Thanks, some really useful tips on maps here. Truckers map, showing bridge heights is a def must in my opinion. Ive been using SatNav in my car for around 2 years and its been totally accurate 100% of the time. Like most I think ive been using it the best way, doing the main journey the way I have planned, and then let it show me the exact road/building once im close.
They are pretty fool proof, atleast for cars. But a little common sense when punching in the address goes a long way I guess to not making a fool of yourself.
Now, you have all given me confidence, i dont feel like changing my career was the wrong move
A guy that I usually travel with bought a SatNav recently. When we’ve put it in the truck (which is just a 7.5T) and told the unit that it’s in a truck and to avoid unpaved roads and U-Turns, it makes no difference at all. It still tries to send us down roads that are totally unsuitable for taking a 7.5 tonner down, let alone anything bigger! Clearly you need to be sensible and not trust everything it says. Sometimes, you have to follow your nose a bit and wait for the SatNav to catch up!
If you set the tomtom for fastest route it will take you on decent roads,set it for shortist and your asking for trouble,also tomtom can be set for restricted speed that also compensates for larger vehicles…
I’m a Luddite-type, in that I still use A-Z’s. I have nearly the whole of the UK covered now, having bought them as I needed them. Yes, they cost a lot of money over the years, but I’ve looked after them and they have earned their keep. Some of them are a little out of date now and could use updating, but how many satnav units will give 5 years reliable service before having to buy a replacement? I guess only time will tell with that one. Minor updates I’ve simply added neatly in pen or pencil ( Like the M60 Manchester orbital… …that one’s on the replacement list. ), and many of them have regular or familiar jobs marked in - something else you can’t do with satnav.
The other big thing for me is this. As has been said above, after a few years you end up with a large-scale map of the UK tattooed into your brain and can get between most towns easily without looking at a map. Those that are unfamiliar are very quick to sort out with a map check, plus knowing the major routes means that instead of thinking, for example, that Burton is in the Midlands, you’ll be thinking of it as just off the A38. You’ll also start thinking in time rather than distance - if you ask someone how far somewhere is and they say “3 hours” instead of a figure in miles, you’ll know you’re talking to a trucker.
I digress…Once you can get to the towns easily, an A-Z willl show you the street…But to me a proper driver will only need a map to get in to a job, being able by use of landmarks he’s spotted to get back out again very easily. With satnav you are far less likely to bother paying attention to stuff like that as you have directions to follow…all of which means that it’ll take you far longer to build up a mental picture of the country, never mind of where your regular jobs are.
Beyond that, it’s like anything else in that it just takes practice - yet another reason why experience is important to gain and valuable once you have it.
i haven’t really got the energy to comment on everything right/wrong with lucy’s post as i am typing on my mobile coz no internet at home now. So just this one for now…why would u need to learn your way via landmarks etc if satnav gets u there, you don’t need to do it the oldtimers way. Also you can go to recent destinations or even add destinations to your favourites! Loads of sceptics here…but then it like everything when its new (eg. Home computers, heart surgery etc) and no satnav is NOT perfect and you can’t rely only on it (at the moment), but it helps the geographically impaired of us (ME!).
hope this post doesn’t offend anyone, thats not my intention.
Basically because you’ll be stuffed if one day it breaks. Or gets stolen. Or whatever. And call me old-fashioned, but to me learning how to get around without having to constantly be told or have your nose in a map is part of the skill of the job. It also saves an awful lot of time - after all, when someone who knows a particular area inside and out and backwards tells you about a short cut which isn’t obvious, how are you going to find the pub to turn right after if you never noticed it in the first place? (For example.)
