F-reds:
Sat Navs don’t have different coloured lines to denote different classes of road then Pete?
Oh wait, they do.
It’s almost like your talking out of your old hairy truckers arse. Again.
they might have differnet coloured lines but the knob heads still can not make out what a safe road is or not as they just follow it blindly,
that is the danger of sat navs is the driver follow them blindly without taking notice of where the hell there going
there either to lazy or just so dumb they can not figure it out, how many times do you hear them cry well the sat nav told me to go down there ?
bloody morons is the only word for drivers who are so dependant on there sat nav
the maps forced you to look around the whole area, get a feelings for where you can go and most importantly where the hell you shouldn’t go, you can plan everything in advance even looking for railway lines that would tell you there might be a low bridge or not, but in the collins maps they helped even more as they would cut the rail line off at the road so you knew it was a bridge or they would let the line go over the road to show it was a fly over crossing or level crossing
but again i dont suppose anyone these days could even understand what a map is let alone be able to read one and plan there route
desypete:
the sat nav guys do none of this home work they jump in there cabs type in the post code and off they go trusting to that sat nav until of course things go wrong
While some do that with typical results we’re not all like that.
If I’m given a postcode and name of a company the first thing I’ll do is tap the postcode into Google maps to get a rough idea of where the place is. If it’s not too far from the motorway I’ll just get crack on and do it from memory but if it’s a long trek off the motorway I’ll get the sat nav and my truck atlas out. I’ll let the sat nav see what route it wants to take and check that against Google maps and the atlas.
If all 3 are singing from a similar hymn sheet then I know I’m safe to follow the sat nav the whole way whilst still keeping an eye out for things they may have all missed. Occasionally the sat nav might miss a low bridge, like the one by the M4 at J16. Or the map might miss something, like the weight limit in Tewksbury. That’s where I come in to save the day. Yay me.
As for the good old days, trucks have been hitting bridges and getting stuck down country lanes since trucks were invented. It’s just social media highlights it more now.
If you know how to get the best out of a sat nav you can plan your route using whatever means you see fit and program the sat nav to take you that exact route. Which is handy if the place you’re going to is 50 mile off the motorway. Some of our drops in the middle of Wales are 80 mile cross country. Gettting the sat nav to take you exactly the route you want is surely preferable to trying to remember 80 miles worth of cross country roads ?
I do find this anti-Sat-Nav thing quite amusing. This job is stressful, why make it harder on yourself by tearing your hair out trying to find a place… Let technology help!
Radar19:
When I had to deliver a summer house to DSV in Fareham, the address was wrong so a quick wander up and down the street in Google maps led me to the right place. More often that not those small business parks can often share the same postcode across multiple buildings.
Is that on the Segensworth Industrial Estate? If it is I noticed they’re right at the edge of the postcode area there, I think the estate roads are named after aircraft (I think Brabazon Way was one).
truckman020:
as other OPs have said another MP who does not have a clue, even if you do plan your route by map is it going to show how narrow some of these roads can be,answer no,nobody knows,unless you see the usual signs ie not suitable for HGVs
Another motorway driver
You do it your way and ill do it mine pal.
Does not have a clue- sorry pal ive only been doing it for 22 years, way before the sat nav you obviously rely on so much
I don’t have a sat nav,never needed one as I am old school and I have been doing it as you say for 26 years with maps if you read what I said it states that maps cannot show you if the roads are narrow or not that is fact PAL
truckman020:
as other OPs have said another MP who does not have a clue, even if you do plan your route by map is it going to show how narrow some of these roads can be,answer no,nobody knows,unless you see the usual signs ie not suitable for HGVs
Another motorway driver
You do it your way and ill do it mine pal.
Does not have a clue- sorry pal ive only been doing it for 22 years, way before the sat nav you obviously rely on so much
I don’t have a sat nav,never needed one as I am old school and I have been doing it as you say for 26 years with maps if you read what I said it states that maps cannot show you if the roads are narrow or not that is fact PAL
Ditto
I’ve only used one a couple of times but even then i knew roughly where i was going.
