You all know how much I hate those things and in my opinion if you really need one to find your way around you shouldn’t be driving to earn a living, but as I mentioned in an earlier post my company, which without any doubt is the best company on the planet has provided them free of charge built into our elogs and I have been testing how accurate they are 
The first few tries were laughable, sending me along roads where trucks should never go (don’t worry, I ignored those roads because I am not stupid enough to really trust a sat nav). Anyway every time I hook to an assigned load I get a prompt asking if I want the navigation system to take me there, yesterday I drove down to Albany NY and hooked to a load which needed dropping at out new yard in Rochester NY, as I had not got a clue where the new yard was I clicked ‘Yes’ and set off on my way, I had the thing running in the background because I know my way to Rochester, it’s a huge city and you can’t miss it. As I got inside the city limits I opened the thing up to see the directions clearly and it seemed quite simple, ‘Take I-490 west to the exit for Mount Read Blvd’ I pulled up at the bottom of the ramp and as soon as I stopped I got a notification to say I had arrived, this was not a sat nav notification, it was part of the pacos load system which we have had for 12 years, the sat nav told me to turn left, I did so, then at the second set of lights turn right, my destination was on my right according to the dam satnav, 460 Buffalo road, but that was not the address of the new yard, which was 1056 Mt Read Blvd, I even looked a the map on my phone and it seems I was about 5 miles away I had to call dispatch and ask for help because at 1056 Mt Read Blvd there stood a block of flats, I was patched through to a driver who works there and he guided me to the huge Kodak factory which took me 20 minutes to get to and at the gate I got an ■■■■■■ to a holding yard at the back of the plant.
The days work used up 654 miles and 10 hours and 40 minutes.
Again … I will never trust a f"“”“” sat nav
I use sat nav all the time never had a problem with it, I always cross check the address with google street view avoids any confusion at the delivery end.
andy12:
I use sat nav all the time never had a problem with it, I always cross check the address with google street view avoids any confusion at the delivery end.
Yep same here , always double check with google maps
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There is nothing wrong with Sat Nav’s, but it’s a guidance system, not a must follow it without question system.
People got themselves lost, stuck, hit low bridges (I know this as I lived in a town with 3 low bridges which were hit regularly and saw many other trucks back up to turn round,) before we had, them, however everybody didn’t have a camera to hand to record it and the internet and social media to immediately broadcast it round the World.
Quite frankly these days I’d be buggered trying to read my A-Z and drive at the same time, my eyes don’t work as good as they did when I was in my 20’s, so for local directions a Sat Nav is great, if in doubt double check as we did before and plan your route and plot it into the Sat Nav so it avoids the things that need avoiding.
andy12:
I use sat nav all the time never had a problem with it, I always cross check the address with google street view avoids any confusion at the delivery end.
Exactly this, never had a problem.
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Pat Hasler:
You all know how much I hate those things and in my opinion if you really need one to find your way around you shouldn’t be driving to earn a living, but as I mentioned in an earlier post my company, which without any doubt is the best company on the planet has provided them free of charge built into our elogs and I have been testing how accurate they are
The first few tries were laughable, sending me along roads where trucks should never go (don’t worry, I ignored those roads because I am not stupid enough to really trust a sat nav). Anyway every time I hook to an assigned load I get a prompt asking if I want the navigation system to take me there, yesterday I drove down to Albany NY and hooked to a load which needed dropping at out new yard in Rochester NY, as I had not got a clue where the new yard was I clicked ‘Yes’ and set off on my way, I had the thing running in the background because I know my way to Rochester, it’s a huge city and you can’t miss it. As I got inside the city limits I opened the thing up to see the directions clearly and it seemed quite simple, ‘Take I-490 west to the exit for Mount Read Blvd’ I pulled up at the bottom of the ramp and as soon as I stopped I got a notification to say I had arrived, this was not a sat nav notification, it was part of the pacos load system which we have had for 12 years, the sat nav told me to turn left, I did so, then at the second set of lights turn right, my destination was on my right according to the dam satnav, 460 Buffalo road, but that was not the address of the new yard, which was 1056 Mt Read Blvd, I even looked a the map on my phone and it seems I was about 5 miles away
The days work used up 654 miles and 10 hours and 40 minutes.
Again … I will never trust a f"“”“” sat nav
Sounds more like your route planning system is at fault than the Sat Nav, if the address isn’t correct and you say take me there that’s where you’ll go. The same if you have paper maps and somebody gives you the wrong address.
I have no problem with Sat-Navs either, I know my way around the UK and only use it for street addresses, Like @muckles I cant see the print on A-Z books any more like I used to so just the audio is enough to get me where I’m going.
Puts wrong address in, blames Satnav when it takes him to the address he puts in. What a dumbass.
It’s American, nuff said.
