Gps

[BIGNASTY]

Was going to make a Bonsai run to Carson City NV got 3 hours into the run and got turned around, sale of the BULL to the FIL fell thru.


Anyway I got into some night time construction that held me up for about 20 min an eternity for me!! I cant stand to wait and watch some Hwy road worker MILK THE CLOCK (another rant of mine) In ID they have as many if not more Untied Dairymen Union members on the Hwy road crew as any state that ive seen.

I had been talking to a Long Liner on the CB he had forgot to turn on his GPS, had a Rand McNally Intelliroute TND 720 he said that it would have warned him about this hold up. He was telling me of some of the features that it had most of which are geared for the Truck Driver.

The one thing that I did like was the height and length alarms and route changes to accommodate large vehicles not that my truck with the trailer has ever been a problem with either one of these alarms. Its a good size stock trailer that it would be nice to set it so if it met the preset parameters it would give me a heads up at a predetermined distance.

Had some other features that sounded pretty good but as with most of what he was talking about I didn't need, log book, ETA to destination and some other TOYS !!

I use the same Rand McNally road atlas that ive had for millenniums that is in a loose leaf binder and Rand McNally sends me updates to all the time. I had already check my route wrote it on a note pad above the sun-visor for quick reference, but it would have been nice to have notice of a truck stop, food, fuel, repair shop at the touch of the screen.

Anyone use these things ON A REGULAR BASIS and not just to find their way to the supermarket 10 miles down the road? are they accurate? are they reliable?


Thanks

BIG

 

[Grizzly]

I believe in GPS. Had one for years, but I alway take along my AAA current maps for back-up. I also now have GPS on my new smart a__ phone, which I still don't know how to use

 

[BIGNASTY]

Grizz I have a smart phone, and its smarter than I want to be. I use it to open the front gate with a phone call so Penny don't have to get out of the truck to open the gate!!

I do like the GPS for some things will have to really sit down and take a look at the different things they offer

 

[Killgore]

What gets me worried is when the Tom-Tom in the truck and the Map Quest on the phone can't agree on the best route and I'm running through the mountains wondering which road to take in the middle of the night.
- Ed

 

[crispyboy]

I have a gps but personally I'm still a paper map type of person. For me the GPS comes in handy when I need to find someones particular address.
I have a cheaper model of Magellan (though it does have a large screen). It does a good job of locating things like campgrounds, food, fuel. churches etc...... Also only some gps units allow you to put in coordinates. Mine does not. I believe using coordinates would be much more accurate as an address can be hard to input and may have changed.
I spoke with our IT guy at work and he uses only a smartphone. I would try this option because you already own it and it will be updated on a regular basis. A smartphone won't have the perks of the gps designed for truckers or rv's.
I would never recommend the Magellan product to anyone. The updates must be done manually and they are excruciatingly slow. The interface is PC based (I have a Mac). The last update took about 6 hours. Not too bad if your at home but I had to use a family members computer.

 

[Jim W]

Big, I have the Rand McNally RVND 7710 which is a RV GPS unit with life time maps update. You can program in the parameters for your tow rig and what you are pulling; the unit will than route you around low under passes and tunnels where propane is not allowed in. You can program all sorts of POI and way points into the unit as needed. I am using my unit to take me out east to Boston South area next week, Maine, Vermont and New York. I also take along paper copies of state maps and the Next Exit too.

I bought my unit before Good Sam got their hands on some of the RV GPS so my unit will not provide all of the Camping World locations, which to me is a good thing. I believe you can still buy them form Rand McNally GPS which will not have the camping world support on them still.

Jim W.

 

[crabman]

If you have a Apple smart phone, there is an app called, " AroundMe" . You bring up the app, and there is a long list comes up. Banks/ATM, Bars, Coffee Shops, Concerts, Deal, Favorites, Gas Stations, Hospitals, Hotels, Hospitals, Hotels, etc. Select whatever and it will bring up all of those that are around you & exactly how far away they are from at that given moment. Or you can type in a specific place and it will find it.
Apple phones come with a map app which will show you wherever you are in the world too(if enabled). Also shows accidents, road work etc.with colored dots which you tap on and it will tell you what it is; accident, road closure, detour, etc. Of course, all of this uses up your data plan too.
So IMHO, I think that having a separate GPS from & along with the phone is the best way to go.
I just get a teenager to show me how to work any new electronic gadget.

