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General discussion

Truck driver in need of GPS navigation

by melley01 Dec 15, 2005 3:17AM PST

My father has been a truck driver for the past 5 years or so. He heads out on Sunday and returns home on Fridays. At the beginning of the week he knows only his where his first drop will be, from there its anyone's guess. It's been hard for him to get accurate directions quickly. Usually he has to call someone and have them get directions of off Mapquest or truckmiles.com. He travels all across the nation so he will need to have streetlevel maps of the U.S. available on SD cards or preprogrammed on a hard drive. Here are the other requirements that he needs in a gps unit:

1. Large, easy to read, touch color screen, preferably w/ auto dimmer
2. The basics: At least 12 channel WAAS, customizable waypoints, extensive POI database that is also customizable
3. Text and voice guided directions
4. ACCURATE map software that is easy to understand
5. Ability to search by name or address
6. Road preferences (As many choices as possible, Toll road, interstate, paved, dirt, Weight limits or speed limits) Not even sure what all is available
7. Auto rerouting-VERY important. Must be a reroute, not a indication to just make a U-turn and get back on track. A U-turn is not possible.
8. Remote would be preferred since dash is far away on his KW

I've zoned in on the Lowrance 500c and 350c, as well as the Garmin StreetPilot 2620. I have read many reviews on many different models, from many different websites, and these stuck out as having the features he needs, reliable, and in his price range of up to $800. If you know anything about these units or another unit that fits me specs I would greatly appreciate a response. I know what I want, I just need some help making the final decision. Thanks

Discussion is locked

1 - 30 of 50 Posts
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truck driver in need of navigation
by mrking14 Aug 4, 2006 3:54PM PDT

well i heard the gamin is the better one. but i just retired from driving, but i did not go over the road. i think it would be better if he had a laptop or something similar. the other problem he will have is that it will give tyou the directions but in a truck your not allowed to travel on certain roads plus you have to watch out for low bridges. and in certain states if he is hauling hazardous materials he has to follow certain roads. but i think the garmin would be the best or if they have one suted for truck drivers, like here in illinois they have a book with all the bridge heights in chicago. hope this helps you

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garmin 2620
by mac227 May 12, 2008 10:27AM PDT

this is the best i've used to date - just updated software in december
this unit has everything you said you need - i even bought the antenna that mounts to the unit & outside of the cab for better reception in metropolatin areas with tall buildings . if your still looking send me an e-mail reasonable price.

mike c.

mac227@sbcglobal.net

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Garmin 2720 the best for truck drivers !
by truckdriver#1 Nov 7, 2008 2:41AM PST

To me for the last 5 years Gamin street pilot 2720 is the best of all!
WHY? Because I live in Chicago and Chicago, New Jersey or New York they have the lower bridges in the whole USA. I drive for 8 years now and I never been happier seem I got my best friend Gamin 2720. Another alternative is Gamin nuvi 680 but some times I had problems with that like wrong street or poor signal or NO warranty what so ever for LOWER BRIDGES! I give it to my wife and kept my 2720.Still the best for TRUCK DRIVERS! ATTENTION YOU NEED TO UPDATE FR NEW VERSION IF OLDER THEN 2007(MAPS)

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Truck driver in need of GPS navigation
by jbilton Sep 16, 2006 11:33PM PDT

I drive a truck for a living also. Right now I looking at a laptop and software called ''Co Pilot'' http://www.alk.com/copilot/laptop.asp It's navigation software for the trucking industry. My only concern about standard gps unit's is that they are design for auto use not tractor trailers

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express for trucks
by charlieb66 May 5, 2008 5:16AM PDT

Try Maptuit - They have truck specific directions. Your dad could get a subscription to FleetNav Express - that's what the system is called. www.fleetnavexpress.com

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CO PILOT IS A NIGHTMARE
by Connor1536 May 11, 2008 11:34AM PDT

Hey
After using the copilot 9 for the last 9mo. I wouldn't recommend it to ANYONE. It lead me off the freeway too early, down roads that turn into trk restricted routes. I had a 4.3 mile trip the other day in Ontario, Ca. It mapped out an 11.9 mile trip. Lucky for me I knew where I was. It has a lot of bugs.
I had so many complaints in a 6 mo period they sent me 11 for just s&h, STILL too much to pay for a TRUCK GPS. The live POI's and traffic would be nice if you didn't have eyes off the road, find the curser, find the icon, click on it, just to read the poi is I-5 exit 573. NO business type or anything. I did get the names to come up later on how or why I don't know.
The key problem they both have is when POI's come up, IT SAYS 1 of 13. Wow Now I get to take my eyes off the road and scroll thru 13 small screens in a bouncing truck with out running over the BMW that just pulled in front of me.
In hind sight it was the worst choice I ever made
(in gps).
Kevin