I like to actually look where i’m going, you notice landmarks, signs etc. A lot of people who follow their Tom Toms couldn’t tell where they turned or what road they were on.
I went to the USA a few years ago to visit friends, my Dad lived in the same town for a number of years but even after about 6 years of not going over there i could still remember where to go pretty much from the airport to their front door using landmarks and built in sense of direction
Those that say they never use a map must be either motorway drivers or town drivers .
I deliver to a lot of rural areas and the post code could cover a 6 or 7 mile area.
So sat nav lovers who never use a map and think sat navs are brilliant tell me how you would find the exact location if this is the case, and trust me i come across it every day of the week.
I use a sat nav ( car one) and they are useful but almost always use a map for the last few miles.
Another good point is if you do follow your satnav to the letter ill bet you can hardly remember the exact route when you need to go again days or weeks later!
Coolrider:
Those that say they never use a map must be either motorway drivers or town drivers .
I deliver to a lot of rural areas and the post code could cover a 6 or 7 mile area.
So sat nav lovers who never use a map and think sat navs are brilliant tell me how you would find the exact location if this is the case, and trust me i come across it every day of the week.
I use a sat nav ( car one) and they are useful but almost always use a map for the last few miles.
Another good point is if you do follow your satnav to the letter ill bet you can hardly remember the exact route when you need to go again days or weeks later!
Just right the street name and company check on google maps?
Right street name in sat nav match it up with Phillips map and you won’t be far out.
I think the only thing the A-Z maps are good for now is starting a fire.
If you are doing long distance tramping. going different areas everyday you would need to be a nutcase or a I.T ■■■■ not to use a smart phone and sat nav.
My sat navs been on the blink so I spent 45 minutes studying a map and writing out a list of simple directions for 4 multi drops around london. used the satnav for a backup when I went the wrong way.
The result was a pretty stress free trip around London.
Panick:
My sat navs been on the blink so I spent 45 minutes studying a map and writing out a list of simple directions for 4 multi drops around london. used the satnav for a backup when I went the wrong way.
The result was a pretty stress free trip around London.
So that only took 40 minutes longer than it should’ve done then
Panick:
My sat navs been on the blink so I spent 45 minutes studying a map and writing out a list of simple directions for 4 multi drops around london. used the satnav for a backup when I went the wrong way.
The result was a pretty stress free trip around London.
What was i saying about common sense.
45 minutes to read a map?
I’ve got a new driver out with me on Monday for some training, please don’t tell me it’s you
I sometimes have trucknav, smartphone and navigator atlas on the go simultaneously. It might look a little like mission control in the cab, but i try to utilise every option available to me if i really have no inkling where a new drop actually is.
I think its universally agreed that using these gizmos with your eyes wide shut is a mugs game, and that you are truly out on a limb if you forsake all eyeball-based common sense in the mistaken belief that the eye in the sky is going to chaperone you to the precise entrance/gateway/doorstep, but referring to the map mid-journey means pulling over and stopping - something which is often impossible. I would like nothing more than to be given the time to sit in the yard, meticulously planning a route by the good old traditional methods, but the sad reality is that no sooner is my card in than the stuffed shirts in the TO expect to see you wheelspinning out of the yard like youre off home on Friday tea-time. If you are afforded this courtesy, then you are among the fortunate few. The “good old days” are just that, and will never make a comeback - some of the reminiscers on here would do well to bear that in mind, and make the reluctant, quantum leap into the present day.
truckman020:
as other OPs have said another MP who does not have a clue, even if you do plan your route by map is it going to show how narrow some of these roads can be,answer no,nobody knows,unless you see the usual signs ie not suitable for HGVs
Another motorway driver
You do it your way and ill do it mine pal.
Does not have a clue- sorry pal ive only been doing it for 22 years, way before the sat nav you obviously rely on so much
I don’t have a sat nav,never needed one as I am old school and I have been doing it as you say for 26 years with maps if you read what I said it states that maps cannot show you if the roads are narrow or not that is fact PAL
Ditto
I’ve only used one a couple of times but even then i knew roughly where i was going.