Anyway, I’m not saying you have to do it my way, I’m just saying that’s what i feel about the subject. Maybe when you have some experience you may feel differently too. I also held my hands up to being a Luddite in this regard.
id go with lucy on it you need to have the route planning ability to be able to use the satnav effectively think of it a a digital map. yes you do get directions but they are an advisory rather than a you must only go this route.
one thing i would say it that these days theres not much chance of them going wrong as sd cards become much more reliable the only thing is that the hardward will fail or the charger lead will fail. and thats abouts it. it does happen though and you should have the navigational skills to get you out the problem.
with regard to lucys comment of not being able to mark regular jobs on the nav its perfectly possible you just add you position as a point of interest or a favorite
steve_24v:
I’ll also go with Lucy, to do this job right you do need that map in your head, and it wont come using Sat Nav…
i guess i’ll have to give up wanting to be a truck driver then as i can’t imagine having a map in my head with the drops i need to do, so i’d end up doing the job wrong!
But then saying that, i am too thick to even pass the test so that says loads about me don’t it.
thanks for the insight to the truck profession.
RookieTrucker:
why would u need to learn your way via landmarks etc if satnav gets u there,
Not having a dig at you but that sums up why many people get into trouble using SatNav. They think it is some magic solve all unit that will make up for their own navigational short comings, it isn’t. A classic example is when you follow another driver to a place you haven’t been to before, the following week, when you have to go there yourself, you realise, “I wish I’d paid more attention to the landmarks and less to the other guys trailer doors last time.”
It shouldn’t be SatNav getting you there. You should be getting yourself there, with the assistance of the SatNav exactly as you could do with a paper map. I’ve lost count of the number of posts on here where someone has said, “The SatNav sent me down a narrow road.” It didn’t, it suggested a route, the decision to take the road was all down to the driver.
SatNav really only has one major advantage over maps, it is a lot smaller and lighter than a big box/bag of maps.
I don’t think it’s an either/or–both maps and satnavs have their own advantages.
I think the strength of the SatNav is that it speaks to you. When you’re not quite sure if you’re on the right track, you don’t have to stop and look at your map. (Or worse still, read your map while driving in a busy city!)
The traditional map is good when planning the route as you get a good overview.
SatNav really only has one major advantage over maps, it is a lot smaller and lighter than a big box/bag of maps.
I think that about sums it up - I can carry a map of the whole UK down to street level in my pocket. It’s also a heck of a lot cheaper than enough maps to cover the country…
Lucy - i am curious why you think i was wound up while writing my last post…
Because it came across that you were.
and why the need to call me mr green?
Because you ARE Mr Green, and it shows.
well i wasn’t wound up and still am not and if u think i’m mr green then i must be, coz after all YOU pretty much are GOD on this site!
COFFEEHOLIC - yeah i get what you mean mate and i would never rely totally on satnav, but i think its more convenient than maps.
Oh and i SO get where your coming from with your example (following someone) as i have followed someone before, then got lost next time on my own. And yes you are right with the satnav equivallent (excuse spelling) because i have been somewhere twice using satnav, but can’t remember how to get there…but then it may just be that i am thick.
oh and one other reason why i DO NOT follow satnav to the letter (and why you can’t rely souly on it) is because it has told me to cross road ahead and shown on the map that it is a crossroad, but its now a double mini roundabout. Just like maps, satnav will NEVER be exact (what with all the changes in road layouts in this country…but not improving the roads themselves)
so each to their own.
EVERYTHING I HAVE POSTED ON THIS THREAD IS MY OPINION AND SORRY IF ANY OF IT HAS OFFENDED ANYONE!
well i wasn’t wound up and still am not and if u think i’m mr green then i must be, coz after all YOU pretty much are GOD on this site!
Not at all. I’m an aetheist, so if I were “god” then that would mean that I actively don’t believe in myself. Actually, maybe that’s not so far off the mark…
I think you are green because you have next to no experience of commercial driving. I have 7 years experience, and still consider myself a relative rookie. There may be some who would debate that last point, but I don’t think you’ll find many who would debate the fact that someone who hasn’t any experience of a job is anything other than green.
Oh, and by the way, on this site or any other, I am a person. A driver. Just like any other. If you wish to see something beyond that which isn’t actually there, that’s down to you. If I have gained respect amongst other members over the years I have been here, that is also your problem. But it is also yours for the taking, should you wish to work at it.
…that one’s on the replacement list. 
Maybe when you have some experience you may feel differently too. 
