Wiretwister:
I’ve used 3 different sat navs - the one built into my car is rarely used as most journeys are the bog standard home to work, shops family type trips.
Id be interested to know how many people are like me at the other end of the spectrum like me, someone who sets the satnav for every single journey regardless of how well I know the route as I like kepping up to date with the traffic situation.
sammym:
robroy:
Pat Hasler:
For about the thousandth time… Don’t waste money on dam sat navs, if you need such an item to drive a truck you should not be driving a truck. Try understanding how to read a map FFS.
If you really think you need such an item to survive, try using a navigation app on your smart phone and save a fortune.I agree with you up to a point Pat.
I’m also old school, learned routes with maps pre sat nav days, and managed fine.
On the other hand I got a sat nav about 11 or so yrs ago, and as long as I use it properly with a big helping of savvy,.I would not be without it…as for actually ‘‘needing it to survive’’ …then no I don’t.
The danger comes about when they are followed blindly. Then chuck into the mix the truck ones where you get by using zero initiative because it tells you every [zb] thing, well.I reckon as a newbie it aint a good move to go about learning the job.Why does using maps help someone learn the job? I learned to read maps when I was at school. I got a bit better at reading them in the army. And recently I’ve started using maps agains simply cos I don’t like using the motorways so much.
But I’d still not be without one for the last mile or five. I’ve used google maps before when I forgot my truck satnav. But I can’t see how I’m learning more when I’m using a map. As far as I can see a satnav is just a computerized map.
I don’t see why new drivers need to make life harder for themselves. Just stick the postcode in and press go. They work fine in my experience of both cars and trucks. If you fancy a chilled route or something different maps are great - for for getting from a-b I see no point in maps.
Each to his own mate.
As you I can only speak from my own experience, and how I learned…maps.
I reckon if you use a sat nav all the time as a newbie, in comparison to a map, you tend not to remember the route, not ideal if you’re trying to learn the job.
As I said I use one myself, so not against them entirely, but they can make you reliant as well as careless if you let them, which has been proven to be a recipe for disaster in a 44 tonne truck.
Just my opinion
I bought a Lorry sat nav and sold it on again same week ,tried to take me miles round , a bridge height map and my box of A-z s suits me fine ,I’ve known real good old drivers that know every road there is who have been bought a sat nav and suddenly it’s like they’ve forgot all they ever knew !
Punchy Dan:
I bought a Lorry sat nav and sold it on again same week ,tried to take me miles round , a bridge height map and my box of A-z s suits me fine ,I’ve known real good old drivers that know every road there is who have been bought a sat nav and suddenly it’s like they’ve forgot all they ever knew !
Same with a mate of mine, he too used a car sat nav and a map and done the job before sat navs.
He bought a truck one on a weeks trial,.and took it back saying ‘Why tf did I get this, I don’t need all this information it gives out, cos I aint totally ■■■■ stupid’’ (maybe me taking the ■■■■ out of him swayed him 
) he took it back bought a new basic one and saved himself 250 quid.
He’s never got stuck or hit a bridge up to press. 
Couple of younger drivers at my firm.
Don’t bother asking for directions…coz they hav’nt got a clue how they got there.
However…they get the job done.
Different times
commonrail:
Couple of younger drivers at my firm.
Don’t bother asking for directions…coz they hav’nt got a clue how they got there.
However…they get the job done.
Different times
Too true ,without the map book / shire map a-z you can’t build a picture up of where jobs are in your head ,every day becomes a new day .
I recently bought the Tom Tom 6200 pro, and I think it’s awesome!
As said above, it re-routes around road closures, I can talk to it and tell it to perform various functions, I can sit in an RDC waiting room and plan my next route on my phone (via the My Drive app) and as soon as I get back to the cab it transfers the route ready to go.
I only drive on a part time basis (left the industry 16yrs ago), and still won’t go anywhere without it. Yes it’s pricey, but I don’t care. Very pleased with it.