 

[CBari]

I have always been a paper map kind of guy but recently I have found my self using the gps more and more. I will look up the routes on computer or larger device that I can scroll around and see different options. Then when I get in truck I use the one built into the truck or my phone. I know the way that I want to go so when it wants me to go another way I go the way I want to and it eventual recalculates to my way of thinking. Where they really shine for me is when I go to some town that I know how to get to but don't know how to get to the street address I going to. It gets me right to it.

 

[slowmover]

I run about 12-14k monthly delivering oilfield loads from the Gulf Coast to West Texas and Oklahoma. Recently purchased the GARMIN dezl 760 with fuel card points. Seven-inch touch screen. Best for time/distance calcs (road delays are counted), but directions could be better.

Don't knock what you've derided as "toys" as there is much more than what perhaps you've not researched on the one hand, and carefully considered on the other. These features work together.

Rand-McNally now has a large format laminated page MCRA available at the truck stops. Same map, but blown up in size (compare the normal MCRA of "Eastern Texas" to the above). Handy.

Best is still any of the "All Roads in State" -type atlases.

The GARMIN is no more up to date in re map service than the other brands, IMO. The other drivers at my firm all tend to use them, but not rely on them. Even with routing on the Federal IH system they can be a little weird at times.

Would I buy it again? Yes, happy to have it. A phone has a too small screen, and no tablet I am aware of is designed to run nearly 24/7. A laptop on a dedicated stand running a O-O quality software package is probably best, but the mount space requirement is significant (RAM).

Other drivers have mentioned they prefer Co-Pilot as preferable to the usual GPS units, but how to run them (screen size and device) is the problem.

I am using a Nav-Mat "bean bag" dash-top holder and an articulated arm holder for the 760 that allows it to drape down over the dash face (367 Pete) to avoid the problem of citations where the mount holds the device out of the wiper sweep and no more than 6-inches from top of windshield frame requirement.

A GPS is good for looking at alternative routing where the route is deciphered from published sources. As to routing I prefer "Lowest fuel burn" over "Fastest time" as it usually involves more miles on bigger roads with a small time penalty. Fewer acceleration and deceleration events. Less likelihood of speed controlled curves. Etc.

Alternatively, were I to run TX-71 from Columbus from outside Houston up to Snyder as one of our guys did recently I'd have spent more time writing out the number of towns I'd have to go through negating any time savings and then be worried the whole trip I'd miss a turn ... although I could have told that guy that running so close to Austin would make that route a disaster versus the longer but far easer route of IH-45N from Houston to Dallas and then IH-20W to his destination.

The ability to keep on the right road (where the route is known in advance), and the traffic problem alert (with, in some cases, alternative routing) made the decision to purchase finally viable for me. The GARMIN unit can also display a moving weather map for an additional monthly fee (updates are free with this unit).

While hustling a 75k gross tanker combo is different than with any RV, many of the same cautions apply (as the OP knows). Do I use it to run blindly? Never. But I greatly value the time/distance accuracy to keep within even generous oilfield HOS as the outbound leg takes me farther and farther from any services whatsoever. No need to run afoul of DOT over 15-minutes, after all. So as a tool to use for a lengthy week, it is a good purchase. One can also log hours, average mph, etc, for trip-planning purposes (helps me greatly to know that a trip from Galveston to near OKC and back will be from 50 to no more than 56-mph average. Or, that out to West Texas will be in the high 62's.)

The single real drawback to this unit is size. What makes it easy to consult and use is harder to properly place in a little pickemup

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/on-the-road/trucking/dezl-760lmt/prod112211.html

Good luck

Ross

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