[mrBlonde]

My question is this...
How much of an impact has technology made in the trucking profession? i.e. cell phones, laptops, webcams...etc...
Certainly must be better than having to sit at a pay phone in a truck stop...a mere 10 years ago...
maybe we could even rate our favorites...

[larryh31]

Cellphones, laptop computers, gps devices and webcams have made life easier.

But, they have also created a paper trail that can get you busted if you get creative with your logbook, go OOR to stop past your girlfriends house.

[lucky13]

Cell phones and wireless internet has helped drivers keep in touch with family and friends at home,and qualcom has helped dispatch know were you are at,at all times :evil:

[Doghouse]

10 years ago when I drove for Stevens I would not have made that mistake. I could have done some on-line research and found out that they were not the company for me.
Now,....fast forward to the future,...I would not have been able to do all I have done without the new technologies.
I bought my Truck on E-Bay, my trailer through Truckpaper.com, all the research through the Internet, and all done using my cell phone,..all over the country.
99% of everything I have done has been on-line, and all the business I will get will be from on-line contacts.
I have a GPS (but still use a map) that's pretty good for looking up stuff.
I have a solar power system on the truck that works pretty well so far, and a bunch of other things that could be considered new technologies.
Do I want to get away from all of it sometimes,...you bet I do, and all I have to do if flick a switch.
I can go hike alone and bring a personal location beacon, so sometimes tech is good. (Believe me, I've passed out in the desert from a snake bite encounter before, and would have liked a beacon,..nobody heard my pistol).
The days of spring ride cab overs, waiting in truck stops by a pay phone are over.

[inmate1577]

Qualcomm has helped dispatch loads and directions.
Laptops have helped get the right directions
Cell phones now make it easier for drivers to tell the company where they kind find the truck after they quit :lol:

[silvan]

Originally Posted by mrBlonde

Certainly must be better than having to sit at a pay phone in a truck stop...a mere 10 years ago...

With what I've been doing, I rarely could have used a laptop before, but never had enough need to lay out the cash. Now that I have one, I have no real use for it, and don't carry it with me.

I've never used a GPS, don't want one. I do use and like mapping software, but there are so many errors with the maps that this stuff is useful, but not gospel. Satellite maps, eg. google.com/maps are pretty damn awesome sometimes. I once had a customer trying to get me into an impossible looking dock, and I refused. Then I came home, cut out a picture of a truck from the Interstate, pasted it onto this dock, and saw that the truck would actually fit with room to spare, so I shut up about it and started going into that insanely tight looking hole. That was cool, even though it didn't work out like I had hoped when I embarked upon that little quest. (I was going to throw it in her face that it was im-fricking-possible to fit a truck in that alley.)

I have a QualComm now, but I'm dubious about whether I'm better off having to enter all these stupid load macros every day, instead of just collecting my bills, disappearing in the dark of night, and showing back up in the dark of night. I used to live in a world where nobody really knew where I was, or cared, as long as I kept my people happy. Now I get someone harping at me for being late if I forgot to punch the right sequence of buttons somewhere in the middle of keeping my people happy. My people are always happy. (Except for the people who can never be made happy by any means, but screw them. I'm not deficient as a happy people maker; rather some people are just deficient emotionally, and were born with a chip up their ass and a stick on their shoulder, or something like that.)

Anyway, I guess with all this modern innovation, the one thing that has made the single biggest difference is the cell phone. I remember driving around in the dark of night trying to find a pay phone. I remember stopping various places just to use a pay phone to call my wife. Now it's all a few button pushes away, and that's nice. Except the coverage still SUCKS. (I can't believe I renewed my contract with T-Mobile. I badly want to crawl between the sheets with Catherine Zeta-Jones, but in spite of those big beautiful brown eyes, I'm going to have to tell T-Mobile to take a hike the first chance I get. Not one single lick of improvement in four years.)

[Snowman7]

Originally Posted by silvan

With what I've been doing, I rarely could have used a laptop before, but never had enough need to lay out the cash. Now that I have one, I have no real use for it, and don't carry it with me.