I like to actually look where i’m going, you notice landmarks, signs etc. A lot of people who follow their Tom Toms couldn’t tell where they turned or what road they were on.
I went to the USA a few years ago to visit friends, my Dad lived in the same town for a number of years but even after about 6 years of not going over there i could still remember where to go pretty much from the airport to their front door using landmarks and built in sense of direction
Got to be a place for both maps and sat-navs these days, though I have never used sat-nav myself as they were not around in ‘my time’ in the job. What does concern me a little, and I mentioned this on another thread, is the amount of folk who come to my home via sat-navs but have no idea how they got here! Had a chap only last week, he had travelled from Knutsford to Matlock but when I asked him which route he had taken he couldn’t answer me. He did say that he remembered coming through a town but didn’t know if it was Macclesfield, Buxton or Bakewell, he had no map with him either “Don’t need one” so I just hope that his electrical aid is 100% reliable! If he needed to find me again he would have no idea of the route whereas once I had driven somewhere I still remembered the way years later, unless the roads had altered of course which would be where a sat-nav would be beneficial. He was heading for Yorkshire and Durham after leaving me, I wonder if he is home yet? We used to navigate via pubs/churches/garages etc and always knew where we were even if we shouldn’t have actually been there!!
I think its a lot of ■■■■■■■■, vast majority of people who use satnavs everyday don’t get stuck in country lanes, destroy ancient villages, pull down bridges or even drive into the sea.
Its a tiny minority of numpties who make the headlines and suddenly blame the satnav. I am sure if someone looked up the stats would show similar amount of incidents before satnavs were invented just these days they use the satnav as a scape goat.
Going to farms years ago before i had a satnav, if i didnt know where i was going was pot luck which b-road or unlisted road to take to the farm, had no idea what the road was going to be like until you drove along it unless there was a sign saying unsuitable for HGV’s. Even on the roads supposedly suitable for HGV’s could still end up giving the hedgerows a trim.
Another difference between today and years gone by is the amount of supermarkets getting put up in tiny rural locations where years ago they wouldnt exist. Maybe the councilors etc… should have thought about how the stock was going to get to these supermarkets before giving them planning permission.
I avoid supermarket work like the plague but anytime ive done it in recent years they usually always do provide directions and risk assessments to the store so this minister is kinda preaching to the converted.
Just sounds to me like some minister who doesent really have a clue just wittering on.
Radar19:
Complete nonsense… Do you think everyone that uses a Sat-nav is a div? I have a map, I’ve opened it once in the 8 months I’ve had it. Not got stuck under a bridge or in a field or up a farm track using my Sat-nav.
I’m going to hazard a guess that your job either doesn’t involve much variation or keeps you to main routes. Many of us travel all over the place, delivery/collecting from farms, country lanes and all sorts of random places, if I just typed all my addresses into a sat nav and didn’t check my physical map first before heading off i’d have definitely got stuck somewhere by now, even on the turn into many roads they may look ok to start with but soon narrow up, this just isnt’ clear on sat-nav overviews but is on a physical map. Same goes for bridge heights, if you pull a 13’9 trailer every single day then you’re unlikely to hit trouble but you should still be checking your bridges en route using a map, if you switch trailers a lot upto 16ft though so you have more need to remind yourself where the low routes are with an actual map.
Map and sat nav is the best way, map alone makes life hard for yourself, sat nav alone show’s a fairly significant level of ineptitude if you drive anything bigger than a Sprinter.
Kiowan:
Map and sat nav is the best way, map alone makes life hard for yourself, sat nav alone show’s a fairly significant level of ineptitude if you drive anything bigger than a Sprinter.
Quite a presumptuous statement saying anyone who uses a satnav only is ineptitude !!
It’s the 21st century ffs, if it works for someone best of luck to them.
We used to navigate via pubs/churches/garages etc and always knew where we were even if we shouldn’t have actually been there!! 