GPS
 

I real new at this... at truck driving. I did one week OTR(Werner). I got spoked by a number of things. I came home to see if I can find driving work at home. WELL, I'll probably go back otr in a few weeks. One thing that really got my goat is being lost. What's worst than being lost? Being lost in Canada. :shock:

My question: What is the best gps system for truckers? What can I get away with on a budget? Which are the system(s) to stay away from?
What features should I look for? Thanks

Microsoft Streets and Trips 2006 with the GPS reciever $120 at Wal-Mart. Best $120 I've ever spent!! You have to remember though, the program thinks you're a car so I use it in conjunction with my Rand McNally and my companys "hints" on how to get to the customer.

Some other truckers use PC Miler but I wasnt impressed with it.

On the other hand I feel that PC Miller's Copilot Truck laptop 4 is the best software available yet a bit expensive, Yes I have used most of them from Microsoft Streets and trips, Delorme, Rand Mc nalleys Tripmaker and thus far I have found Copilot truck Laptop 4 to be head and shoulders above the rest.

Don't get me wrong, they all work but I feel Truck Laptop 4 is the easiest to use and gives the best results.

Also If you are determined to get Streets and trips 2006 you can get it for under $100.00 just shop around a bit I know Amazon sells it for under $105.00 and you can still find it cheaper elsewhere.http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...=UTF8&v=glance

Truck laptop 4 is going to cost you quite a bit http://www.alk.com/copilot/truck_lpt.asp
You can save yourself a little bit of money by looking up some Coupons for the software/hardware though and save yourself A lot of money such as Typing in CPLNOV into the promotional code area will save you about $40.00 plus give you free shipping. And yes the NOV code still works..


Just do some research on the different software available. Look at reviews and try not to listen to people who have only used one type of software.

Since you are on a budget you could probably get Streets and trips 2005 on clearance.

Yeah Costco.com has it for $99 but it wasnt in my local store, and I had to have it ASAP.

Like others have said, your best bet would be a cheaper all in one package like Streets and trips. Then when and if you decide GPS routing is for you then you can look into the more expensive truck specific GPS routing software like Copilot, Promiles, or Prophesy.

ALK Software vs. Other Stuff
 

First your best source for directions is the consignee. A phone call is your best insurance, but a GPS is a pretty good resource for knowing where you are in respect to your world, and where your "outs" are if things go differently than planned. Like you past the turn.

The ALK software is a great trip planning software. It knows where the truck routes are and I used to run my trip specified by the company according to ALK to ID problems. But directions specific to the city, to the consignee, and knowing where you are in real time is a different story.

For GPS and understanding your present position vs. Trip Planning which are two wholly different subjects in my book .... Nothing beats a Garmin Street Pilot.

I found the ALK software effective as a trip planner but horrible at finding a specific address -- especially for the $300 price tag. Too many times a specific address "1256 Main St" would result in the [100 - 9000] Main St. with an average of the between. Oh, Did I tell you Main St starts and ends five times in this city? Sometimes your Qualcom directions need a lot of help, and help like this can and will get you in trouble.

I also found the Garmin Street Pilot far more convenient than using a PC on the move. Even a PC touch screen does not make the ALK software easier. Imagine this .. you just passed your turn and you need to know instantly where is it safe to reverse course ... I would much rather have a Street Pilot.

Re: ALK Software vs. Other Stuff
 

Um, why? I have an optical USB mouse that stretches over to my seat, if I miss my turn I click "Go" and MS streets and trips recalculates an alternate route to my destination.

I was wondering about this myself. They all seem like great products but there must be something special about the software that targets our industry. Can you name a couple features of Copilot that don't exist in the other products or that work better with Copilot?

