Ok so this is going to make me sound incredibly naive but I’m going to ask anyway.
These days we are all brought up on the use of technology which for this job includes the use of sat navs and Google maps. It’s all us newer/younger drivers have ever known, so because of that don’t blame for asking the question.
How did you used to navigate?
Obviously you’ve got your national road atlas which I use as much as my sat nav now, but I mean more for that last little bit of your journey to find a little side street or industrial estate. For that last bit I use my sat nav, and check it on google maps, and if it looks dodgy I also go into street view to double check. But before all that what did you do?
I know there’s a thing called an A to Z which every region will have for that zoomed in level which the national atlas doesn’t give you, but surely you can’t have owned an A to Z for every region.
So at the expense now of me getting all the it’s not like it used to be, and you newbies don’t know half of it, blah blah blah. I’ve already said we get brought up with the technology which is why we use it and rely on it so much, but I’m interested more than anything at what you used to do…
I have travelled in countries where I could not read the language, nevermind the maps, if you could find any…I have a mouth and hands and they are great at communication, this with the use of the sun has got me to many places, most that I have no idea of how to go there again!
In English speaking countries communication is so easy, so there is no need to be lost, all you have to do is ask
I’ve a tote box full of A-Z’s
If I didn’t have one for the area I was visiting I’d consider stopping off at a local garage and buying one as they nearly always had copies on the shelf.
When I started out we didn’t have mobile phones.
The old hands would help you go through the next weeks run with you on a Saturday while loading. Any they didn’t know then it would be into the services for a read of the A to Z, failing that, and I know this will sound strange, but I would stop the truck, get out and ask someone. (Not always a success!).
Over time you gain experience of finding places on your own, you develop a sixth sense for it. I do think it’s sad that this kind of experience is being lost now as the new blood tends to rely on all the technology available and nothing else, but tbh, so would I if I was just starting out.
When I cleared out my garage a few years ago I found 20 or so county wide A to Z’s and another 30 assorted road and street maps. They all used to live in the truck with me before I got my first sat nav which was Autoroute on a laptop.
Tgtrucker:
Over time you gain experience of finding places on your own, you develop a sixth sense for it. I do think it’s sad that this kind of experience is being lost now as the new blood tends to rely on all the technology available and nothing else, but tbh, so would I if I was just starting out.
.
Another one that had a bag full of A-Zs and an atlas. I used to quite enjoy stopping people and asking them for directions, though some would do a runner at the sight of you. With Europe I had an atlas and asked a lot.
Tg is right though, there was a definite sixth sense that you acquired over time.
One large road atlas, normally with dirty thumb marks on the page of the area you used the most, when that page fell out it was time to buy a new one.
A box full of A-Z’s, normally that address you wanted was either in the crease of the page or just out side the area it covered.
Driver-Once-More:
Used to go into a services, flick through an a - z on the shelf, or ask at a local shop when in the right area.
Forgot about doing that.
Asking a local, (try and find a local first,) only to get directions suitable for a car not a truck.
Asking in petrol stations and local shops, this is why I put weight on, I felt obliged to buy a choccy bar each time and I haven’t got a good memory.
Asking post men and local delivery drivers, often the best source of information, unless doing farm work then ask at another farm, they always knew what their neighbours are up to.
Getting a Police ■■■■■■ to the factory you were trying to get to before you got lost and ended up blocking a Cul de Sac at 8am when the locals were trying to leave to get to work.
If I didn’t have a local a-z, I’d stop at a garage, ask, or memorise from a local map, ask a postie or a copper if you saw one. It wasn’t an issue to be honest
happysack:
Drivers used to talk to each other and help others out
Me and some others did that today. Six of us going to the same place in a Welsh town for some crushed cars. First guy found the place and then phoned the second guy and so on to guide us there. Then we phoned the next guy after we loaded and was leaving so he could make his way in as there was only space for one at a time.
Mobile phones (and bluetooth obviously) make the job easy.
Road Atlas and commit the route to memory, I would also jot down the road numbers just in case. Now I use a satnav and always keep it in 2D mode with the sound off, less distraction and easier to use at a glance.
When the ramp goes down on the C130 Hercules you get a red light. lick finger, point out of the back! and jump on green! navigate by moon, stars and the back of trees, i.e the bark
Before the Berlin Wall came down, you needed old 5 pence pieces for Germany as they were the same size as a Deutsch mark piece. no mobiles, A to Zs and tongue in head worked wonders. now the cab rats don’t even converse!
Driving down a one way street somewhere years ago and needed directions. Saw a guy walking towards me so pulled over to the right hand side, leaned out a d said where’s xyz. He looked at me, smiled and covered his mouth and ears - he was deaf and dumb! Looked at the delivery note, nodded, climbed in and I gave him a lift to work! Chances of that happening - zero.
att:
I have travelled in countries where I could not read the language, nevermind the maps, if you could find any…I have a mouth and hands and they are great at communication, this with the use of the sun has got me to many places, most that I have no idea of how to go there again!
In English speaking countries communication is so easy, so there is no need to be lost, all you have to do is ask
I remember talking to a bloke who used to run out to the middle east, he said it was interesting when you came across sign posts that had no western letters, just Arabic hieroglyphics. It was a case of trying to match up the strange symbols on the sign to those on the docket.
When I started it was just maps and A-Zs, rarely had problems, other people were helpful once.
Possibly the most exciting navigation for me was; just before satNav, GPS devices were available for hillwalking etc, as a hillwalker and someone who loved emerging technology I had one. these did not have maps but simply returned a direction and distance to the Grid Ref for where you wanted to go, it would point an arrow in the ‘as-the-crow-flies’ direction of your target… I found away of getting the Grid Ref from Post Codes, I used to set the device up on the windscreen and then on the last few miles to the factory or farm I would be trying to find roads that would take me in the direction of the arrow - absolutely brilliant, it felt so futuristic, like something out of a sci-fi movie. this would have probably been mid 90s ? and the technology was just mind blowing…
Rowley010:
I know there’s a thing called an A to Z which every region will have for that zoomed in level which the national atlas doesn’t give you, but surely you can’t have owned an A to Z for every region.
I used to do exactly that. Had an old bread basket full of A to Zs and local maps for the areas A to Zs didn’t cover. Still nowhere remotely near full coverage. What pushed me into Satnav was in 2004 realising most of my A to Zs were over a decade old when I tried to find somewhere in Birmingham that didn’t exist on mine and it’d not only be far cheaper to buy a Satnav than replace them all but the Satnav would give me far more coverage of the UK.
In the Commie Block or even in Turkey you would drive to the edge of the town/city and ask a taxi driver. Most of the time if it wasn’t too far away they would tell you to follow them and take you straight to your destination and not even charge you. A packet of Benson and Hedges was always better than the local currency.
and an atlas. I used to quite enjoy stopping people and asking them for directions, though some would do a runner at the sight of you. With Europe I had an atlas and asked a lot.
and jump on green! 
navigate by moon, stars and the back of trees, i.e the bark 
no mobiles, A to Zs and tongue in head worked wonders. 
now the cab rats don’t even converse! 