[horses2]

I'am going to be new to expedite and I would like to know if the Garmin 340 a good thing to have in a D unit or is it just for cars ect I dont want to get off of truck routes and get a ticked or a low bridge can anyone help?

[LDB]

It is designed for cars so it doesn't take into account clearances etc. and neither do any of the other Garmin or Magellan units. Read farther back and you'll find discussions of Copilot and Promiles which are truck specific.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
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[csands007]

Believe you may check into the settings Mine has for trucks too mine is a c330 so since yours came after mine it should too. The 340 even gives you Notification of traffic delays is a c340 option that lets drivers see congested areas via a color-coded map. This feature lets users avoid traffic by simply pushing a button that will calculate a new route. This traffic awareness is made possible via the new Garmin GTM 10â„¢ FM TMC receiver that connects to selected Garmin street navigation production. I love my 330 and it is not as good as the 340
Chuck

[LDB]

I'm not sure what the truck setting does but it isn't made to function like a truck specific system. I was told that by one of the Garmin engineers when I asked about a unit that would not guide to low clearances and would follow hazmat routing. Garmin said they have nothing that will do it and nothing planned in the near term. I wish they would and continue to hope for it but it doesn't seem too likely.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB
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[Turtle]

The truck settings routes you on the most generally used routes that trucks use. Not the same thing as Truck Routes, though. One difference, if you have it set to route for cars, it might direct you through the tunnel to get from Detroit to Canada, but it will route you for trucks if you have it set for trucks.

If you're heading from Pittsburgh, PA to Richmond, VA and have it set for cars, it'll route you down hwy 522 to Winchester where you eventually pick up hwy 22 and then over to I-95 at Fredericksburg and then on down to Richmond. If you have it set to route for trucks, instead of dropping you down on 522 it'll keep you on I-70 all the way over through Hagerstown and on to I-270 and around the beltway around D.C. and then on down I-95.

The truck route is about 12 miles longer, and for trucks it's faster because you don't have to deal with 3 or 4 of the smaller towns, two lane roads and slower traffic that comes with it. The truck route is actually faster for cars, too, for the same reasons, but the Garmin (and most routing software) thinks that a car can do the shorter route about 2 minutes quicker, so it'll take you on the "quicker" route.

Then again, depending on the time of day, hwy 522 is quicker for both cars and trucks, cause the Beltway around Washington DC is a nightmare during rush hour. :)

I'll often run the routing with the car setting, take note of the miles and times, then reset it to truck and run it again. If there's a significant difference I'll take a closer look at the maps and directions to see what the differences are. Usually they aren't much different, but sometimes you're better off following the truck routing for some parts of the trip, and then doing the car routing on other parts.



Slow and steady, even in expediting, wins the race - Aesop

[LDB]

Switching to the truck setting doesn't guarantee avoiding low clearances though does it? Their tech support told me they do not factor clearances into routing so that's what I based my reply on. I would love to get one and have it route me for clearances.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB
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Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
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[riverrat2000]

anyone tried out the garmin nuvi 660 yet, it sounds like a fantastic unit

[Turtle]

Leo, no, it doesn't account for clearances at all. What is needed is to be able to plug in your truck type, and height, and then have it automatically route you based on that information. Truck height and trailer length can both be important, as there are some routes where a long trailer cannot go, but a straight truck or pup trailer can.

It's pretty good, for the most part, about not sending trucks over routes that are specifically "No-Trucks!" roads, but I honestly don't know how accurate that is.

One time there was an accident in the middle of the construction in Chicago, Joliet or Bolingbrook, somewhere around there. It happened right in front of me, couple of miles ahead, and the Interstate was shut down. I just pulled off the Interstate at the exit that I was right next to, and the Garmin routed me around down to the next exit.

Well, it first tried to route me to get right back on the Interstate at the same exit number, but I manually pushed the Detour button and it routed me around it all, down to the next exit 3 miles down the road. (The accident had just happened so the Nav Traffic didn't know about it yet).

I had it set on "Truck" and the routing was like 8 or 9 miles to go those 3 miles down to the next entrance ramp. I had me going waaaay out and around everything. I changed it to "Car" and it re-routed me on a route that took just 4 miles to get down to where I needed to go.

The difference was, the "Car" route took me through a residential subdivision, a winding little shortcut only a local could possibly know about, and one that had "No Trucks" signs all the way. :)

I did a delivery in downtown Boston, and with the Garmin set on "Truck," it would not take me on the roads that parallel the river through the Cambridge University area there downtown. On "Car" it would. There are overpasses on that road that are 9 feet and change, one maybe less (looked like I was about to smack my forehead). I think the Garmin just knew "No Trucks" more than the 9 feet thing.

