I've sent the question on to one of my friends who is a big rig driver and I';; post the answer as soon as I receive it

I have a Garmin. It has a feature that you can set for big trucks/towing so that it keeps you off the parkways (for cars only). It as other setting for main roads verses senic roads etc.

My boss has one and just got an update so that he could take it to Italy for vacation.

Garmin is the most favoured from what I've read and heard.
We have a Garmin, as does my parents, and brother. No problems at all.

My son is a truck driver also, he uses a GPS or a garmin. I think he got it at walmart.

I thought I did my homework when buying a GPS, but unfortunately buying a Magellen didn't prove it. It failed on me when I needed it most when on vacation. Can't recommend it at all. Should have gone with Garmin.

let me preface this by saying i am an expert in semi logistics, i route & ship more than $10 million worth of landscape plant materials ea yr, from south VA to the TX border, for the last 9 yrs.

he CAN NOT use one that is a regular GPS, it MUST be only a model for semi trucks. he needs to check out the truck stops(or their websites), they sell the best ones and for the best prices. be prepared to spend lot more than any regular models, atleast $300-400. truck models have settings that come up w/ routes based on what roads, bridges and overpasses semi's can drive. using a car model GPS will soon get you a tix that will cost more than a weeks pay and add points to your license and make it difficult for the employer to get insurance coverage for you plus you will not be able to easily get jobs w/ points on your record. we do not hire drivers that have points on their record or have ever had any tix other than DOT trailer issues. i once had a lost driver get himself stuck on a steep declining residential road in Birmingham AL because he used a Garmin for cars. that tow cost $850, he was gone the next week.

congrats to your son, i hope he really loves driving LOL! i used to have several drivers who had been w/ us for many many yrs but they all left over the last yr to drive for the same cross country hauler making $2000 a week and home on weekends too. there is $$ to make in that industry and it's only growing, gas prices will not affect it alot as people need their goods no matter what the cost. i would like to also suggest he get a very good bluetooth headset, not the cheapie kind everday people use, it needs to be one that wraps around the top of the head and has earphones w/ a boom speaker. my veteran drivers all have that one (all got at pilot truck stops i think) and it makes a tremendous difference in my ability to hear them w/ their windows open (they won't change that LOL) and in them being able to hear my loud mouth LOL. again congrats! if he's ever looking for something based in central fl or wants names of cross country hauling jobs send me an email! ~ liz

Bigfoot_liz pretty much said what I was going to say. I was going to recommend heading to a truck stop and ask around. See what the experienced drivers recommend. This isn't a toy for someone taking a trip, this is a serious tool needed for his employment. For the average consumer I tell people to buy a cheapie and see what you like and dislike about it and then buy a better one if you need. I have one that is older now but still does what I need it to do, but I'm not driving a big rig either so I wouldn't go with a consumer model. Get a pro version and maybe suggest getting a good case (just something with a belt clip or loop and carry it like a cellphone) and carry it with him when he's out of the rig in case of breakin. They're very high-theft items.

Good luck on his new career!

Also, have him investigate updates to the unit. Sometimes they're free for a while, sometimes they cost but he needs to know how to do it. Ask the truckers how often they update theirs.

my ex DH was a police officer in a rural area. He once arrested a truck driver and impounded his truck for trying to drive through a covered bridge. (he got stuck and broke roof members)
When calling his employer he told him he was just following his GPS...the employer fired him over the phone a flew a new driver (he was hauling perishables) to the location to get the truck.
After approaching this particular bridge, it would have nearly impossible to turn a rig around...but he actually thought he could fit height and weight over that old bridge...sigh...
Most drivers - and I am sure your son is - a whole lot smarter than that, but my point is a professional GPS would have never taken him on that road.

We use a Garmin, and have lifetime updates, I think that cost us about $40. The updates for a commercial driver may be a bit higher.

That is good to know, Liz, I never gave the height and weight restrictions a thought, thank you.

we have 3 different nursery locations and our biggest farm has 2 roads around it that semi's or large box trucks can not drive on. the police are ALWAYS waiting to catch logging & landscape trucks, those are big $$ tix. there are curves on the road that a trailer over 22' can not make plus a couple of small old little bridges. this past spring i worked out of that location and would occasionally see drivers "trying" to use those roads because they were short cuts, saw a particularly intelligent one flip a full log hauler.

we not only ship our own material on box trucks, 550's w/ 33' trailers and semi's w/ 48' trailers we also have several semi's come into the main farm ea day to pick up material. i have way more interaction that i'd like w/ all sorts of drivers LOL. some are awesome, some make me scared to drive near semi's LOL and wonder exactly how their companies manage to make $$ on shipping/hauling. ~ liz

I finally got an answer from my friend. He has travelled thousands of miles.

They run about $400.00 fro big trucks. My GPS that I use is for cars and I use the atlas to make sure it isn't taking me somewhere I shouldn't go. But I have looked at them and when my current GPS gives up the ghost, the one for truckers I would buy at this time is this one: IntelliRoute� TND - Rand McNally Commercial Transportation
Rand McNally's IntelliRoute TND is the leading trucking GPS choice for the transportation industry. The IntelliRoute TND is a commercial GPS unit that helps

xxxHope this helps

Hopefully I will talk to him this weekend and I will give him the information.
thanks to all
Marie

Bigfoot_Liz
That must be why I see on the news where a trucker will drive off the road, or under a low bridge, because he was just following the GPS. He was using one not intended for rigs.

We learn things everyday here at the Table!