GPS For Trip Planning

[planetwaters]

Does anyone use a GPS program, such as "Co-Pilot"? My husband and I just finished the 11 day training at Schneider. We will be out on the road teaming together in about 3 weeks. We would like any input regarding GPS programs for a laptop computer. Please explain what specific things you like or prefer about the one you have chosen or seen.

Thanks !!! [/b]

[freebird]

I had a student with me and he asked if he could use his GPS, I said,"great I'd like to see how they work!"
Simple trip, pretty much straight line on the "big road!' That thing was wanting us to exit, I don't know how many times, only to get back on!
Needless to say I was unimpressed! I was impressed that it did show truckstops, and chicken coops and the mile post they were at!
I'm sure they are an asset, and should be used if you have them, BUT you still can't replace the Motor Carriers Atlas (and all it has to offer, not just maps!) common sense, a truckstop guide, and the other big one......experience!

[planetwaters]

Thanks for your response Freebird. I agree they shouldn't replace the Atlas, but instead give you a general trip plan that you can "tweak". I also thought it would be helpful for finding your destination in a city. :P

[freebird]

I have PC Miler, and Streets and Trips on my laptop.
Agreed, anything that can make the trip less stressful, should be used!
Best of all, it's all a tax deduction in the end!!

[Big Slick]

I have streets and trips, and it works pretty well. The only thing it doesn't have is restricted roadway information. If they added that type of info and added such parameters to the search function, it would be ideal.

[Crackaces]

I tested 5 GPS systems before settling on ALK PcMiller.

First using a GPS meant for a car does not know about low clearances, and roads designated for trucks. In particular roads where commercial vehicles are prohibited. However, if you check the route against the Road Atlas I found these products cheaper and the street atlas features to be better.

I tried ProMIles XF. The Fuel optimizer feature would be a pretty valuable asset if you were an owner/operator. Download the current fuel prices and it will route to the most practical and set up fuel stops to ensure the best fuel prices. I was very disappointed that XF can not use a GPS (works off a special qualcom service) It does plan rest stops given 11 hours driving and 10 hours of rest and has a table of all the speed limits for the US.. This was a neat feature except it assumes maximum speed limits even though the route climbs well know passes that have lower speed limits. You could quickly set the trip up and accept the pre-plan thinking you can make it when in fact you would be hours late, and for $800 (NO GPS Features) I would expect the software to have a better database of places to sleep in addition to truck stops. Like the data in the book "The Next Exit". BTW) the cheaper ProMiles Truck Miles does function with a GPS.

I settled on ALK Laptop PCMIller for $399. So far in my testing it has worked very well. I have ran some tests and I have not experienced exiting and getting on the freeway .. yet. I am thinking the software mentioned that did this was set for shortest route rather than practical route.

One additional thought if I might ..... there is a journal out there where the driver relied very heavily on his GPS especially in New Jersey and New York. His computer decided to take a hike and he ended up in a precarious position. When I flew I had lots of electronic awareness displays like Terrain, VFR map, IFR MAP etc .. but I still followed along on paper. Electrical things tend to go wrong and thus in my opinion should be an aid and not the only tool. Just a thought

[planetwaters]

This is the one I was looking at:

www.dieselboss.com/Travrout/cptruck.htm

I think it would be a great tool, while manually using the atlas to double check low clearances etc... As newbies, my husband and I can use all the help we can get. :wink:

Thanks for your responses [/url]

[Radaremtjcw]

Hey All,

I have Tried Most Mapping Software Applications

1. Streets and Trips
2. Co-Pilot
3. Pro Miles (No GPS Support included, add on GPS support does not do street to street routing due to liability issues{I went round and round on the phone with them}
4. Delorme Street Atlas USA (I have beta Tested the new 2006 release due out in august)

I Have to Agree Nothing replaces the Rand Mcnally atlas and experience.

No Software Application will ever be perfect, Most companies recieve their GIS Data from USGS and it is rarely accurate

Right now my Choice for Planning for me is a Street Atlas USA 2006
I do not have the full version yet but they have a ton of new features
and they are saying the new POI (Points of interests) will include most truck facilities and will be GPS Accurate
also they Pro version comes on 2 DVD's and includes over 3 Million Business Telephone Listings( This comes in handy when looking for a shipper/reciever and the Directions on the Quallcomm are not so good or missing) as well as an address book. :wink:

You can also draw roads and make your own restrictions, if enough truckers get together with street atlas, I will make a website to collect restrictions and roads

www.delorme.com Standard $50 Pro $99

I dont think most software will have low clearance / restricted info for some time

[rvrjr7]

Me I use pc miler and microsoft streets and trips as well as the directions to places given to me by the company off the qualcomm

[3rd5th7th8th]

I'm currently using MS Streets & Trips with GPS and I'm disappointed with it. Paid $129+tax at Office Max. A week after buying it, I saw Delorme advertised for $99.

Things I don't like about Streets & Trips:

No warning about upcoming turns.

No warning if you stray off course.

It won't remember detours from a previous trip (I force detours around prohibited streets, low clearances, lightweight bridges, etc. )

Directions pane won't scroll automatically, has to be done manually.

Won't remember waypoints from previous trip.


I've read the Help instructions. If there is an easy way around these problems, I haven't been able to find it.


I've used Delorme maps in the past without the GPS feature, and it seems to be engineered much better than Microsoft.

[freebird]

Things I don't like about Streets & Trips:

No warning about upcoming turns.

No warning if you stray off course.

It won't remember detours from a previous trip (I force detours around prohibited streets, low clearances, lightweight bridges, etc. )

Directions pane won't scroll automatically, has to be done manually.

Won't remember waypoints from previous trip.


I've read the Help instructions. If there is an easy way around these problems, I haven't been able to find it.


.

...an easy way?
Sure, it's called an atlas, maybe write down on paper (keep it simple!) the roads or highways you need and refer to them!
I wouldn't want to depend on anything electronic to make a trip, as a backup maybe, but that's it!

[Radaremtjcw]

Afraid Of Technology?

IMO- The only game in town anymore is ALK Tech's Co-Pilot Laptop - Truck version.

Routing SPECIFICALLY for trucks. Plus a LOT of great other features. I feel it was WELL worth the $411 shipped price.

But always have a Motor Carrier Atlas, Truck Stop guide, pencils, paper, and a calculator around in case.

[Malaki86]

I'd love to try out Co-Pilot, but i'm not about to spend that kind of money if it doesn't do exactly what i want it to. I wish they'd come out with a demo version of it.

I'd love to try out Co-Pilot, but i'm not about to spend that kind of money if it doesn't do exactly what i want it to. I wish they'd come out with a demo version of it.

100% money-back 30 day trial. Just make sure the box/info is re-sealable so they can sell it again.

[davidhtn]

I'd just like to add my two cents here, When I first started driving I used to get lost, I went out on a limb and bought a very nice 17inch wide screen laptop, microsoft streets and trips 2006, delorme street atlas usa, and the trusty paper map, some of you people say oh use paper map use paper map, I hate to break it to you guys, but the same errors which are on the gps softwares are in the large paper atlas's too, when I ran 48 states I constantly ran up to roads which no longer exist, or roads that really were not designed for trucks all the same as with the computer maping.

I guess what i'm getting at here is just use your head, there is never a reason to roll under a low clearance, always plan your routes using which ever source you have for finding the information, but for those of you which are anti-gps, try it, it will change the way you drive, how you plan your trips, get you to shp or con much quicker and save you fuel from less driven miles, planning time is reduced to about... 5 seconds in most cases? its rare you roll up to a low clearance anyways and 90% of the time, you can roll with what it gives you, and it will always be the shortest, most practical way to get where you are going. the main thing to remember is to configure your road options, avoid city streets where possible, and you will hit nothing but us hwys and interstate, no problems there.

alright maybe that was three cents, but thats my view on it after a year of using this stuff, and my computer has not crashed once, i have not experienced any situation where i was unable to use it except in a bad snow storm where i had to pull over anyways.

so there you have it, if you can afford it, get yourself a good laptop and you wont have problems with the computer crapping out ($1000+) and the cheap gps software like delorme street atlas usa 2006 is fine, dont waste 400+ on some truck software, always compare your route given to a low clearance and restricted route list.

cheers.

[fierce750]

Copilot will do exactly what you need it to do.

Buy it, You will not be dissapointed.
This is comming from someone who has Streets and trips,Delorme and rand mc nalleys 2002 tripmaker

[Crackaces]

Copilot will do exactly what you need it to do.

Buy it, You will not be dissapointed.
This is comming from someone who has Streets and trips,Delorme and rand mc nalleys 2002 tripmaker

Fierce ...

I would agree with you that it (Co-Pilot] routes you along truck routes and it has some POI's specific to trucks ... but I was disappointed in the trip planning features and here is why ..

1. A major part of trip planning for someone running 48 as opposed to a regional run is planning where to stop the truck at a certain time and understanding what impact that has on the whole trip.

Simple question .. DM QC's a Pre-Plan .. Can you make it with your hours? On time delivery? Where should I stop for breaks and my 10 hour break?

With Co-Pilot you can list POI's and you can pick stops but it is very cumbersome.

Pro-Miles XF is an example of the features I am looking for. For example, if I run a trip and tell it I want breaks every 4 hours for 15 minutes and I need to pull it over at 9 hours for 10 -- it finds the POI's that I could park the truck for that length of time. Then when I pick the stops it recalculates that days hours, accumulated hours, and "real" hours so I can keep a watch on the impact to delivery times.

Pro-MIles XF has a state to state speed limits rather than just assume 65 MPH.

I have a quick answer for the DM.

With Co-Pilot I can only select one type of break and time. This feature only affects real time and then you have to cacluate by subtraction where you want to park the truck. Then double click to find that on the map. Then right click on a POI where you are going to stop the truck. Then you have to re-run the trip. This is done for each stop.


2. ALK does not update the Database regularly enough for $300 software. Many POI's are out of date. I have created my own custom POI database based on the Next Exit but really should I have to do that? I find between 30% to 50% of the time the address does not exist or the street does not exist.

3. This thread is about trip planning rather than GPS but I find that the GPS database is not as accurate as a Garmin. A Garmin is much easier to mount and has a touch screen.

Soooooooo

After going through Mappoint, Streets and Trips, Rand and MaNally, and yes ALK Co-Pilot ...

I have finally settled on a Rand McNally Paper Atlas, Pro-MIler XF for Trip Planning and a Garmin 7200 (ran a 2720 until last November but I like the 7" screen) for GPS Directions. Recheck directions with Google Local and look at the Satellite map for hazards.


But to each his own and that is what makes the world interesting ..

[mrpersons]

I've got a background in maritime navigation, and was using the GPS system before it was even available to the general public. It was great for oceangoing purposes' but I consider it near useless for land navagation, especially in a commercial vehicle. It's so simple to grab that Rand Mcnally and plot a straight line from A to B, and stay as close to that line as you legally can it ain't even funny. Heck, I can even do sunshots and plot my position, but if the road isn't there, it just tells me where I'm stuck at!

I use streets and maps for a local look see, but the rest I consider pretty useless and not worth the time, effort or money. JMHO

[CAD]

The nav system in my Yukon Denali is awesome. Hands down, one of the best I have ever seen. I know that doesn't help you guys much, but I just wanted to let you know that someone does make one that is worth a ****....