Noobie question again… ( thanks for your patience and for the guys that have previously helped me out )
I’ve got a new satnav ( Garmin deal 560 ) it asks for a truck profile and i have to put in dimensions, as I start off ill be in different wagons from rigid to artic depending on what work is available for what wagon.
Some of the wagons I get into I will be unfamiliar with, to set my profile on the sat nav I’ll need to put the gross weight , width , length in for the satnav to find me a suitable route.
Weight I’m happy with, height will be on the dash but I’d rather check that is right my self. Where do I find the dimensions for width and length ? I’m guessing the tractor unit should have a data plate on the door but if I’m pulling a trailer then where would I find the dimensions for the trailer ?
I don’t bother with length or width. Mine is set to 65ft long, have you ever seen a rigid that is 65ft long? For width mine is set to the standard 2.8m. What the sat-nav will do is look at all the routes in its database and compare them to the data you entered so all routes that are known at the current time with height, width or weight restrictions which should be avoided as much as possible however this is on routes that have those restrictions on. Sometimes it will try and take you on roads that have no restrictions but you’d be silly to try and take a truck down them.
I also have the garmin so I speak from experience, if you get an unrecognised road you get a symbol with a truck and ? Next to it. This is where it gets tricky because some roads it tries to get you to avoid you can clearly drive an artic on, but it just doesn’t recognise them. Ok if you know the area but when driving blind you tend to rely on it a little bit more, driving a few miles out of your way and then on the way back you realise you could of gone straight across .
Wouldn’t it be best just to stick the dimensions/weight of the largest vehicle you drive. Say a double decked curtain side artic and just stick with that.
Better then faffing changing the settings all the time.
adam277:
Wouldn’t it be best just to stick the dimensions/weight of the largest vehicle you drive. Say a double decked curtain side artic and just stick with that.
Better then faffing changing the settings all the time.
Good idea in theory but you may end up taking quite a few long way rounds for no reason. Changing the height is a doddle on my Tom Tom, only takes a few minutes. I do leave the length set at that of an artic and just change the height accordingly
Adam I did think that but if I know how to find the dimensions of each wagon then it will take seconds to change and can save me minutes on the road and as you will all know minutes can be the difference of getting home to family at night or staying out to work another day.
I’m guessing the dimensions will be on the data plate for the cab I’m not 100% though, I haven’t got a clue where I can find Trailer dimensions out.
Dan Bear 87:
I also have the garmin so I speak from experience, if you get an unrecognised road you get a symbol with a truck and ? Next to it. This is where it gets tricky because some roads it tries to get you to avoid you can clearly drive an artic on, but it just doesn’t recognise them. Ok if you know the area but when driving blind you tend to rely on it a little bit more, driving a few miles out of your way and then on the way back you realise you could of gone straight across .
Most of my work will be London , I’ll get a a-z aswell and try plan my route with the sat nav as an aid.
Thanks for the advice though as I didn’t know about the truck and ? I wouldn’t of known what the sat nav would of been telling me
i have a snooper and it lets you put 5 vehicle profiles in it,I’ve put 4 different profiles in it ,so if im pulling a decker i switch it to that profile then if pulling a triler 13ft 10 i switch it to that one etc,very handy,i dont know if garmins or tom toms do it ,
For width mine is set to the standard 2.8m. What the sat-nav will do is look at all the routes in its database and compare them to the data you entered so all routes that are known at the current time with height, width or weight restrictions which should be avoided as much as possible however this is on routes that have those restrictions on. Sometimes it will try and take you on roads that have no restrictions but you’d be silly to try and take a truck down them.
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