I no longer use a Sat Nav, because I don’t need one. Google maps on my iPhone for traffic, but that’s about it. In fact, because I only do one city, I want to buy an az so I can mark the drops to make life easier in future. They used to sell them at every garage, but you try finding one now! They are rarer than rocking horse ■■■■! I may have to buy one off the net! 
Those of us who rely on our trusty AtoZs might be aware of this story about how they first came about:
Living as an impoverished divorcee in a Horseferry Road bedsit in 1934 Phyliss Pearsall got invited to a party in Belgravia. She got lost on the way to the party and got soaked in a rain-storm. Very frustrated, she realised that the most recent street map of London dated from 1919 so she decided the following morning to produce her own up-to-date map of London. Tirelessly she walked all the 23,000 streets of London for up to eighteen hours a day, over 3000 miles, and produced the first London A–Z Street Atlas in 1936. Nobody in the trade wanted it but eventually W. H. Smith did order 250 copies, which she personally delivered to their head office in a wheelbarrow and the rest is history!
It’s a good story but not true. Phyliss never claimed to have walked every street in London. She says she visited every borough’s planning department to inspect and compare all the local maps of London. She also lists numerous people, cartographers, printers, paper merchants and salesmen (all largely recruited from her father’s contacts) who helped to make the map a reality. The final part - delivering the first 250 copies to WH Smith on a barrow, is probably true though.
Sometimes it’s not the kit it’s the person using it.
As above, put the wrong address in, you go to the wrong address.
If I was trunking to the same place day in day out I think I would still plug in the sat nav, just as I would check Google maps before setting off and whenever convenient for live traffic info. Not necessarily for directions it’s just part of the routine and makes the job easier.
Jimmy McNulty:
Sometimes it’s not the kit it’s the person using it.As above, put the wrong address in, you go to the wrong address.
The old computer saying, The machine is only as good as the idiot inputting said information.
biggriffin:
The old computer saying, The machine is only as good as the idiot inputting said information.
AKA
Garbage in > Garbage out.
biggriffin:
It’s American, nuff said.
Yep, ‘American’ without which you wouldn’t have sat nav systems in the first place… There’s a good old saying ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you’ How about ‘America’ switching off all access to satelites from other nations ? then you would be well and truly in the crap.
Jimmy McNulty:
Sometimes it’s not the kit it’s the person using it.As above, put the wrong address in, you go to the wrong address.
If I was trunking to the same place day in day out I think I would still plug in the sat nav, just as I would check Google maps before setting off and whenever convenient for live traffic info. Not necessarily for directions it’s just part of the routine and makes the job easier.
As I said quite clearly I was just testing it, the whole idea is that the device automatically gives the driver the route when he collects the load, this is so he doesn’t have to enter the address, obviously there is a fault with the way it’s set up. I still think they are a waste of time and money, we didn’t have them until recent years and everyone got to destinations fine, it’s sign of weakness to have to rely on things like this to get around, real drivers shouldn’t need it.
Pat Hasler:
Jimmy McNulty:
Sometimes it’s not the kit it’s the person using it.As above, put the wrong address in, you go to the wrong address.
If I was trunking to the same place day in day out I think I would still plug in the sat nav, just as I would check Google maps before setting off and whenever convenient for live traffic info. Not necessarily for directions it’s just part of the routine and makes the job easier.
As I said quite clearly I was just testing it, the whole idea is that the device automatically gives the driver the route when he collects the load, this is so he doesn’t have to enter the address, obviously there is a fault with the way it’s set up. I still think they are a waste of time and money, we didn’t have them until recent years and everyone got to destinations fine, it’s sign of weakness to have to rely on things like this to get around, real drivers shouldn’t need it.
The fault is with the person inputting the data. That’s the end of it.
If it’s a driver putting in the wrong address or an office jockey inputting the incorrect details, someone somewhere will have messed up.
The satnav (computer) will only compute the data that has been inputted - it won’t decide of its own volition to take you to another place five miles away.
Personally I think it’s a bit stupid not cross referencing a route and just blindly following a sat nav rather than spending a few seconds checking.
biggriffin:
It’s American, nuff said.
It’s Pat Hasler, nuff said. 
I use a Tomtom 6200 Pro and really struggle to change the vehicle dimensions. No idea what Im doing wrong, trouble is one day Ive got a 7.5 tonne and the next a double decker. (any ideas?)
Always got a proper map though.
I know you hate sat navs Pat, but tbf they are spot on if used properly,…and this is from somebody who went without one for 25 years or so.
I would not be without it today, it has kinda revolutionised the job tbh.
The problem lies with the absolute bulbs who totally rely on them 100% , and are so feckless they wouldn’t have a hope in hell of doing the job without one…some of em even carry a spare ffs. 
They still even manage to get lost and/or hit bridges with a top of the range jobbie stuck to their windscreens, those are the clowns who give sat navs a bad name.