Sat nav or truckers atlas

Will be starting at a new depot soon with new runs and double deck trailers and was thinking of getting myself a hgv sat nav like a snooper .

Should a buy a expensive hgv sat nav ?
or i hear you can get a car sat nav and convert how do i go about this ?
Or make do with a truckers atlas ?

need to gat this sorted asap as start soon all advice very welcome

fishman:
Will be starting at a new depot soon with new runs and double deck trailers and was thinking of getting myself a hgv sat nav like a snooper .

Should a buy a expensive hgv sat nav ?
or i hear you can get a car sat nav and convert how do i go about this ?
Or make do with a truckers atlas ?

need to gat this sorted asap as start soon all advice very welcome

if your going to be pullin deckers my advise is to obtain the best atlas you can afford which displays bridge heights, use the sat nav for the last few miles just to guide you in after planning your route before hand, deckers are easy once you get used to them

Get a good truckers atlas, the types of places you will be going with a decker will not be hard to find, besides you will never learn the roads with a sad nav.

Think to begin with i will be covering so could be anything from 17t upto double deckers so looking for something to cater for everything.
I dont have a sat nav at the mo so fancy the idea of one but the truckers ones are so expensive that,s why i was wondering if you could get a good used car nav and add truck maps with bridges etc
Is the best atlas the AA one ?

Both. I’ve got a rather tired altas with bridge heights on and its brilliant, wouldnt be without it! I also use area maps or google maps if i dont have one for where im going. Sat navs are good but can easily get you into trouble, same with maps aswell though.

I’ve got a pronav and thats the cheapest truck one i could find, ■■■■ spending loads i dont like them anyway but save alot of grieve sometimes. My map is an aa one.

Both. truckers atlas for checking route and bridge height/weight restrictions and Satnav for the rest.

dominicpriestley:
Both. truckers atlas for checking route and bridge height/weight restrictions and Satnav for the rest.

both pal! If in DOUBT check it out! :laughing: :grimacing:

Both

I carry both, but can’t remember when I last took my atlas out of my bag.

I have a Tomtom 540 that I’ve upgraded with truck navcore and maps, you can do this on x20, x30 and x40’s without too much difficulty and the cost of a 4gb memory card and a little time.

There’s lots of help available, I’m not going to put any links because I wouldn’t want to get anyone in any trouble, but google is your friend :wink:

Don’t think I’d leave my house without my atlas (it’s in my work bag), but it must be around 4yrs since I last used it, but remember, the sat nav’s are NOT 100% (neither is an atlas though), especially with weight limits which are changing all the time (NIMBY’s).
My sat nav when 1st done, tried directing me from Kent to Essex via the Blackwall tunnel at 14’6, erm, why not just use the M25, so I checked, it thought there was a weight and height limit on the dartford crossing, but thought I was ok to use the Blackwall :unamused:
I understand how this mistake has happened, if you go on the dartford tunnel website, it still claims there’s a 38t weight limit. (just looked, can’t find where I saw it now, but I’ve definately seen it)

My atlas thinks the bridge near Asda in Ashton is 15’, but it’s signed 14’6, must’ve been changed.

So, whatever you use, be carefull, keep eyes peeled etc.

BOTH!! before you go, you double check the route your satnav has given you using your truckers atlas, then you have a rolling map on your winscreen for the journey. Simples.

Remember a satnav is only a map after all.

Always used a car satnav and these days I don’t even have a single map in the lorry and yet I’ve never hit problems

switchlogic:
Always used a car satnav and these days I don’t even have a single map in the lorry and yet I’ve never hit problems

You do run at 4m though… :smiley:

waynedl:

switchlogic:
Always used a car satnav and these days I don’t even have a single map in the lorry and yet I’ve never hit problems

You do run at 4m though… :smiley:

Apart from the well over 50% of our fleet being 4.5m and over curtainsiders. We even have four 4.8m double deckers.

switchlogic:

waynedl:

switchlogic:
Always used a car satnav and these days I don’t even have a single map in the lorry and yet I’ve never hit problems

You do run at 4m though… :smiley:

Apart from the well over 50% of our fleet being 4.5m and over curtainsiders. We even have four 4.8m double deckers.

Ok, how do they go on in Europe?

Cotrary to any previous post i have made on this subject maybe both but get the very good atlas fist, then try and get a sat nav that will work with your phone like I did. mine is 1 cent per month on my phone bill and updates by itself, I set it for truck routes only and no HOV lanes, I very rarely use it because I don’t have to rely on things that from what I hear on the CB are often sending guys where they shouldn’t be but it did help me find a few shorter routes to places I already knew.

It also tells me if there is congestion ahead :slight_smile:

waynedl:

switchlogic:

waynedl:

switchlogic:
Always used a car satnav and these days I don’t even have a single map in the lorry and yet I’ve never hit problems

You do run at 4m though… :smiley:

Apart from the well over 50% of our fleet being 4.5m and over curtainsiders. We even have four 4.8m double deckers.