Main thing? this software keeps you on truck routes instead of car routes.
Secondly? Easy to use, It seems as if they made it useable for truckers instead of computer users. It has a nifty 3D map display Just an overall easier to use and very well laid out user interface.
As for a few of the features?
It has HazMat routing options
It provides Pretty accurate pick-up and delivery times.
The 3D Map Display provides a realistic view of the road ahead.
Night Mode reduces glare and eye strain.
Speed Alerts give visual and/or audio warnings when you exceed pre-set speeds.
Provides spoken, dock-by-dock directions But the Voices sound like the computer from the 1980`s movie WARGAMES.
If you miss a turn, you get new directions instantly.
Routing Options let you select between Practical, Shortest, Toll Avoidance, National Network, 53' Trailer and HazMat.
Gives detailed spoken instructions and responds to your voice commands.
Side of Street Notification tells you which side of the street your destination is on.
POI Alerts notify you when you're approaching gas stations, restaurants or rest areas,Weigh Stations and ect.
Real-Time Tracking so friends family and loved ones can see where you are at.

Once again, nice call Fierce. The software has many features that make it attractive to me. I have two concerns, neither of which would prevent me from buying it today. The first concern is in the area of enhancements and product updates. Since the product is customized for the trucking industry I suspect enhancements will come less often than their main products. The second concern is the product's longevity. There is a lot of competition and there is a huge gap in pricing. I fear they may end up dropping the product for economic reasons.

I am really interested in knowing more about the CoPilot Live option. Is anyone making use of this? and if so would you be willing to make me a temporary account so that I could have a look?

Re: ALK Software vs. Other Stuff
 

And while tooling along at 60 MPH there is a bus stopped on a two lane highway .. a one second distraction maneuvering a mouse .... bang .. 7 lives are ended, -- your life and a family is forever changed.

After using the Laptop 4 Co-Pilot for Truck for four months I decided that an ergonomic screen touch (Street Pilot) is enough distraction let alone the horrible UI desgin of Co-Pilot.

Re: ALK Software vs. Other Stuff
 

I do plan to use the navigation products from the drivers seat but DO NOT plan on taking my eyes off the road while moving. I was planning on using voice navigation while in the drivers seat. Did you attempt this when you used the product? I know the voice thing can get a bit clunky.

Re: ALK Software vs. Other Stuff
 

The voice thing vs. glancing at a screen was not the problem. The problem was maneuvering around the screen and changing the scale while in motion.

Let me set up a scenario.

Directions from the Qualcom are totally incorrect. They go to a place that has been burned down for 5 years. Call the number for the consignee and they do not know what you are talking about. (Let us say you have been given a central number to call that does not know about this plant. Not so far fetched as it might seem look at my journal..) You put the address into Co-Pilot -- let's say 1265 Main St and you get [100 - 9000] meaning that the software has no clue about 1265 Main St Yourtown USA. What it does know is that Main street has an address range of 100 - 9000. That could include addresses where Main Street starts and stops.

The first thing I would like to do is quickly expand range to see what streets are around me . does Main St dead end? Ok I would like to set the range for more detail quickly. An easy task with a Street Pilot .. not so easy task with Co-Pilot.

OK I am tooling down Main st and I would like to build my confidence and look ahead. Maybe stay at the same detail level but just move the map ahead a mile or two. Again, not easy with Co-pilot while moving down the road. One quirk is that the scale always returns to a default level while moving. Now this task is really really easy with my Street Pilot.

BTW) The routing portion of Co-Pilot adds very little real value. For example at least Pro-Miles will let you easily find a truck stop or rest area to take a break and adjust the itenerary accordingly. Co-Pilot requires you to set a mandatory break time and assumes a fixed time for that break. Pretty hokey for $300 software.

So I did not get a good value from the routing software and the GPS software is just too hard use. In fact, since I have been bitten by the trucking bug .. I am looking at the Street Pilot 7200. It has integrated XM radio and GPS with a 7 inch screen and really big lettering. (OK $1499 retail .. but it will come down)

Re: ALK Software vs. Other Stuff
 

Well that is a disappointment for certain. The product is on it way and I will have 30 days to evaluate it. From what I could read from the documentation, it looks like the product will do all the things that you needed with voice commands and responses except the look ahead functionality. They only way you will be able to look ahead is by zooming out. Oh and it looks like you need to setup your route ahead of time to get past the exact match on the address.

I am curious to see how the voice stuff is going to work. I have played with this a bit over the years and have mostly been disappointed. However, when I purchased a Tablet PC and a noise canceling mic things got a lot better. I have a notebook and a tablet and would like to use the tablet for navigation and communications.

