Are satnavs making our brains deteriorate? I used to be able to go to so many addresses without a map or directions because I had been there before and could remember the route. Now I just tap in a postcode and obey the instructions I don’t think this is anything sinister (hope not) but wonder what the logical outcome of this decline is and if there is anything to be done about it
Yes I think so…I use them constantly but I’ve made an effort recently to learn the routes I do rather than relying totally on the magic box as I found I couldn’t recall them when abdicating responsibility. I always have them routed to my intended destination but if it’s a familiar one I do it the old fashioned way. Keeping the satnav routed is handy if I hit diversions etc. and always have my Truckers atlas for back up!
I have to watch my ■■■■■■■ addicts like a hawk, unlike my “map only” lads, funny that or not depending on where the thing has sent them 
I`ve got one, where its a weekly occurrence where I have to step in, and basically take control of the truck remotely, his brain has absolutely gone to mush through his addiction to the bloody thing 
Well if the breweries hadn’t [zb]ed up the beer trade by bending over and taking it up the jacksey from the Supermarkets by selling it cheap to them then we’d all still be able to navigate by pubs, none of this namby pamby paper map softie [zb]
We learn routes…
My second trip over the water was to Oss in Holland. Got talking to a driver on the boat and he said he was going to there too. I followed him round Antwerp and all the way to the industrial estate I was tipping at. The following week I had the same run. I had absolutely no idea how to get to Oss. I missed my turn off the Antwerp ring road and got well and truly lost trying to get back on.
I occaisionally use Google maps for the last few miles to a new drop and it does an adequate job. But I couldn’t rely 100% on a Satnav I feel uncomfortable blindly following directions from a computer.
I guess that anything that means you use your brain less is a brain drain.
Reef:
Well if the breweries hadn’t [zb]ed up the beer trade by bending over and taking it up the jacksey from the Supermarkets by selling it cheap to them then we’d all still be able to navigate by pubs, none of this namby pamby paper map softie [zb]
Unless you’re trying to navigate around Milton Keynes.
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
Reef:
Well if the breweries hadn’t [zb]ed up the beer trade by bending over and taking it up the jacksey from the Supermarkets by selling it cheap to them then we’d all still be able to navigate by pubs, none of this namby pamby paper map softie [zb]
I have to do it by “curry houses” nowadays, take a left at the “Raj”, then when you see the “Shalimar” on your left hang a right…sign of the times 
Sat Navs and mobile phones are costing our industry million in lost productivity
yourhavingalarf:
We learn routes…My second trip over the water was to Oss in Holland. Got talking to a driver on the boat and he said he was going to there too. I followed him round Antwerp and all the way to the industrial estate I was tipping at. The following week I had the same run. I had absolutely no idea how to get to Oss. I missed my turn off the Antwerp ring road and got well and truly lost trying to get back on.
I occaisionally use Google maps for the last few miles to a new drop and it does an adequate job. But I couldn’t rely 100% on a Satnav I feel uncomfortable blindly following directions from a computer.
I guess that anything that means you use your brain less is a brain drain.
My mate had one of his “star” men do the exact same thing en route to Portugal, came off the boat @ Cherbourg and followed a number plate all the way to Coimbra, he couldn’t even remember where he had a night out on the way …it all came out in the wash when he went the second time, clueless apparently 
I use a SatNav more than my map atlas, I use my map rarely nowadays, I don’t think or look at it is a bad thing. Only time it is bad is if the thing freezes up or goes off. I was Army trained as a driver so all we did was use maps so I can still read a map but you get so used to a SatNav for its ease. A bit like auto gearboxes, I prefer an auto now as it is so much easier driving, times change and so does technology along with it. My opinion is that the job gets easier the more good technology is utilised. Can’t see why people knock technology unless you can’t accept change which some people can’t. I trust my SatNav and only occasionally do I question it.
UKtramp:
I use a SatNav more than my map atlas, I use my map rarely nowadays, I don’t think or look at it is a bad thing. Only time it is bad is if the thing freezes up or goes off. I was Army trained as a driver so all we did was use maps so I can still read a map but you get so used to a SatNav for its ease. A bit like auto gearboxes, I prefer an auto now as it is so much easier driving, times change and so does technology along with it. My opinion is that the job gets easier the more good technology is utilised. Can’t see why people knock technology unless you can’t accept change which some people can’t. I trust my SatNav and only occasionally do I question it.