Ok, how do they go on in Europe?

They don’t, despite appearances the vast majority of our work is Ireland - UK. Continental work has dropped off a cliff for most Irish companies in the past year. Plus I imagine the money is in UK work.

fishman:
Will be starting at a new depot soon with new runs and double deck trailers and was thinking of getting myself a hgv sat nav like a snooper .

Should a buy a expensive hgv sat nav ?
or i hear you can get a car sat nav and convert how do i go about this ?
Or make do with a truckers atlas ?

need to gat this sorted asap as start soon all advice very welcome

Trucker Atlas with Bridge is Number 1 in UK
For Europe is 4 Meter High so no Bridges on Atlas,but Map gets always Priority.
First, :grimacing: Satnav shows Road too often where it isn’t as not fully up-dated
second you can plan the hole Route and another could give you help with that,marking anything with a Pen,as you too often have wrong Address anywhy.
But i used SatNav as additional,usefull Help.

handtec.co.uk/product.php/13 … s-receiver
GlobalSat BU353 SirfStar III USB GPS Receiver for Laptop Our Price: £30.95

handtec.co.uk/product.php/17 … europe-dvd

Directions PC Navigator 9 Truck Europe DVD
European Maps

Our Price: £166.94

PC Navigator 9 Truck - Europe
Large Vehicle navigation software for PCs with voice guidance and detailed map of Europe.

Intuitive Navigation.

Turn your Laptop, AutoPC or TabletPC into a fully functioning door to door navigation system when coupled with any compatible GPS receiver. Specially designed for trucks and large vehicles, route optimisation lets you calculate routes based on the vehicles height and weight, allowing to avoid low bridges and narrow lanes.

Guidance:

Intuitive voice navigation provides clear and concise directions when travelling, whilst support for cross-border route planning lets you navigate between different regions seamlessly without having to swap maps.

Advanced:

MapFactor PC Navigator guides you to your destination quickly and easily with it’s advanced navigation. See overviews of the upcoming manoeuvres and distance on screen. Traffic lane assistant and motorway signs show clearly the direction of travel couple with a 2D/3D map that allows realistic visual mapping.

Searching:

A searchable index of over 11480,000 streets with house numbers coupled with over 1.8 million full postcodes for GB and other European countries (where available) lets you find your destination quickly and simply. An extensive POI database contains over 2760,000 places of interest, letting you find bars, shops, cinema’s or other useful locations in an instant.

Smart:

Intelligent route guidance and TMC support provides real time traffic information and lets you plan your routes around traffic jams and road-works. Route avoidance option lets you mark roadblocks and exclude them for your journey. MapFactor PC Navigator’s day and night modes switch colour schemes for day or night time driving. Speed camera warning provides an audible warnings as you approach speed cameras whilst an Odometer option lets you keeps a track of private and business mileage.

Add Your Favourites:

Import your databases into the map directly from xls, dbf, Access, ArcInfo, MapInfo files and other ODBC sources

Voice guidance
Intuitive voice navigation in different languages
Door to door route planning across Europe
Cross-border routing without the need to switch between countries or to a less detailed map
Route optimisation for large vehicles based on vehicle height and weight
Avoid low bridges and narrow lanes
Overview of the upcoming manoeuvre and distance shown on the screen
Traffic lane assistant
Motorway Signs — clear signs which show the direction of travel
Real 3D icons of important landmarks
GPS satellite navigation
2D/3D allows realistic visual map display
Day/night modes switch colour schemes for day or night time driving
Searching
New user friendly search interface
Searchable index of 12 119 000 streets with house numbers
Over 2 894 000 POIs
Find nearest points of interest
Postcodes for Europe (in most countries)
Full GB postcodes (1.8 million)
Speed cameras
Hear audible warnings as you approach speed cameras
Features
Odometer keeps a track of private and business mileage
Add your own favourites
Import your databases into the map directly from xls, dbf, Access, ArcInfo, MapInfo files and other ODBC sources
TMC — real-time traffic information — bypass traffic jams and road-works
Route avoidance — block off certain roads from your route
Routing modes (different types of vehicle or pedestrian)
remote TCP/IP commands — 2 way communication between driver and dispatcher
Vehicle Tracking
works with our VTU devices only
Track your vehicles remotely
Keep your vehicles under control and reduce costs
Efficient tool for tracking and managing your vehicles wherever you are

Truck Attribute Coverage

Major Roads
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Interconnecting Roads
Belgium , Germany,
Luxemburg, Netherlands,
Switzerland, United Kingdom

Street Network
United Kingdom

I’ve got both, but use my Pronav mostly. It’s cheapest truck satnav and does the trick. If you are going anywhere near london with a DD, you will need both!

amazon.co.uk/Truckers-Atlas- … 987&sr=8-2

thanks for the responses

has anybody added the pro cab+ to a existing sat nav

hgvsolutions.com/