The goal here is both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.

Thank you Crackaces! the information you have shared has been most helpful. Oh, what did you do before you were "bitten" by the bug?

Does anyone use the Garmin that has the XM traffic feature? Does it really work and re route you around traffic jams? Does it overall save you time and help avoid getting lost go to deliveries or pick ups?

I use the Garman 2720 and love it.

What I like most is it gives you the choice of shortest or fastest, also you can out in that your driving a truck so it routes accordingly.

It will also reroute and you can touch the screen to pull up a large scale of the area, It really is loaded with features that are extremely helpfull.

The 2730 has the XM traffic feature but read up on it I do not think it auto routes you just gives you a seperate screen with traffic info. I havent researched it much so thats what I could tell about it. Go to www.gpscity.com they have forumns there I am sure you can find the info you need.

Thanks tcurr. I have read your post on TMC. A little off topic here, but do they have refrigerators and microwaves in the trucks?

Re: ALK Software vs. Other Stuff
 

Personally, for my money, I think you are much better off spending your hard-earned cash on an inexpensive laptop computer and then installing navigation software with a GPS receiver on it for a small fraction of the cost you will spend for a stand-alone portable GPS unit. With a laptop, you can use it as your DVD player, check your email, chat live with friends and family, cruise the net, burn DVDs and CDs, listen to your favorite music, download and play pod-casts, play games, and do a whole host of other things with it besides having a big screen navigation unit. Also, you can save your trips as you drive them for later reference. You can?t do any of those things with any portable GPS unit I?ve seen, no matter how much easier and simpler its search capabilities are.

Moreover, your scenario above is really nonsensical, because most people would do all the zooming in and zooming out required long before they ever departed to find the shipper or departed to make delivery to a consignee, and most definitely not on the fly. At least not me, I like to plan beforehand to know where the hell it is I?m going. When you?re driving a 70? something vehicle, I don?t like to leave room for error, if you know what I mean. I believe there is only one kind of planning and that is very meticulous planning. If it isn?t meticulous, you?re only wasting your time.

Well that scenrario is not so nonsensical ... I bought Co-Pilot and a Durabook and found those problems in the software. I now own a Garmin 7200 and I do not find those problems in the software. It is a heck of lot easier to use.

To each his own ...

BTW) You can plan all day long, but if things are not as planned I would much rather have a system that I can rapidly acertain my next move rather than software where I have to stop in order to do any sort of analysis.

That is what makes the world go around Toothpick ..

No refridges or micros in the truck but you can use the plug in coolers and any 12 volt product you want. They do not allow inverters.

I just bought a Garmin Street Pilot 7200 with a GXM antenna, from Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Streetp...&s=electronics

I'm a proud Werner driver, but unfortunately sometimes our directions from Werner are simply put: retarded.

A couple weeks ago I had a consignee near a Best Buy, so I took a short walk over to see what sort of GPS units they had - I ended up dropping $1150 on a Garmin "Nuvi" this little thing kicked butt! it had truck routing built in, touch screen display so it was easy to navagate on-the-fly - also I could find a truck stop, or somewhere to rest with a couple clicks on the Nuvi's screen... BUT: I found this other GPS that Garmin makes called the "7200" it gets XM radio, has a 7" screen, and it gets weather and traffic updates for where I'm at also. So I returned the Nuvi. The 7200 is a bit pricey at $1200 but I think it'll be well worth it - Garmin GPS units are much better than Streets and trips, or other GPS units you can plug into a laptop... just check 'em out you'll be glad you did.


Ant ~

I would like to know about this too, as this is the GPS I am thinking about buying, as bad as it's going to hurt for the model I want at around $900.00, plus the $300 to get the XM antennae. I happened to be at a drop yard and saw another Werner driver that had one and it really floored me. They spoke glowingly about it, and now that I'm about to go OTR again, this time with as a driver for an owner operator, I can't afford to make any mistakes, and no qualcomm... Not that qualcomm can give good directions anyway... so GPS and tripple checking my large print atlas are how it's gonna be.