hi…
just wondering how many seasoned drivers use sat nav [and what one],as i know when i pass my tests i will have to use one as i dont really know my way round uk to much,
anyone know how companies look upon you if you use sat nav?
sorry if this thread has been done before or if i have posted it in wrong section
Rarely nowadays but it can come in handy. I used to use it mainly when I’d have to travel to areas that were a bit far flung and well off the trunk road network rather than keep looking at the map.
Use it in conjuction with your brain, is the key. If it tells you to do something that doesn’t seem right, don’t do it and let it find another way. Follow it blind and it will get you into trouble sooner or later.
Mine is TomTom 5 on PDA and has generally been well behaved.
ive been using satnav on a pda for the last 6 years. usually ill run which ever program or unit im testing all the time even if i know where im going as usually ill be using the traffic warning and have speed cameras loaded too. also it come in handy for an eta.
as 8 wheels and coffeeholic have said many times ovrer never follow it blindly think of it as a moving map an youll be ok
i wont touch it and i have even gone to the extent where one company offered me the loan of one for a day and i requested they removed it from the cab before i took the truck out. im a map reader
looks like i best start studying my maps…hehe 
Used to use it all the time for the simple reason it saved space in the cab, when I first started using SatNav I binned a couple of hundred paper maps. These days I have no real need for it, I don’t even take it to work now, as whoever I’m working for give me a small map of the destination, usually hand drawn by one of the regular drivers.
As to how companies look upon you for using SatNav, they wouldn’t really care how you find your destination just as long as you get there.
You say you don’t know your way around very well, which isn’t really an issue, but can you read a map and use one to plot a route? If you can’t then the SatNav won’t cure that and it would be something you need to work on before relying on it to find your destination.
BLADE:
looks like i best start studying my maps…hehe
maps are easy. read them properly and you will get close to where you want. subtle landmarks are the way i use them. i want the turning after the post office. left at the junction then 3rd right. fire stations, ambulance stations, schools etc etc etc. the clues are there and its easy to plan point to point before you turn the key. call me old fashioned (at 29 
) but i am rather fond of my maps 
scanny77:
i wont touch it and i have even gone to the extent where one company offered me the loan of one for a day and i requested they removed it from the cab before i took the truck out. im a map reader
You’re a map reader, they offered you the loan of a map and you declined? Strange. 
Why would you need them to remove it from the cab? They do have an on/off button.
yeh i can read and plot routes no problems, but i got lazy about 7 years ago when my car came with sat nav instaled from the factory, so havent bothered since and have just relied on it getting me to places which to be fair it always has…but i need to start paying attention to where im going i think in prep for when im an hgv driver
BLADE:
yeh i can read and plot routes no problems,
In that case you should be OK with a SatNav then, just remember to use whatever options or settings it has to adjust speeds to more closely match a truck and to set your preferences for road types.
I use Co Pilot on my smartphone. I use it in conjunction with a paper route planner map. Basically I find where the destination is using the satnav s mapping function. Find where that is near on the route planner then make my own route to the destination, only following the satnav for the last few miles. I sometimes leave it running as the eta s it gives are pretty accurate
I’ve voted no.
I was a Digital Cartographer before I started Truck driving so I have no problem with the technology, but don’t need it for my job.
However if I was to go back on general haulage I’d probally get one for getting round towns and cities, but I still like paper maps as they give you the big picture for route planning.
Even when I was a cartographer we used to plot our digital maps out on paper to check for errors.
The problem with Sat Nav is the user, it’s an aid to navigation not a subsitute for engaging your brain.
I believe the RAF still teach pilots to fly using map, compass and stopwatch, so they understand navigation before they let them loose with the computerised navigation systems.