Punchy Dan:
commonrail:
Couple of younger drivers at my firm.
Don’t bother asking for directions…coz they hav’nt got a clue how they got there.
However…they get the job done.
Different timesToo true ,without the map book / shire map a-z you can’t build a picture up of where jobs are in your head ,every day becomes a new day .
I’m not knocking them punchy Dan…coz if I had lorries,i’d want both of them on my team.
They just do things a bit different.
As I say…Different times
I have one from Discount Sat Nav at £85 and have to say very happy with it, tried to send me down a few dodgy roads but ignored it and turned out ok, as others have said they are not reliable but common sense is needed too, a quick look at the road it is telling you to go down will not hurt at all
In fact,they’ll ■■■■ all over some of the"time served"men I’ve worked with.
Wow, it’s like a virtual RDC waiting room in here…
I bought a map when I first passed my Class 2. It spent so long on the dash, unopened that the colour faded from the cover. Its the 21st centry, get yourself a Sat-nav that is designed for a truck. Think of it as an investment. How often are you going to use it? Every single day is the answer. That £400 you spent suddenly doesn’t seem like money wasted.
Don’t listen to the ones telling you to use a map. Maps are for boy scouts or in this case drivers who are stuck in the past. A decent truck nav that has bridge height maps and Google Maps and you will never not find your destination.
I think I’ve said this every tine a thread with the predictable map replies comes up but why not use everything?
Now I have a good knowledge of the network and a lot if that was map reading for my dad when I was a kid, but I still have a trucker stlas because it’s great for a route overview and for getting overall bearings. I also Mark points of interest in there like fuel stops or laybys or truck stops so I can see if I’m heading near any.
I then also have a truck satnav which I program the route into. It’s a tom tom 6500 I think and it’s never gone wrong yet but I still use my eyeballs.
I also use Google maps for scoping out a delivery. It can reveal that is be best approaching from a particular way for access, or that the delivery yard is on a different road etc. I then amend my satnav accordingly.
The point I’m making is the tech is there. Use it. Use everything you can to make it that bit easier. There’s no right or wrong ways, just different ways to achieve the same thing.
robroy:
I’m in a very small minority here, but as a newbie I would reckon better to learn your way around routes before relying (totally or otherwise) on a sat nav.
If your co are sending you directions all the better, they will likely know if their shortcuts are ok or not anyway.
Plan your routes first Google or even …shock horror a map.use a sat nav as a guide.
Sat navs are fine as long as you don’t take them as gospel.As for truck designated ones (imo grossly overpriced) I can’t comment on, I just use a car type bog standard thingy, some of the roads I have to go on they would not route me down anyway, so a chocolate fireguard situation, even if I wanted a one.
Don’t worry too much mate, once you get a bit of route knowledge under your belt you’ll be fine, but whether getting a 400 quid or whatever truck sat nav to tell you every [zb] detail without having to think is a good way of learning or not , is a debatable point.
As I said, I’m in a minority on this.
Im with Rob on this one, seems we’re both in the minority. Never rely totally on a nav, always take a road atlas with you so you can at least get an idea of a route first.
Re a dedicated truck nav, dont bother, theyre no better than a car nav, ive used a Garmin Nuvi58 for two years now and its not let me down, around 80eur if i remember right…
Radar19:
I bought a map when I first passed my Class 2. It spent so long on the dash, unopened that the colour faded from the cover. Its the 21st centry, get yourself a Sat-nav that is designed for a truck. Think of it as an investment. How often are you going to use it? Every single day is the answer. That £400 you spent suddenly doesn’t seem like money wasted.Don’t listen to the ones telling you to use a map. Maps are for boy scouts or in this case drivers who are stuck in the past. A decent truck nav that has bridge height maps and Google Maps and you will never not find your destination.
Ok forget the map either/or thing for a minute.