I scraped my CB antenna pretty good on the underside of a couple of those overpasses, and on one of them, I was absolutely sure I'd pop out the other end with no QC bubble on this Sprinter. hehe


Slow and steady, even in expediting, wins the race - Aesop

[Rocketman]

I'll probably buy a gps unit this week. I'm wondering if the newer units (600, 700, 800 series) will have this "truck" setting on them. It may not be perfect, but it's better than nothing at all?

Would you recommend the higher end units when really just a good routing unit is all I want/need?

[dieseldiva]

Hi Rocketman...I would go with something a little more high end and this is why (bear with me):

We started with a Garmin Streetpilot 6 years ago. It was the mac-daddy at the time. Worked great for a little over a year and then started freezing up on us. It was still under warranty with Comp USA so we exchanged it for a Magellan Roadmate, had to add some change as this mac-daddy was a higher price yet.

We had used this Magellan for a while and then "someone" dropped it (he shall go unnamed). It still worked for the most part but on occasion would have an "incident". About this same time our good friends (you know who I mean) bought one and they named theirs, they called her Karen. Well...with ours having a few problems, we decided to call her Scarin' cause when she was "hormonal" she was scary. (maybe you would be too if someone dropped YOU on your head)

When we were home for Christmas, we decided we would get a new one. I was looking around the net at consumer reviews and not wanting to spend "serious money" this time, I decided on a Navigon, choosing the middle of the road model. We named her Hope because we were hoping she'd work better than Scarin'. Well forget that! Three weeks with her on the road and we go to NYC.........she quit.....I'm tellin' ya she had a nervous breakdown and quit!!! We don't need nobody named Hope that can't make it through NYC without falling apart on us!!

Soooooo...back she went, out comes Scarin' again. While on the road we ordered a TomTom so it would be here waiting on us. I can't tell you a thing about it yet however it did have some additional downloads available off the web site and a couple that I got was for low bridges and rv parking. I've got high hopes for that low bridges thing but will keep our eyes peeled just in case!

I told you all of that to say this........I would get the best that I could afford as I'm thinking maybe some of the "lesser" models might not be able to take the constant use and abuse that we drivers put them through. JMO

Good Luck to ya Brudder!!

[Turtle]

All Garmin units have the "truck" setting. All units with the same software have the same routing and maps, as well. There are settings for car, truck, taxi, motorcycle, ambulance (which will take you down the wrong way on one-way streets). Higher end units are more bells and whistles. I think one important bell is the Traffic thing, but that's up to you. Some units are not compatible with the traffic thing, some are compatible with an antenna addon, some have it built in.

But for getting you there from here, if good routing is all you need, then all you need is a unit that has the complete maps of North America, City Navigator NT for North America (some of the very low end units, generally less then $250 List Price, have continental US maps only, no Canada or Alaska detail, and the US routing and mapping is different for those units). Some displays may say the maps are pre-loaded for US, Canada and Puerto Rico. If the display just says preloaded with "City Navigator NT" and doesn't mention Canada, you don't want that unit (even if you never go to Canada).

The Nuvi 600 series (the ones for the US, that is, as some are European only), like the Nuvi 650, have the North America maps. Wal Mart really does have the best prices on these things, as much as I hate to shop there. Next best pricing is generally Circuit City, but in many cases Wal Mart is cheaper by $100 or more. Circuit City's Nuvi 650 is $539, while the one at Wal Mart is like $420.

Just compare units at the Garmin site, then check out the various reviews around the net of each unit to make sure the features you want/need are there.

[Rocketman]

Thanks for the advice Diva and Turtle.

Diva...the low clearance download sounds interesting. I'll have to look into that before I buy anything.

Thanks folks.

[Turtle]

The low bridges, and lots of other Points of Interest (POI's) can be downloaded at The POI Factory

[dieseldiva]

Thanks for the link Turtle. The download that I spoke of is for TomTom AFTER you buy the product so it's useless to anyone but TomTom owners.

[Rocketman]

Wow, there sure is a lot of options to sort through! LOL

What I've come up with is that the the Garmin Nuvi 260 has the basic features I need with the 4.3" screen. The only thing it doesn't have that I "think" might be beneficial in the truck is the FM transmitter. As I understand it, this is what allows you to recieve the spoken directions through your radio speakers? If so, is that something that is needed? Are the speakers on the GPS units loud enough to be able to hear them without the FM transmitter?

Next up for me is the Garmin Nuvi 660. It has all the features I need, but quite a bit pricier than the 260.

Of course, I would love to have the 7500 or something like that, but the budget don't say I can spend a cool grand on a GPS! LOL

Do I need the FM transmitter option?

Thanks all,

Rocketman