Maybe a new driver who doesn’t know their way round should use a map for a short while to get a feel of how the country links up, then move to Sat Nav.
i use tomtom 510 with speed cameras and low bridges and find it useful. i tend to get close to where i’m going then use it to get me to within about half a mile of the final drop site as we mostly deliver to private houses. i still have a full selection of maps which are by no means redundant. i do find tomtom saves me a fair bit of time used in conjunction with common sense
i dont use them, i use maps, and i think that if you are trundling along and the sat nav goes down, if you dont have a map you could be in a muddle, but a map wont ‘go wrong’
Had one, got rid dont like them as i like others prefer my height map book. Know lads on our job who have them with bridge heights in them but still revert back to the good old map book. My mate got the new tom tom last saturday put it in his cab on monday and while tipping cars on the busy A6 in Stockport some thieving little toerag smashed the passenger window climbed in an stole it, luckily they never saw his mobile or wallet in the centre console or they would of had them to. When he went to autoglass to get a new side window put back in the lad was telling him that 70 per cent of jobs he does is to replace windows that people have had smashed and there sat navs stolen, (So be warned lads) dont show the thieving BAR-STEWARDS your nice little gadgets to steel 
Coffeeholic:
scanny77:
i wont touch it and i have even gone to the extent where one company offered me the loan of one for a day and i requested they removed it from the cab before i took the truck out. im a map readerYou’re a map reader, they offered you the loan of a map and you declined?
the company bought a satnav for the truck Neil. they have replaced it after agency drivers had broken them so i requested the removal to exonerate myself. for all i knew it may well have been broken anyway and they wanted to blame me for it. possibly far fetched but it does happen. they cant blame me if its sitting in the office though. posterior well and truly covered
Dont use sat nav I use maps when I need to know where to go. That said Im home every night and often know where im off the next day. Now if its outside usual work into starnge areas I do a bit of homework on
multimap.com/
local.live.com/
As 99% of my work involves farms these are great as I can generally find the exact location of the farm and even looking at Ariel photos get a rough idea wether or not theres room for an artic!
alix776:
ive been using satnav on a pda
me too…
I basically use it as an aid, and not as a definative guide.
using it with a map and eyeball No1 is the best combo
I find it handy letting it calculate the estimated time to the delivery, and using it in conjunction with my tacho timer, gives me a realistic idea of If I need to take a break before or after I make the delivery. leaving me free to decide where I can stop, and what to have to eat
besides it keeps me amused, arguing with it, when I already know where Im going, though I must at some point change the warning sounds for the speed cameras, as Ive had the same sound for too long and its now not always registering in my mind when it goes off
scanny77:
Coffeeholic:
scanny77:
i wont touch it and i have even gone to the extent where one company offered me the loan of one for a day and i requested they removed it from the cab before i took the truck out. im a map readerYou’re a map reader, they offered you the loan of a map and you declined?
the company bought a satnav for the truck Neil. they have replaced it after agency drivers had broken them so i requested the removal to exonerate myself. for all i knew it may well have been broken anyway and they wanted to blame me for it. possibly far fetched but it does happen. they cant blame me if its sitting in the office though. posterior well and truly covered
I hadn’t thought of CYA, good point. 
Well I used it yesterday, so it’s a definite “yes”…
I’ve given up replying on here to the numerous “SatNav is crap” threads.
Yes, it doesn’t always choose the best route. That can also be true of a map.
Yes, if you follow it blindly, you can get into trouble. That can also be true of a map.
I use it pretty much as a “map-reading aid”. I let it work out what it thinks is the best route, then I look at the route and decide whether I agree. I can then let the SatNav do the job of following the route whilst I concentrate on driving.
If, when I get there, the route doesn’t look good, then I ignore what it’s telling me, and do something different - just like I’d do if I was navigating with a paper map.
The “problems” with SatNav are not with the technology itself, but with the people who blindly follow it’s instructions without using their own brains.
I’m considering trying to write a computer virus that tells people to jump off the nearest cliff. Perhaps then these people will be removed from the gene pool, and the average intelligence of the human race will rise a bit…