When is a good Time to get Co-pilot

[terrylamar]

But how often do you drive on roads and streets where you have never traveled before? If you are like me it is very seldom and you basically travel on the same roads and along the same routes over and over again. So if you measured the times when you would actually have to pull out the MCRA to confirm if a road or route is truck acceptable or not would be very minimal.

In the near future it will be 100% of the time that I drive to places I have never been before. I expect that percentage to come down as the days, weeks, months and years to roll on.

[Crackaces]

CrackAces -

What Garmin are you using - I have an older color Streetpilot with 128mb card (yes, I download frequently, depending on route) - that has been doing a surprisingly good job (cross referenced with company directions, laptop mapping and MCA) - but am thinking about upgrading -

Thoughts?

Paul

I own a Garmin7200 an dI also use the PC software nRoute.

nRoute has not been upgraded since 2005 but I like it better than Co-Pilot as a PC based GPS.

[Spunker]

Whatever you do don't invest in technology, just drive within 50 miles of your destination and get on the CB and asking if anyone knows where you're going. I don't know about the rest of you ,but i get tired of driver's that won't invest in technology. A small investment can keep you from needing to rely on a stranger over the radio, who might be giving you bad information. You don't know if they are just evil, or missed informed, or even a driver.

[Toothpick]

But how often do you drive on roads and streets where you have never traveled before? If you are like me it is very seldom and you basically travel on the same roads and along the same routes over and over again. So if you measured the times when you would actually have to pull out the MCRA to confirm if a road or route is truck acceptable or not would be very minimal.

In the near future it will be 100% of the time that I drive to places I have never been before. I expect that percentage to come down as the days, weeks, months and years to roll on.

I recommend just starting out that you stay away from navigation software in the beginning. That you instead use the MCRA alone. That way you will become very proficient at doing everything manually. It is very important that you know how to do everything manually at first. You never know when you will have to revert back to manual mode. After you have reached a certain level of proficiency doing it manually, then go ahead and jump on the navigation software bandwagon.

[terrylamar]

But how often do you drive on roads and streets where you have never traveled before? If you are like me it is very seldom and you basically travel on the same roads and along the same routes over and over again. So if you measured the times when you would actually have to pull out the MCRA to confirm if a road or route is truck acceptable or not would be very minimal.

In the near future it will be 100% of the time that I drive to places I have never been before. I expect that percentage to come down as the days, weeks, months and years to roll on.

I recommend just starting out that you stay away from navigation software in the beginning. That you instead use the MCRA alone. That way you will become very proficient at doing everything manually. It is very important that you know how to do everything manually at first. You never know when you will have to revert back to manual mode. After you have reached a certain level of proficiency doing it manually, then go ahead and jump on the navigation software bandwagon.

Well, I've been reading maps for many decades, in several different countries, I think I might have it down by now!

[Toothpick]

But how often do you drive on roads and streets where you have never traveled before? If you are like me it is very seldom and you basically travel on the same roads and along the same routes over and over again. So if you measured the times when you would actually have to pull out the MCRA to confirm if a road or route is truck acceptable or not would be very minimal.

In the near future it will be 100% of the time that I drive to places I have never been before. I expect that percentage to come down as the days, weeks, months and years to roll on.

I recommend just starting out that you stay away from navigation software in the beginning. That you instead use the MCRA alone. That way you will become very proficient at doing everything manually. It is very important that you know how to do everything manually at first. You never know when you will have to revert back to manual mode. After you have reached a certain level of proficiency doing it manually, then go ahead and jump on the navigation software bandwagon.

Well, I've been reading maps for many decades, in several different countries, I think I might have it down by now!

Okay...what's the mileage from Rochester, NY to Albany, Ga?

[terrylamar]

"Okay...what's the mileage from Rochester, NY to Albany, Ga?"

According to Map Quest it is 1120.94 miles. This was the most convienent map I have available at the moment.

[terrylamar]

This is kind of simple compared to a night land navigation course. Pre GPS.

[Toothpick]

This is kind of simple compared to a night land navigation course. Pre GPS.

I guess it was since you cheated. However, you still got it wrong. Actual miles, notwithstanding mapquest, are 1163.

[terrylamar]

This is kind of simple compared to a night land navigation course. Pre GPS.

I guess it was since you cheated. However, you still got it wrong. Actual miles, notwithstanding mapquest, are 1163.

