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Originally Posted by dennisdamas
2. He has been given directions that have resulted in his being lost several times, and from looking at your forums, Microsoft Streets etc with GPS is a good deal.
I used to work for Swift and some of those directions are extremely convoluted as hell, but after awhile you become expert at deciphering them. However, on occasion you will still receive directions that no one can decipher, not even the ignoramus who wrote them.
MS Streets and Strips is indeed very helpful and a very good program to have, especially for final directions to and from the shipper and consignee, but I would recommend that your husband operate for six to eight months without using any programs just so he can become expert using the MCRA first.
However, if he can?t wait, MS Streets and Strips 07 is scheduled to begin shipping on October 12 via Amazon.com.
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Also, does MS have the "voice" that will tell you where to turn and when, so he can focus on the road?
Yes it does but you have to use it with an FM modulator and listen to it via the radio. However, if you have a satellite radio like most of us have, you won?t want to do that. I just glance at mind from time to time and it just takes an instant to ascertain what it is you need to do.
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Keep in mind he is not making much and we need the best for our buck.
If he?s still not making much money, then you could buy just the software without the GPS receiver and add the GPS receiver when your finances improve. You can get the 07 version for $35 via Amazon.com, or you can buy the 06 version for as little as $19.00 that I?ve seen it once listed for at a Wal Mart.
The software alone is a great tool to have since it contains street level mapping for every community in the US and Canada, while the MCRA only contains major highways and roads. The software will make it much easier for him to decipher those convoluted directions.
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Oh - he has the large atlas, with laminated pages and is looking for something to help mostly at pick-up and drop-off destinations.
He still needs to become expert at using that large atlas. You can?t depend on the software entirely. No software or GPS system is 100 percent accurate and MS Streets and Trips isn?t even designed for truckers although it is still a very damn good and useful product. Even the Alt Copilot software that costs much more than MS Streets and Trips and is designed specifically for truckers can?t be relied upon 100 percent.
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3. His truck keeps turning everything off - it is a 2004 Volvo. Is there any hope?
The 04?s were the first of that particular Volvo model to come out and were plagued by electrical problems. The 05?s, 06?s, and 07?s all progressively had much less problems.
Put it in the shop and if it keeps doing it, tell your husband to ask his DM for a better one. If his DM is resistant, tell him to ask his DM where his DM wants him to drop it. That usually takes care of the resistant part.
Really?you have to be a little insistent sometimes with those people. Hell?I got a brand new truck right out of training, but not before they attempted to stick me into an old rotgut piece of crap.
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4. Any other advise to make his transition as a OTR driver easier for him?
Don?t get any preventables and never be late! Hell?you do the same thing over and over and over and over again, it doesn?t take very long before it turns into a damn easy job. Once you?ve gone up and down the roads a few times, you begin to know where all the best places to stop and best truck stops are. In time?it really gets much easier.