Microsoft Streets and Trips 2013 without gps antenna:

Ok, so this DOES get me exactly to where i need to go BUT:


It does not realize your are driving a truck----it assumes you are driving a car. And i forgot about this aspect. So it routed me straight through town, residential, and no-truck zones.

From now on, i will have to take a greater look and re-route myself thru what would appear to be more major, truck friendly type routes. i do not know if streets and trips has this kind of feature because i'm still learning more about it.

i am using the trial version right now which is the same as the regular version except it's only valid for 14 days.

No, it doesn't have any truck-specific features whatsoever.

I use Streets & Trips for my overall trip planning, such as fuel stops, overnight parking, etc. For the actual navigation, I use CoPilot Truck on my iPad.

i remember when we used map books and payphone in the truck stops to get from point a to b,c,d. what would you guys do if the satellites crashed and you have to think for urselfs?

I *can* still do that, but I'm smart enough to let technology do it now.

I do the same thing... and I believe we use the same template Malaki. Anyways, I know enough to look at the route and not go through those towns.. or to stay off the streets. S&T is only to be used as a tool.. just like common sense. Take a look at every street your supposed to turn down and look for signs or other trucks down that street.. if you can't, then you need a friendlier, more expensive, GPS..

speaking of 2013.. did they fix the miles to final feature from 2012? I dont know how many times the trip plan says like.. 2500 but the full screen says 1600. whats the point?

From what I've read on another forum, LaptopGPSWorld, 2013 is still full of bugs. I didn't even bother downloading the trial. Not that many roads have changed since 2009.

Well, actually i DID have to do it "the old fashioned way" last week----my laptop was installing updates and i didn't have time to wait for it to do all 37 so i just called up the shipper and asked for directions. It's actually more efficient than looking it up on streets and trips! Cheaper too.

So anyways, i would have to say that again streets and trips definitely gets me to where i need to go, but again it's not really designed for trucks. So you sort of have to intrisically look for larger roads to fit on. The problem with this is if i've never been to a place, then i don't really know what size the roads are. Of course there are clues----state highways are generally large enough for trucks. Maps will generally show divided highways etc.

My recommendation at this point is if you want a navigational aid, then i would look at the trucker GPS units such as the cobra or if there is a garmin for trucks IF you can afford it and not to use streets and trips soley by itself.

i was using the free download trial of streets and trips these past two weeks because i don't believe in spending all that money at first to do a job----i prefer to do the job for a while and then re-invest some of the money into tools that can help.

i think i will spring for the download because i'm too cheap to get a real gps unit. i know this goes against my recommendation, but i'm willing to put up with the hassle to save a few hundred dollars----i think the S+T download is $39 while a decent gps unit might be $300.

I use S&T 2007. I've tried every version since then but found them all flawed somehow - dumb stuff like making the screen harder to read while driving. There's a couple of hacks you can use to help get around the software's limitations. If you know in advance about a low bridge and you want the program to find another route for you, from the drawing toolbar you can draw a rectangle on the screen. If you fill it with a color you can then right click and choose 'avoid area'. It's clumsy but it works. I've got quite a few of those avoid area rectangles in NYC to avoid being routed on parkways and tunnels.

The out of date map is almost never a problem but when I find a road that I don't want to forget about I "draw" it in using poi markers (see the pic).

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use maps, books, and payphone, lol. I havent been in this industry for very long, only 6 1/2 years but i do know how to use a map, have actualy had to when a road didn't appear on my gps

as others have said, its a tool, if its working it alows me to make choices on the fly, if not, I break out the road atlas, and start figureing it out in the head.