Sat Nav, am I the only driver that doesn't have one ?

[Jimbo.]

civicduty said:

And how, prey tell, do you police that?

Easier than you think. Upon being told what truck to use, they'll come back 15 mins later with the "But it's not no cigarette lighter for my sat-nav". Busted! And should the vehicle oh-so-conveniently be VOR'd...here's the keys to an even bigger stbucket

Or, if something does happen (late to store, lost, accident), the line "But my sat-nav..." normally gives it away.

At my old place, drivers had to use the navigation built into their handsets (scanning/tracking/everything widgets). If they weren't trained or it wasn't working, then paper maps it was. Either way, they had pre-set routes.

[GEARJAMMER]

Jimbo. said:

civicduty said:

And how, prey tell, do you police that?

Easier than you think. Upon being told what truck to use, they'll come back 15 mins later with the "But it's not no cigarette lighter for my sat-nav". Busted! And should the vehicle oh-so-conveniently be VOR'd...here's the keys to an even bigger stbucket

Or, if something does happen (late to store, lost, accident), the line "But my sat-nav..." normally gives it away.

At my old place, drivers had to use the navigation built into their handsets (scanning/tracking/everything widgets). If they weren't trained or it wasn't working, then paper maps it was. Either way, they had pre-set routes.

Not the brightest drivers at your place then are they..... if I was late I would have said.... 'sorry im late but I had to keep pulling over to read the map as theres nowhere to plug in my sat-nav'.

[Jimbo.]

GEARJAMMER said:

Not the brightest drivers at your place then are they..... if I was late I would have said.... 'sorry im late but I had to keep pulling over to read the map as theres nowhere to plug in my sat-nav'.

"No speaky..."

I'll leave it at that.

[offspring86]

civicduty said:

And how, prey tell, do you police that?

So having spoken to our Transport Manager I have found out the following:

It's not just our contract that prohibits the use of sat nav, it's the whole retail division. A few years ago it was noticed there had been an increased number of bridge strikes occurring, it turned out this was due to drivers following sat nav (obviously, not truck specific units). A company wide ban was put in place at that point preventing all drivers from using any form of nav unit

It is policed with random checks in cabs throughout the month along with looking for the tell-tale signs (sucker marks on the windscreen) . If they are found to be using sat nav then they will be taken down the councilling/disciplinary/termination of employment route. Upon starting employment with us all drivers are required to sign paperwork acknowledging that they will not use sat nav and are aware of the consequences of it.

As to whether or not this is a good thing, I couldn't comment, I'm not a driver nor do I have any experience with driving commercial vehicles. What are your opinions? Would you work for an employer who insisted you couldn't use one?

[surveyor]

offspring86 said:

civicduty said:

And how, prey tell, do you police that?

So having spoken to our Transport Manager I have found out the following:

It's not just our contract that prohibits the use of sat nav, it's the whole retail division. A few years ago it was noticed there had been an increased number of bridge strikes occurring, it turned out this was due to drivers following sat nav (obviously, not truck specific units). A company wide ban was put in place at that point preventing all drivers from using any form of nav unit

It is policed with random checks in cabs throughout the month along with looking for the tell-tale signs (sucker marks on the windscreen) . If they are found to be using sat nav then they will be taken down the councilling/disciplinary/termination of employment route. Upon starting employment with us all drivers are required to sign paperwork acknowledging that they will not use sat nav and are aware of the consequences of it.

As to whether or not this is a good thing, I couldn't comment, I'm not a driver nor do I have any experience with driving commercial vehicles. What are your opinions? Would you work for an employer who insisted you couldn't use one?

Not a truck driver, but I do as many miles as some. Surely given the advantages of satnav (primarily traffic - mine can and does save me hours) the answer to bridge strikes is not to ban them, but to ensure that the cab is equipped with HGV satnav....

SatNav is no replacement for a driver using his brain, but can be a very useful tool.

[cossy400]

offspring86 said:

civicduty said:

And how, prey tell, do you police that?

So having spoken to our Transport Manager I have found out the following:

It's not just our contract that prohibits the use of sat nav, it's the whole retail division. A few years ago it was noticed there had been an increased number of bridge strikes occurring, it turned out this was due to drivers following sat nav (obviously, not truck specific units). A company wide ban was put in place at that point preventing all drivers from using any form of nav unit

It is policed with random checks in cabs throughout the month along with looking for the tell-tale signs (sucker marks on the windscreen) . If they are found to be using sat nav then they will be taken down the councilling/disciplinary/termination of employment route. Upon starting employment with us all drivers are required to sign paperwork acknowledging that they will not use sat nav and are aware of the consequences of it.