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Still Looking !
by 1950Dan Jan 6, 2008 3:51AM PST

I purchased a simple GPS on sale for $149 that helps me a lot BUT it always trys to send me down the no truck roads! I have been searching for Truck GPS units for a while and have not found one yet. The CoPilot Truck sounds great but it is not a unit just a program

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CoPilot Truck Professional Navigation Device
by EDarraugh Jan 21, 2008 4:32AM PST

ALK Technologies will soon be releasing CoPilot Truck Professional Navigation Device, an all-in-one truck specific GPS navigation system. It will run on a lightweight, 4.3" clear display easily mounted in the truck cab. Like CoPilot Truck Laptop, this version provides spoken, industry standard PC*MILER directions. Look for this product in 2008! For more information, contact cpsales@alk.com.

ALK Technologies
www.alk.com

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Truck Navigation Device now available
by tonyb103 Mar 1, 2008 12:30PM PST
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Teletype Truck Navigation
by hazmatboy1962 Mar 15, 2008 8:25AM PDT

I have purchased one of the 3300 units from Teletype and have had nothing but problems. I had it set for my truck with hazmat class 3 and it routed me off the freeway and through a RESIDENTIAL area!
It froze up for over an hour and I have had to reset it three times.
It routed me from Little Rock, AR to Atlanta, GA by way of Knoxville, TN.
A little out of route if you ask me.
I am sending mine back and continueing my search for a GPS unit for my truck.

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WorldNav V 5.2 is a great system
by oleg_popov Apr 15, 2008 11:19PM PDT

I have 7 inch device for Truckers from WorldNav. I got couple updates from them. First it was a little bumpy but with the latest update I am finally happy.
I drive Hazmat 3 and it so far gives me right directions and with external antenna I never loose signal.

I do like their tech support. I called them twice and they been very cortius and I do appreciate them sending me last update free.

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World Nav System INquiry
by mike lambie Apr 16, 2008 6:25AM PDT

Oleg, what types of problems were you having before the product seemed to get right. Is it still operating ok. How complete do the truck restrictions seem to be? And how are you using it... i.e. I drive a straight truck or a tractor with a 53 foot trailer doing runs from Denver to Omaha on I 80 hauling pork...etc.

Thanks.

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World Nav System INquiry
by oleg_popov Apr 23, 2008 10:00AM PDT

The only problem I had is on a very long routes (2850 Miles). I had about every other day a lockup on my system. Once the SD card got replaced the problem is not there any longer. I think we need to give this guys a break. They do refund full amount if you do not like the product and they seems working hard to get it better. I just got another email from them that next week new sd card will be shipped to me. It is a free service. I do not have to pay a dollar for it.

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WorldNav products are nothing but trouble
by tedcohens May 7, 2008 6:46AM PDT
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http://WorldNav3300gps.blogspot.com
by tedcohens May 7, 2008 6:42AM PDT
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Teletype WorldNav is a pice of junk!!!
by jbitz Apr 11, 2008 1:48AM PDT

We bought 3 of these. The first time we tried to use it, it tried to bring us under a low bridge about 100 yards from our warehouse. We waited a month for them to send us new maps and it just did the same thing. These are garbage!

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Looked at them and...
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Apr 23, 2008 10:33AM PDT
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Stay away from WorldNav products unless you want trouble
by tedcohens May 7, 2008 6:49AM PDT
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WorldNav products are a waqste of money and time
by tedcohens May 7, 2008 11:40AM PDT
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Truck NAv
by mike lambie Apr 16, 2008 6:28AM PDT

Did you eventually decide on a Nav Unit with truck restrictions and which one did you select and how has it been working for your dad.

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here is a good gps unit for trucks ,rv and buses
by forgetful7769 May 1, 2008 3:38PM PDT

i have looked for a gps unit for trucks. the one i found is called (streetpilot 7200 or 7500) it has a 7" touchscreen, Xm Radio, traffic and weather radar from Xm Radio, and a lot of other options, but does cost extra. the price for the gps does cost around $700-$800 you can get the best price on shopzilla.com. i have heard a lot of good things about it and the one problem is the mounting is weak

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Truck GPS
by kellybob Aug 12, 2008 3:28PM PDT

Just a heads up. The Garmin products do not offer commercial truck routing. The truck setting in the unit will do it's best to keep you on class A roads or main roads but they do not use commercial truck routs. If the only way to get you to your destination is on a road that trucks are not allowed thats the way it is going to send you. I've been a truck driver for ten years and I've had the Garmin streetpilot c530 for eight months. It is the no frills version of the 7200 and the 7500 for a lot less money. The streetpilot line has been dicontinued. I've been very happy with this unit it has saved me a lot of time and miles but it has sent me on a couple of wayward routs but I wouldn't be with out it.