TBF mate, you aren’t paying for the diesel whilst navprat goes walkabout
Im not against them totally, I use my phone and ipad to identify the address, but thats as far as it goes, I never let it dictate proceedings, I`m in charge, unlike the navprat wobble merchants you see about not knowing what to do at major intersections whilst the thing decides what to do next
The issue isn’t with Satnavs or even Satnav users for that matter.
The issue is with people who can only see things as black or white, yes there are “driving gods” that can navigate by the easterly winds, the position of the sun and a sextant (insert heavily laden sarcastic tone here) and yes there are numpties that drive with their nose one inch from the satnav screen as if they’re playing a bleedin’ video game, but then you have the normal people everywhere inbetween the two with varying ranges of godliness and numptiness.
Now please stop categorising everyone that uses a Satnav as mindless and stupid because with that sort of attitude and outlook you may want to look a little closer to home! And tbh the argument is getting [zb]ing old…
I used maps for over forty years, since I got a SatNav a few years ago I use it mainly to warn of congestion and speed cameras in unfamiliar areas.
However, I ignore the thing when it suggests I take M62 to Ferrybridge to get on the A1 to go South, as there is a lane or total closure on the M62 here in West Yorkshire every day due to bumps/breakdowns/potential jumpers on an overbridge.
Satnavs seem to assume a motorway will always be a few minutes faster than alternative routes, but don’t factor in probability of long delays.
I would not be without my basic sat nav today, even though I’m one of Reef’s ‘‘Driving Gods’’ who went without one for bloody years when I chucked my sextant and star charts away. 
(Still kept my bridge height map though.)
They’re great as long as they are treated as just a guide and not the ‘‘God’s absolute guide to directions for truckers’’ as many of the feckless among us do.
I often see these characters with 2 sat navs in front of them 
but I had to laugh the other day when I saw a guy with THREE sat navs stuck to his screen …I mean, how much guidance does he need ffs.
Stanley Mitchell:
[TBF mate, you aren’t paying for the diesel whilst navprat goes walkabout
Your right, I don’t pay for the diesel but then I don’t get lost half as much as I used to when we only had maps. A SatNav isn’t something I simply follow blind, I know as well as any other HGV driver the route and roads I should be following, whenever I encounter an area where I am not familiar with is where it is invaluable. A SatNav is another aid to your eyes and your knowledge of the roads. I wouldn’t be without mine and would rather leave my map at home than my satnav by choice.
UKtramp:
Stanley Mitchell:
[TBF mate, you aren’t paying for the diesel whilst navprat goes walkabout
Your right, I don’t pay for the diesel but then I don’t get lost half as much as I used to when we only had maps. A SatNav isn’t something I simply follow blind, I know as well as any other HGV driver the route and roads I should be following, whenever I encounter an area where I am not familiar with is where it is invaluable. A SatNav is another aid to your eyes and your knowledge of the roads. I wouldn’t be without mine and would rather leave my map at home than my satnav by choice.
Be careful if you get a Cornish postcode then, as the P*N gets stroppy in certain areas, and then it gets interesting for those that are ahead of the curve when it comes to technology 
I use the sat nav to go somewhere new, then once I know where I am going I used to leave it on for the camera warnings, since the limit went up to 50, no need to do this, so I rarely use a sat nav, last time I went out without a sat nav, it was nice asking for directions and holding up the traffic whilst doing so…Everyone is in such a rush these days I always have a map and check out the best route with heights etc.
I went to Portugal on the same route I did back in April, I remembered nearly all of it and corrected an out of date nav I was using on my bike.
I know of some who have their SatNavs on pretty much ALL the time, including returning to base or even going home in a car! I just don`t get that. Seems to me they want to switch off completely, and abdicate all responsibility to the machine. I use my SatNav to find somewhere new; then look at which way it suggests I use to get there; then I decide which route to use. My choice to use a longer route on main roads or shorter route on minor roads. My choice to avoid cities at rush hour. My choice to plan night out parking. SatNavs are great as a tool, not as a boss.
It all depends on whether or not you have a tool using the tool!
Minimum wage mentality for erm…pretty much minimum wage.