...I think of "drag and drop" as clicking on something (w/mouse) and "dragging" it to another location.

Oh...and congrats on passing your CDL and good luck![/quote]

Thanks Toothpick, I'll need it.

Randy

[Toothpick]

I guess I've never heard "drag and drop" used in that context...I think of "drag and drop" as clicking on something (w/mouse) and "dragging" it to another location.

That's exactly what I mean. Looking at the map in MS Streets & Trips, you click on and drag the route to the preferred route you want to take and release the mouse button and all from inside MS Streets & Trips. You can't drag & drop on a Qualcomm.

[arky]

I'm looking into buying a gps unit myself, I already have the laptop. I've never used one of these routing programs, but after reading here on CAD, I think I'll probably get the Streets and Trips. I'm curious as to what information the program gives when traveling through a city such as Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, etc. When your on a multi-lane road, will it tell you which lane you need to be in for your next exit? If so, how far in advance?

I'll probably still use the MCA for city to city routing, but I would like to have the gps unit for lane selection and street level directions at the shipper and reciever.

Thanks, Arky