When I first got a high trailer I wasn’t a newbie, but I’d done nothing but flat work for about 4 years and knew routes.
It was a whole different ball game to pulling flats, and I just about got paranoid about low bridges, so everywhere I went I double checked my new bridge map and was extra careful and vigilant.
Since then I’ve never flattened a trailer under a bridge, because it was disciplined and self drummed into me, …so much so that I notice bridge heights now even when driving my car.
On other hand if I had started with a high trailer,.and a truck sat nav as a newbie, telling me every ■■■■ thing (yeh ok much easier) I’d have been away without a ■■■■ care just driving along daydreaming safe in the knowledge that there’s nowt to worry about…but I’d be totally Donald Ducked without my truck sat nav and I’d have actually ‘‘Learned’’ …Jack ■■■■ .
So…
Which way in your opinion would YOU reckon is the best way for a newbie to become a good driver?
How many bridge strikes and stranded trucks in lanes are there compared with pre sat nav days about what? …15 yrs ago?
How many totally ■■■■ useless knobheads are driving trucks nowadays causing mayhem because they just have to steer and do nothing else?
4 How far has the job been dumbed down in terms of driver quality ?
To be fair Rob you can’t blame the entireity of job dumbing down on a satnav…
It’s very easy for anyone to become a HGV driver these days. Finance, pay monthly type deals, an influx of labour pushing down pay rates and so on all contribute.
I’m saying this as someone who is probably way below the age of an average HGV driver. When I started driving HGV the year started with 200… so I’m reasonably recent even though I’ve been doing it nigh on 15 years in different guises and before that as “navigator” for my old man 
so I can still do old school.
toonsy:
To be fair Rob you can’t blame the entireity of job dumbing down on a satnav…It’s very easy for anyone to become a HGV driver these days. Finance, pay monthly type deals, an influx of labour pushing down pay rates and so on all contribute.
I’m saying this as someone who is probably way below the age of an average HGV driver. When I started driving HGV the year started with 200… so I’m reasonably recent even though I’ve been doing it nigh on 15 years in different guises and before that as “navigator” for my old man
Ok but you could get it financed when I started also, and then anybody could go for a course also at that time.
As for pay rates … a.different argument I reckon.
Look, I aint saying sat navs are entirely to blame at all.
My point was the total reliance on them goes a long way towards it, and it aint good, … especially for new driver learning the job.
Then as for an experienced driver to just casually advise a new lad just to ‘‘Go ahead and use a truck sat nav and you will never not find your destination’’ while reducing and ridiculing tried and trusted methods where you actually LEARN to ‘‘Living in the past’’ and ‘‘Boy scout stuff’’… aint great advice imo. 
Tbh mate, I don’t really care in real terms, I’ve learned the job my way and I get on ok, and if anybody wants to ridicule that way let them crack on.
Also if newbies want to listen to (what imo) is crap advice, then likewise, it’s their choice.
I use a variation of the cheap ■■■, truck specific sat nav and go all over Europe with it. It IS in essence a truckers atlas. It is generally very good, and I’m yet to come unstuck.(Or stuck) I’d say you’d have to be a right knob to hit something that you know from looking at that you’re gonna hit!
Get a good Truck nav .If you want a map its up to you .It is 2018 not 1970 ,There is always going to be debate on sat navs .But get the best you can afford .Buy cheap buy twice …
A sat nav doesn’t drive the vehicle and neither does a map. They are both navigation aids to navigate the road network. A driver may use either or both to aid him or her. It is your eyes and awareness that stops you hitting bridges. Plenty of warnings and markers when you approach one. If you are driving blindly and looking at a sat nav screen to get you to where you want to go, then you are asking for trouble. You can use a sat nav to navigate the roads and this doesn’t make you any less of a driver, what distinguishes a driver apart from the ones who drive looking at a sat nav screen is mainly down to your own road awareness. It is called a brain and is quite useful. I never leave home without mine.