Truck GPS Units

jonny-chicken

jonny-chicken

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Jun 24, 2009
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Good Afternoon All,

I wasn't sure where to post this, so here we are in the 'business strategy' area...

We have some newer drivers that have started with us recently, and they do require the use of a GPS Unit.

There are many options out there for Truck GPS units that seem less than ideal...

Wondering if anyone can suggest a specific unit that has worked for them or their drivers.

Thank you!
 
JACKBURTON said:
Our guys tend to lean towards the Garmin truck models.
That being said, combining that with google maps for traffic and hey maybe even an atlas, is the best recipe for success.
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An atlas???. Would a driver under the age of 30/35 know what an atlas is or how to use one? Map reading, like long hand arithmetic and cursive writing are quickly disappearing skills it seems. Having a sexy woman’s voice telling you to turn right in 100 metres is probably safer than holding up a folded, wrinkled paper map as you try to change lanes and down shift all at the same time!
 
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tasuinam said:
I swear - we have a driver who moved from BC and he said they had a whole room of tele'helpers' and these people were 24/7 on the phone with the driver telling him to turn right - go for 10 min - turn down hwy XYZ .. like in the movies during a car chase...
I am not even sure how to process that level of dependence
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Yeah, that's a bit more maintenance than we want to put into a driver eh! haahahaaa...
 
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tasuinam said:
I swear - we have a driver who moved from BC and he said they had a whole room of tele'helpers' and these people were 24/7 on the phone with the driver telling him to turn right - go for 10 min - turn down hwy XYZ .. like in the movies during a car chase...
I am not even sure how to process that level of dependence
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Sounds like old school 'OnStar' if anyone remembers. I just thought one would be better off with the web based systems. Those old school systems sometimes weren't current and sent me into trouble the odd time.
 
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We equip all our units with Garmin Truck GPS units, they are they best for truck route guidance however our drivers do not solely rely on them and plan their delivery routes before arriving in the city of delivery so they are not lost and have a game plan. Include that in your orientation, you don't want to be training and putting out drivers that need an electronic baby sitter.

Note: The Garmin units are expensive, you may find cheaper truckstop alternatives but your drivers would be safer driving blindfolded than using a Rand Mcnally.
 
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Anyone using Trucker Path app, seems to be similar to Waze but showing truck routing only. I've tried it a few times and seems good, but not enough to confirm it's as good as it needs to be.
 
bubba-one said:
Anyone using Trucker Path app, seems to be similar to Waze but showing truck routing only. I've tried it a few times and seems good, but not enough to confirm it's as good as it needs to be.
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I was going to ask about this as well, seems pretty good so far from our uses. And its good for rest area updates as well on whether they are busy or not.
 
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LrgCar said:
We equip all our units with Garmin Truck GPS units, they are they best for truck route guidance however our drivers do not solely rely on them and plan their delivery routes before arriving in the city of delivery so they are not lost and have a game plan. Include that in your orientation, you don't want to be training and putting out drivers that need an electronic baby sitter.

Note: The Garmin units are expensive, you may find cheaper truckstop alternatives but your drivers would be safer driving blindfolded than using a Rand Mcnally.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up on the Rand McNally... I'll steer clear...

Do you know what specific model of Garmin your guys are using?
 
bubba-one said:
Anyone using Trucker Path app, seems to be similar to Waze but showing truck routing only. I've tried it a few times and seems good, but not enough to confirm it's as good as it needs to be.
Click to expand...
Interesting suggestion... My guys will sometimes pull up google maps, just to check for traffic or if they are really screwed, just to see where the hell they are... haahahaaa...

I figured there would be some truck specific mapping app, but didn't have a name to look into until now... Thanks!
 
Melroy75 said:
I was going to ask about this as well, seems pretty good so far from our uses. And its good for rest area updates as well on whether they are busy or not.
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So, do you have guys paying for the service and using this on a regular basis?

It's about $20 a month, so not cheap, but when you consider that a good GPS unit is $500 or more, maybe it's a good option, especially if you can get real time traffic info too...
 
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jonny-chicken said:
So, do you have guys paying for the service and using this on a regular basis?

It's about $20 a month, so not cheap, but when you consider that a good GPS unit is $500 or more, maybe it's a good option, especially if you can get real time traffic info too...
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We used it with the 7 days free trial, had a few trips in the country side and did a pretty good job at alerting/avoiding low bridges. Was asking as well because of the 20/month. Our guys are in 401/403/400 corridor for the most part but in the odd times we have needed to pre plan routes and this would just save time and admin work on the back end.
 
jonny-chicken said:
Thanks for the heads up on the Rand McNally... I'll steer clear...

Do you know what specific model of Garmin your guys are using?
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Not sure of the model will ask my Safety guy - but I know one is 8 yrs old - you just need to hook to computer and update the maps occasionally
Infcat the screen borke on this one - goat a $20 one from amazon and switched it out ... and no issues todate
 
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