The World of GPS Navigators for Trucks
Mass adoption of portable devices such as smartphones, tablets and PDAs in the transportation industry is driven mostly by the extreme convenience of these tools. Earlier the drivers had to unfold a paper map and try to find the optimum route for their journey. However, running a transportation business becomes much easier when you have an easily accessible and user-friendly device at hand. Considering the risks and characteristics of a trucker’s job, it might be of really high importance and can save his time, health and even life in some extreme situation.
The overall scope and range of various apps for truck runners is pretty versatile and exquisite, but in this article we are going to concentrate on ones, which can really be called sailing masters for lorries. Thus, in this article we have selected a number of GPS applications that help a driver find the easiest, safest and shortest way, and consequently to reduce costs and earn more with less spending, also we welcome you to visit the best app for truckers for more information on that subject.
Most wide-spread and used GPS navigator apps for truck drivers
Let’s take a look at what is considered to be the industry’s most popular driver GPS applications.
Trucker Tools
First things first. If you still are not aware of what Overdrive magazine is, we let you know that it is an all in one app for truckers. Tool is perfect in its all-encompassing functions including a weather forecast, information of where a driver can stay overnight, bulletin board, download tracker and, which is also quite attractive, access to the online version of Overdrive magazine. Just imagine that all this and more is practically squeezed into one application.
Google Maps
Sometimes the best solutions are the most obvious ones. This extremely popular and widespread navigator offers all the important functions as sharing the route, offline save feature and some others, quite specific. For instance, the possibility to integrate your media player into the app interface, so that you can enjoy your favorite bands playing without distraction and drive safely. Google support will definitely help you out in case you encounter any bug or fail to use its diverse functionality.
Waze
This tool is a navigation application developed by a community of enthusiasts. Displays traffic on the roads in real time, notifies about accidents and traffic jams, informs about cameras. Available even in Russian and other local languages, adapted to road conditions in most countries of the world. However, the specific drawback of this app is that Waze Android doesn’t have an obvious offline save feature like, say, Google Maps.
Sygic Truck GPS Navigation
This is the best navigator for your trips! Special routes for trucks, heavy vehicles and delivery vans based on vehicle type and load. It provides high-quality rendered offline 3D maps with free map updates several times a year.
MapaMap Truck Polska
MapaMap Truck Polska is a GPS navigation system for Android™ phones and tablets designed for truck and vehicle drivers traveling in Poland. MapMap Truck Navigation will calculate the best route for a vehicle with the specified parameters, taking into account restrictions for heavy loads. The map is installed in the device’s memory or on an SD card. Same as with almost all the other apps described in this article, navigation here can be used offline (no internet access required).
Sygic for Europe
Sygic is a GPS app, which provides all the necessary navigation features. It offers support for 3D offline maps with zero charge, and the number of countries where you can utilize it is really impressive – 200. You can download offline maps, which will indicate the necessary infrastructure – where to fill the car, dining facilities, department stores etc. This soft can also be used offline after downloading, however there are several functions that operate only in real time or online mode. We might assume that Sygic offers the most precise and specific traffic information, which is taken from 500 million users worldwide. Many other entities, like carmakers, data centers, national meteorology centers also contribute to this.
Trucker Path Pro
This is a premium piece of soft, which includes an interactive map that allows truckers to share with each other various valuable information and life hacks on the road. With the introduction of a new feature called Truck Posting, any truck driver on the road can let brokers know when he is ready to take a new cargo load. This soft is available on iOS and Android devices.
Co-Pilot Live Truck Navigation
This GPS voice navigation selects the safest, most reliable and, which is important, allowed-by-the authorities routes for you based on the parameters of your vehicle (size, weight and cargo class). The app downloads all maps to your phone and after that you can freely use it offline. The subscription cost is about 150 US dollars for 1 year.
Drivewyze
Have you already got tired of wasting time idle at weighing stations? Drivewyze is here to help you avoid that nuisance and make your timing work for you, not the opposite. This app helps you bypass weighing stations by providing you with information about bypass routes in 36 states, i.e. over 600 checkpoints for trucks. You are most welcome to take advantage of the free 30-day trial and see what this app is up to. Drivewyze is available on Android and iOS devices.
Allstays
This application smartly combines an interactive map and a database. The search engine will help you find the closest place, where you can have a rest or buy some petrol. Find everything you need with Allstays.
iExit Trucks
This app can be considered as an alternative to Allstays. Find your nearest trucker-friendly business with iExit Trucks.
FleetSafer Mobile
According to the results of the latest research, one of the main causes of an accident is that a driver is distracted while driving. FleetSafer uses a GPS motion sensor and blocks any incoming messages and calls as soon as your truck starts moving. As soon as the movement stops, the application reopens access to communications.
Most of these apps are available on the Google Play Store or the iOS Appstore and are built exclusively for mobile platforms. However, did you know that you can still use any of your favorite Android or iOS apps on your laptop even if the official version for the PC platform is not available? For that you can use special emulators and install it on any gadget that suits your driver’s cabin: tablet, laptop or even a PC (just kidding).
Sure, it is not practically possible to cover the whole universe of navigation applications in just one article, however we tried to pick the most useful and popular ones, based on the opinions of the users. Hope this article was useful and up to your needs and expectations.