mapping software???

Skeeter

Expert Expediter
Looking for some software to estimate milage, route and price estimation. Anyone know of any. Thanks
 
G

guest

Guest
I use delorme. Like it but it is made for cars. for instance; I was going into Brooklyn last week and Delorme told me to take Shore Parkway...not in a commerical vehicle you don't!!!!

There are some trucking software out there but the more specialized you get, the more it cost.
 

teacel

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
I like Microsoft Streets & Trips 2004. You can also set the per mile cost and it will give you the total. You can also hook up a GPS to it.
 

BanditMan

Expert Expediter
MS Streets & Trips is a great program for the money. You may even find it with a rebate (like I did) and end up getting it for around three bucks. I have used it to map routes and stops all over my home state almost every weekday for the past nine months and it very seldom misleads me. If you need to find a street address, of around 800 or so stops it has proven to be accurate about 95% of the time. Of course, there are some streets that aren't suitable for trucks (as I have learned).

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

Banditman
 
G

guest

Guest
I saw a copy of Microsoft's maping software and like the way it gives you the writen directions. I like being able to enter your start time and it will tell you where you should be at any given time.

My Delorme doesn't do that but I don't like MS enough to pay for the MS version when I have a perfectly good one already. :)
 

Weave

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
MS Streets and Trips '03 for me too. PC Miler is great for mileage calculations and state mileage breakdowns. Updates are impartant, and MS has the latest updates, beats the cr%# out of Delerome. Online, www.mapquest.com is really good too.
-Weave-
..Mapquest paper atlases are awesome!..
 

danzman49

Expert Expediter
I recently bought, "Co-pilot Truck", it was a little expensive @ 450, but if you can swing it, it takes you where you wanna go. It keeps you on the main roads, and if you have hazmat, you can also punch that in and it'll route you for that. It speaks to you, keeps track of your state to state milage, and totals. Tell you what you'll spend on fuel for your trip, and if your lookin for fuel or places to eat, or most anything else, it will let you know.
I drive a tractor, so for me to stay where I need to stay, it's imperative, so to me, it was well worth the money.

Dan
 
G

guest

Guest
Arky,

I ordered the delorme GPS receiver yesterday. The decision on me ordering it occured Last Friday when I picked up a "hot" load to be delivered to Airport Road in Shelby, NC. I looked at a NC map and drove directly to the Airport. Now after looking for Honeywell for 10 minutes I finally decided to stop and ask direction.

Who would have thunk it..........Airport road is 20 minutes on the other side of town from the airport! haha

I've now decided that if I'm not sure, it gets entered and I get lead to it via the funky voice of the Delorme street atlas.

I'll let you guys know how it works.
 
G

guest

Guest
I fully believe in taking advantage of anything that makes your life easier. The GPS seems to me that it would simplify one of the hardest parts of trucking (figuring out where the heck your supposed to be). As a newbie, navigation is one of my biggest concerns. I'll be watching these threads closely to decide what seems to be the set-up for me.
 

Searge

Expert Expediter
I've been using DeLorme Streets Atlas USA 2003 with GPS for about 6 months now. It's very accurate. Hopefully the next version will have Canada streets also.

Joey
 

mj9287

Expert Expediter
>I use delorme. Like it but it is made for cars. for
>instance; I was going into Brooklyn last week and Delorme
>told me to take Shore Parkway...not in a commerical vehicle
>you don't!!!!
>
>There are some trucking software out there but the more
>specialized you get, the more it cost.


Well I use both, MS and DeLorme. Microsoft for Canada and DeLorme for US. Both have their ups and downs. I prefer Delorme because of the fact that the GPS updates your position on the map every second as opposed to MS which updates every 15 seconds. I realize 15 seconds may not sound like a lot but when you are in extreme closeup mode in a big city approaching a street to make a turn, it is important. MS doesnt seem to be very user friendy with my GPS in regards to setup. It is sometimes difficult to get MS to recognize it. Delorme on the other hand recognizes the GPS immediately but the new recievers that they come out with seem to be more unstable in maintaining the signal. The old recievers sometimes took forever to initiallize but were very stable, however the older recievers will not work with MS. DeLorme has a much more extensive database for addresses and places of business such as truckstops, walmart, flying J, and hotels. However this is only in the US as DeLorme doesnt include anything in Canada. DeLorme will tell you how far from a stop or destination you are and the time it will take you to get there. MS on the other hand will tell you at what time you are to be at a particular point if you configure your trip starting time so it is a little easier to see if you are behind or ahead of schedule. DeLorme also as stated earlier is designed for cars and sometimes tractors (I mean the kind of tractor that pulls a plow). Once DeLorme routed me down a field road in Georgia and if your around the Fort Campbell area it will route you through some of the tank training roads. Once I plan a route now I check the routing carefully to avoid these roads and add via points as needed. Neither program is to expensive so you might want to do what I done, that is get both. You'll need MS for Canada anyway even if you find you like DeLorme better.

Mark James
Panther II
Cargo Van
 

mikecop

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
I have used DeLorme since I started trucking in '98. As one previous poster stated, sometimes the program will route you on restricted roads because it is automobile orientated. I use the DeLorme Earthmate GPS, which works fine.

The 2003Plus and the 2004 updates have Canada included.

My trucking involves runs which range from 1,000 to 2,000 miles and from 6 - 20 stops. I route all stops at the start and it works great. You can manually route yourself around restricted roads (ie, NY parkways)

The 2003Plus version gives you the option of looking at the directions in a listing of highways and streets to follow, or you can click on "show turns" and it gives you:
1. Distance and time til your next turn, the hwy or street, and turn direction.
2. Distance and time til the next stop.
3. Distance and time til the end of the route.
 

LCharles

Expert Expediter
So Delorme seems to be the ticket. I am looking at that also. They claim the new receiver is the best one. We shall she.

Anyone else have experience with the new one?

Thanks in advance.

LV
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
We use Delorme with its GPS drvice and find it to be well worth the money. It is awesome to be able to see where you are, especially in New York city. The product significantly reduced the stress of New York City driving. But as others have mentioned, Delorme is a product for cars, not trucks. That shortcomming motivated us to purchase Co-Pilot. It's a far more expensive product but highly rated by truckers that use it. We'll see.
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
The Co-Pilot sales literature talks about a toll avoidance routing feature in the product and claims the product will pay for itself with that feature. As we've gained experience driving on the East coast where tolls are frequent and become more familiar with the area, going off our carrier's suggested routing to avoid tolls seems less frightening than it did when the area was new to us. The Co-Pilot claim is you can quickly plot a toll-avoidance route using truck-friendly roads. Drivers that use the product say it works. We're just about to install the product so we'll find out. We like the idea of quickly acquiring the money/time/miles data toll avoidance driving entails.
 

danzman49

Expert Expediter
I drive a semi, and I just love, ALK's "Co-Pilot Truck". Like the ealier post said, it keeps you on the main roads.
It will keep you off the toll roads, if that's what you choose, but I've found, on the east coast anyways, I rather pay for the tolls then take the back roads, but thats just me.
It will also tell you pretty much when you will arive, which is pretty important to know. You just put in about what speed you'll drive on which roads, and it's very accurate. To me, it's the best thing I've ever bought for expediting, besides my truck!

Dan
 
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