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GPS
by rford1357 May 10, 2008 10:48PM PDT

Tellitype truck has 3.5" & 7" GPS

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WorldNav GPS for Truckers
by oleg_popov May 11, 2008 1:24PM PDT

I have not 7 inch GPS unit from TeleType for 2 months. I am very happy with their latest update that I got in the last mail.
On my last trip it found that the route that I got from this small unit is better then the one was given to me by my company. I noticed that if you select different size truck the color of roads changes. Pink color indicate restricted roads. That helped me couple of times in NY area which is crazy to drive in the first place with Semi Truck.

I would recommed getting this unit with rear view camera. I got one at Radio Shack and now on the TeleType GPS I can see rear view. Cool!

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rear view cam?
by Connor1536 May 12, 2008 3:16AM PDT

Hi
Which rear view cam did you get? How wide is the view? I think that would be killer for docking. I was looking at the 7" gps, now i think i will look harder. Thank You.
Kevin

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Rear View Camera
by oleg_popov Jun 23, 2008 8:13AM PDT

I got the camera directly from TeleType. It came with 120 feet long cable.
It was not difficult to put it together. You just need to secure weather proof camera in way that it will not get stolen. Cover comes with the unit and it nicely hides it.

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truck driver in need of navigation
by toothpick73 May 24, 2008 5:44PM PDT

The best solution is go with is a laptop because with a laptop not only do you get a panoramic view that you can?t get with a stand alone GPS navigation unit, but you also can multitask and use the laptop to do several different jobs simultaneously besides just navigation, which makes you more efficient and your job much easier. Plus it?s a much more flexible option since with a laptop you can also cruise the Internet, send and receive emails, download music, watch movies, etc. Try multitasking or sending and receiving emails with a stand alone GPS unit, you just can?t do it, but you can with a laptop!

The next question is what solution to use with a laptop and while there are several solutions out there on the market, the best solution I?ve found by far is a combination of Microsoft Streets & Trips coupled together with the innovative new Truck Stops Plus 08 template, which transforms Microsoft Streets & Trips into trucking software.

Microsoft Streets & Trips is the best solution on the market because it simply is the most accurate and by far the easiest to learn and use. Not to mention it cost a small fraction of what some of the other high priced solutions cost like Co-Pilot, which comes into play big time since you have to update every year to keep your maps as current as possible.

Add the Truck Stops Plus 08 (www.truckstopsplus.com) add on template and together with Microsoft Streets & Trips it not only gives you the ability to verify and confirm your routes are truck legal quickly, but at the same time the template also contains thousands of trucking specific points of interests like truck stops, Wal-Mart Supercenters, rest areas, turnpike service plazas, parking areas, weigh stations, etc., and all of the points of interests like truck stops are catalogued, so you can easily check the name of truck stops, it?s location information, whether it is a small, medium, or large truck stop, whether the truck stop has a truck scale or not, whether the truck stop does major repairs, minor repairs, or no repairs, etc. You?ll never use a truck stop guide again!

One of the excellent features you can use with the Truck Stops Plus 08 template is the ?Find Nearby Places? feature, which will list in alphabetical order every category of trucking specific points of interest within a 50-mile radius, and inside each category, the individual points of interests are further listed from closest to farthest while at the same time they display exactly how far away they are located from the present location. When you expand the categories and click the individual points of interest, a text box with a full description displays next to the points of interests on the map so you can see its exact location. Then to choose to route to any one of them, you simply right click it and choose add as stop, and you are good to go. It?s far easier and much faster than the six steps I used to have to go through in Co-Pilot when I use to use that over priced junk!

In any event, there are a lot of solutions on the market, but don?t necessarily believe that more expensive always equates into better. Sometimes the cheapest and simplest solutions are the best solutions! I?ve tried and used most of the solutions out there on the market to do my job, and the solution I just described above is by far the best and easiest I?ve used so far, and, by the way, it is also by far the cheapest! I wish I had found out much sooner because I would have saved myself a lot of money and a lot of frustration.

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GPS reviews
by cwalkerUSMC Jul 8, 2008 3:58AM PDT

there is an article in Open Air Magazine that might help break down a few of the GPS models...here is the link to the reader, just find the article titled "All the right moves". I hope that helps!

http://www.bnqt.com/OpenAir/magReader.php

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GPS reviews
by cwalkerUSMC Jul 8, 2008 3:59AM PDT

there is an article in Open Air Magazine that might help break down a few of the GPS models...here is the link to the reader, just find the article titled "All the right moves". I hope that helps!

http://www.bnqt.com/OpenAir/magReader.php

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WorldNav for Truckers
by oleg_popov Jul 9, 2008 10:19PM PDT

Traveling with WorldNav is a wonderful experience. Screen is large and very clear. Unit has text to speech and directions are clear. For truckers I would think it is a must system. I purchased this system after I got a very expensive ticket in NYC.
I would recommend this system to any commercial driver.

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