Cheated? There were no rules established. Yes, I one of the ones who brings a gun to a knife fight and a couple of my buddies for insurance.

[Toothpick]

This is kind of simple compared to a night land navigation course. Pre GPS.

I guess it was since you cheated. However, you still got it wrong. Actual miles, notwithstanding mapquest, are 1163.

Cheated? There were no rules established. Yes, I one of the ones who brings a gun to a knife fight and a couple of my buddies for insurance.

Good...then you understand that it's best to have more rather than less tools at your disposal.

[manny797]

Just my 2 cents, but they did a study and found MapQuest to be the worst mapping program on the net. I use DeLorme LT20 GPS, and use my atlas as a backup. I do have the ability to modify, and restrict certain routes on the programming, but like I said, just my 2 cents.

[terrylamar]

This is kind of simple compared to a night land navigation course. Pre GPS.

I guess it was since you cheated. However, you still got it wrong. Actual miles, notwithstanding mapquest, are 1163.

Cheated? There were no rules established. Yes, I one of the ones who brings a gun to a knife fight and a couple of my buddies for insurance.

Good...then you understand that it's best to have more rather than less tools at your disposal.

I just purchased Microsoft Street & Trips 2007. I'm waiting on 2007 Rand McNally Large Scale Motor Carriers' Road Atlas to be released. I'll start playing with S&T now. If any of you have any practical exercises you want to challenge me on... start off easy.

[terrylamar]

OK, I have the software installed. I cannot figure out how to install the GPS. Some one in a previous post said it could be installed directly into a USB slot, how? I also have a cable, it will go into the USB slot, but it will not go into the GPS unit itself. What am I missing here?

Never mind, I figured it out!

[terrylamar]

This is kind of simple compared to a night land navigation course. Pre GPS.

I guess it was since you cheated. However, you still got it wrong. Actual miles, notwithstanding mapquest, are 1163.

Hmmm, I just ran Rochester, NY to Albany, GA and it came out to quickest 1142.2 miles or shortest 1111.6 on my brand new 2007 Streets & Tripps. Maybe MapQuest isn't as far off as some believe.

[Toothpick]

Take a few trips around town to test it out and familiarize yourself with some of the navigation features.

When in navigation mode I always check, “rotate map to follow travel direction.” That way when you look at the display the arrow is always pointed up in the direction that you are traveling, making it easy to see at just a glance which direction your next turn will be, without actually having to read your next instruction.

Another thing I do is anytime I’m within 30 miles of my next turn I toggle on the “use dynamic turn view” feature, which increases the level of magnification automatically as you approach your next turn, making it easier for you to keep your eyes on the road and to concentrate on your driving. I never use the voice feature, by the way, because I always have the satellite radio broadcasting away.

Also, anytime the magnification level is more than 30 miles, I toggle to “keep position centered” and then set the magnification level out 15 to 20 miles. That way I can see out at least 15 miles and still see enough detail to see any truck stops, rest areas, parking areas, and weigh stations that I loaded in for at least 15 miles ahead as I approach them.

Finally, another thing I do is park my curser on top of the “create GPS trail” check box as I travel. That way if I see something like a truck stop, parking area, weigh station, or etc. I can instantly mark its location as I go by simply by clicking the button once to toggle on the feature and then clicking the button once again to toggle off the feature. Another thing I do is always toggle on this feature anytime I enter a truck stop or a shipper or consignee’s location so that I can mark those spots precisely, because at the end of the day, I always pushpin all those locations with relevant information into my default map for future reference.

Hell…if you are feeling a little ambitious and have a lot of time on your hands, you can even go in and mark all the low clearance locations and restricted routes in your default map so that you want have to even check the MCRA any longer.

[Rawlco]

This is kind of simple compared to a night land navigation course. Pre GPS.

I guess it was since you cheated. However, you still got it wrong. Actual miles, notwithstanding mapquest, are 1163.

Hmmm, I just ran Rochester, NY to Albany, GA and it came out to quickest 1142.2 miles or shortest 1111.6 on my brand new 2007 Streets & Tripps. Maybe MapQuest isn't as far off as some believe.

With my Delorme on Shortest I get 1041.1 miles including several "unnamed" roads.
With my Delorme on Quickest I get 1045.32 miles.
I imagine I matters where in Rochester or Albany the software picks to start.