I've never used a GPS, don't want one. I do use and like mapping software, but there are so many errors with the maps that this stuff is useful, but not gospel. Satellite maps, eg. google.com/maps are pretty damn awesome sometimes. I once had a customer trying to get me into an impossible looking dock, and I refused. Then I came home, cut out a picture of a truck from the Interstate, pasted it onto this dock, and saw that the truck would actually fit with room to spare, so I shut up about it and started going into that insanely tight looking hole. That was cool, even though it didn't work out like I had hoped when I embarked upon that little quest. (I was going to throw it in her face that it was im-fricking-possible to fit a truck in that alley.)

I have a QualComm now, but I'm dubious about whether I'm better off having to enter all these stupid load macros every day, instead of just collecting my bills, disappearing in the dark of night, and showing back up in the dark of night. I used to live in a world where nobody really knew where I was, or cared, as long as I kept my people happy. Now I get someone harping at me for being late if I forgot to punch the right sequence of buttons somewhere in the middle of keeping my people happy. My people are always happy. (Except for the people who can never be made happy by any means, but screw them. I'm not deficient as a happy people maker; rather some people are just deficient emotionally, and were born with a chip up their ass and a stick on their shoulder, or something like that.)

Anyway, I guess with all this modern innovation, the one thing that has made the single biggest difference is the cell phone. I remember driving around in the dark of night trying to find a pay phone. I remember stopping various places just to use a pay phone to call my wife. Now it's all a few button pushes away, and that's nice. Except the coverage still SUCKS. (I can't believe I renewed my contract with T-Mobile. I badly want to crawl between the sheets with Catherine Zeta-Jones, but in spite of those big beautiful brown eyes, I'm going to have to tell T-Mobile to take a hike the first chance I get. Not one single lick of improvement in four years.)

LMAO. You're wit is quickly approaching "Roadhog" status! He's been here longer, so for now anyway, remains the king!

[terrylamar]

I am a relatively new driver, I have been in my own truck for a little more than five months. I think I am fairly sucessful. I'm not a super trucker by any means and I know I have alot to learn. I think technology has allowed me to be as sucessful as I have been.

GPS finds routes faster and shorter. Shows me where the road is going in inclement weather. Tells me when turn are coming up and even speaks the name for me. Tells me when I'll be there, how many miles it is and how many hours it will take.

Cell phones keep me in touch with the world, friends, family, pay bills, get directions, etc. I don't have to stop on the road wasting valuable time trying to find a phone.

Computer really keeps me in touch. I can do the same out on the road as I can sitting at home. It also has entertainment value.

Qualcomm, although hated by many is a valuable tool. The only thing I really hate about it is when it falls over and one of the keys is depressed and it starts that infernal beeping.

Overall technology has improve my ability to get the job done and it keeps me entertained.

[countryhorseman]

LMAO Terry,

Coming down US 83 yesterday, my Qualcomm fell behind my cooler in the bunk and started bleebing (sounded like a lost sheep), after 2 miles of trying to ignore it, I found a spot to pull over and resue the darn thing from the cooler.

Originally Posted by terrylamar

I am a relatively new driver, I have been in my own truck for a little more than five months. I think I am fairly sucessful. I'm not a super trucker by any means and I know I have alot to learn. I think technology has allowed me to be as sucessful as I have been.

GPS finds routes faster and shorter. Shows me where the road is going in inclement weather. Tells me when turn are coming up and even speaks the name for me. Tells me when I'll be there, how many miles it is and how many hours it will take.

Cell phones keep me in touch with the world, friends, family, pay bills, get directions, etc. I don't have to stop on the road wasting valuable time trying to find a phone.

Computer really keeps me in touch. I can do the same out on the road as I can sitting at home. It also has intertainment value.

Qualcomm, although hated by many is a valuable tool. The only thing I really hate about it is when it falls over and one of the keys is depressed and it starts that infernal beeping.

Overall technology has improve my ability to get the job done and it keeps me entertained.

[Aligator]

Originally Posted by Doghouse

.......I've passed out in the desert from a snake bite encounter before, and would have liked a beacon,..nobody heard my pistol........

So did you shoot the snake or yourself? :lol: :lol: