GPS in a big truck?
#11
11-07-2009, 10:53 PM
we have s & t and delorme, it's just me but i like delorme better.
it's nice to know at a glance you time and distance to your next 2 turns and your next stop and finish all at the same time. spoken turn by turn is real nice but with delorme (i have a mike with an on/off switch) i can voice command the gps (zoom in/out show next turn) etc. i can ask it some questions and it will tell me so i don't have to look at it. i have files for some customers like fedex, bax, ups etc. when we have a load for say fedex i just open that file and all the fedex's we have been to are all on the map. just click the pick-up then the finish add fuel stops. check the route against the company routing and change as necessary, check gps milage against paid milage....! if it's off by to much time to make a call.. then save the trip by pro #. if i need to i can always pull up the trip later. i have every trip we have run for the last 5 years saved. yes we do have a mcra but i only pull it out about once every or two. Being able to save my trips by trip or pro numbers is a great capability to have and has also been used to cover my ass on several occasions when the company tried to short change me, and I always compare the Streets & Trip miles to the company paid miles and often get my DMs to up the company paid miles because for some reason it is obvious that the miles haven’t been calculated correctly. If I was still using a MCRA, pen, and paper I would inevitably be short-changed often because I would have to trust the company paid miles and would have no way of knowing when I was being ripped off.
#12
11-07-2009, 10:58 PM
Welcome to the board, Bulldog. Although, I must admit that I don't understand how that username is still available. I KNEW a "Bulldog" on here a few years ago. Anyways.... Users who choose such a name are often ex-Marines. Are you? WE here in North Carolina have a proud tradition of having bases for Marines, Army and Air Force. I don't care if you use a GPS for SOME advantages.... But, PLEASE, learn to plan your trips by using an Atlas and company directions FIRST! A "freight re-locater specialist" often finds himself in a big and expensive "fix" due to his reliance on technology. A TRUCKER usually delivers his load on time, NEVER admits to being "lost," and finds it an insult to even NEED a GPS device. Anyway... welcome to what is LEFT of this once great Trucker's board.
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#13
11-08-2009, 12:53 AM
I don't even rely 100% on my gps in my car. Doing so is absolutely ignorant. Use the gps as a tool to assist your job, not as something to even think that is always correct.
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#14
11-08-2009, 01:12 AM
Yep, use it as a tool to assist you in carrying out the task at hand. It certainly doesn't make you any less of a trucker. :roll: Good grief.
When I was in construction I had different tools that could do the same job, it just depended on the type of task that was in front of me. Nail gun vs. hammer, circular saw vs. table saw vs. miter saw, lasers vs. plumb bob vs. levels etc. Nothing is ever absolute or obsolete.
#15
11-08-2009, 02:31 AM
Just because you are new here doesn't mean you have to "suck up" to the GPS users! Stand your ground (that is the motto of the TARHEELS!) :lol2:
Welcome to the board, Bulldog. Although, I must admit that I don't understand how that username is still available. I KNEW a "Bulldog" on here a few years ago. Anyways.... Users who choose such a name are often ex-Marines. Are you? WE here in North Carolina have a proud tradition of having bases for Marines, Army and Air Force. I don't care if you use a GPS for SOME advantages.... But, PLEASE, learn to plan your trips by using an Atlas and company directions FIRST! A "freight re-locater specialist" often finds himself in a big and expensive "fix" due to his reliance on technology. A TRUCKER usually delivers his load on time, NEVER admits to being "lost," and finds it an insult to even NEED a GPS device. Anyway... welcome to what is LEFT of this once great Trucker's board.  . Many of us navy vets live on the east coast of NC.As most of us "gps" users have mentioned we use it for the advantages and like most tools we don't follow it blindly. I don't assume the route it gives me is a safe one or even the optimal one. I don't assume the dot on the map is even the exact location. I still look over the road atlas for that stuff although it might turn my attn to a way I hadn't thought of. Sorta like takeing I-95 south to florence, then cutting across I-20 to get to atlanta. I'd still be takeing I-85. Not much diference in miles where I'm located but you miss out on a LOT of traffic going down I-95. gps is just another tool and I use it as such.
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#16
11-08-2009, 02:39 AM
I have never bought a gps. I have also gotten a lot of ribbing due to my shunning the technology. I still prefer a Rand McNally and shipper directions to the inaccuracy of the current gps programs. It might work well as an added tool, but I can't see spending $500 for something that isn't accurate. I prefer spending $10-30 on a new Rand McNally every other year. I think that it would be distracting sitting on my dash.
#17
11-08-2009, 02:44 AM
I have never bought a gps. I have also gotten a lot of ribbing due to my shunning the technology. I still prefer a Rand McNally and shipper directions to the inaccuracy of the current gps programs. It might work well as an added tool, but I can't see spending $500 for something that isn't accurate. I prefer spending $10-30 on a new Rand McNally every other year. I think that it would be distracting sitting on my dash.
#18
11-08-2009, 02:46 AM
You don't have to spend $500 for a gps - buy software. I have both Microsoft Streets & Trips 2009 and Garmin Mobile PC. Both can be had for well under $100 each. They run on my laptop, which I use for both trucking (GPS, logs, weather lookup, etc) and entertainment (games, tv, movies, etc).
Not to mention the fact that you can download a 60 day trial of Streets & Trips that is 100% complete and not limited in any way whatsoever. You don't have to go into it blindly and spend money before you know if it'll be of use to you or not.
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#20
11-08-2009, 02:50 AM
I wouldn't say stone age - I'd say Smokey & the Bandit age.
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