As to whether or not this is a good thing, I couldn't comment, I'm not a driver nor do I have any experience with driving commercial vehicles. What are your opinions? Would you work for an employer who insisted you couldn't use one?

As ive said previously, your askin for more trouble expecting people to navigate city centres etc with a map book in one hand and steering with the other.

Hey some might enjoy the challenge, but me personally id rather get there with the hassle of tryin to remember if its a left of a right at the next junction with a pile of traffic behind me.

Ive got a truck nav, and in 2yrs its failed me once on a bridge height. However I never just punch the postcode in and go, always always cross ref it with my truck map to make sure its the best way to go, as it does sometimes want to send you a funny route.

[offspring86]

cossy400 said:

As ive said previously, your askin for more trouble expecting people to navigate city centres etc with a map book in one hand and steering with the other.

Hey some might enjoy the challenge, but me personally id rather get there with the hassle of tryin to remember if its a left of a right at the next junction with a pile of traffic behind me.

Ive got a truck nav, and in 2yrs its failed me once on a bridge height. However I never just punch the postcode in and go, always always cross ref it with my truck map to make sure its the best way to go, as it does sometimes want to send you a funny route.

The current system seems to work OK, I think partly down to the fact we are delivering to large stores so the drivers are constantly delivering to the same locations. If they were delivering to new locations everyday then I could certainly see the lack of sat nav being a big issue. Given that 99.4% of our deliveries are on time (30 mins either side of alotted time with ~1700 store deliveries per week) there don't appear to be many issues at the moment.

[Humper]

Satnavs are fine. Wouldn't work for someone who banned them. I have a Garmin car one, it's pretty st to be honest, tries to direct me to some dumbfk roads. That's why i have maps too. I have also been sent down roads with low bridges, though strangely enough i haven't hit any, cos i use my eyes to read the low bridge warning sign. Blaming a satnav for hitting a bridge just proves what a st driver you are, there are signs, the vehicle height is(legally required to be) marked in the cab, it's the drivers job to KNOW it.

[GC8]

The number of drivers who have a satnav and NO maps astounds me. They slavishly follow the satnav and I have witnessed many instances recently where superior knowledge has been dismissed in favour of the satnavs route...

[iva cosworth]

Well my complete non Satnav use got me to Sweden and back,by car,got confused around Dortmund

on the way home.

Have you seen the amount of motorways that criss cross that city ?

Didn't delay me that much,I just needed to find Essen next door as I know my way around there.

[FiF]

Must admit I lost what little faith I still had in satnavs in Gotenberg when they had dug the entire bloody place up. Only looking for the bridge across the river to the ferry terminal when the Newcastle route was still running. When the bloody thing told me to turn left NOW when I was in the middle of a tunnel knew it was time to look at the maps. 15 mins later parked up at destination.

At least didn't have to do what a colleague did and pay a taxi driver to lead him there but suppose he was running late.

Agree with earlier poster that love maps,llike to have that mental picture of what's where and in relation to other places, plus a plan B in case things go tits up at the usual places.

Having said that satnav is useful going the last few miles to unfamiliar places and also getting timings right.

[Digby]

Haven't used a map in years.I just add downloadable bridge heights to my basic (and now quite old) TomTom devices.They have served me well for as long as I can remember.All I do is look at the planned Nav route and if anything suspicious jumps out at me - something like 'Teeny-Weeny Street', I will have a quick look on Street View and avoid it.

I don't bother with all the traffic addons etc, I don't even have the voice enabled and the majority of people I hear moaning about them don't really know how to use them, never update them, or moan when it took them along a route where a flock of sheep had escaped from a field that day etc.

I will never forget the day an agency guy arrived with one and let me have a look at it.They were quite new to the UK back then and just after I had spent around an hour planning our multi drop route, he jumped in to the cab, looked at all our maps and said "You won't need those".I then spent the entire day being amazed at the fact I didn't need to pick up a poxy map.I purchased one a few days later.

I don't even cover that big an area, but still wouldn't be without it!