Have A Spare $499?
Posted on Oct 13, 2009 - 6:50pm by Marshall J. Gruskin in Technology, Trucking
I don’t. And I know that most truck drivers don’t either. However, it seems that truck stops across America seem to think that $499 is an acceptable price for a GPS – more specifically a truck “specific” – truck route – GPS unit. And they’re wrong. The comfortable price point for this type of accessory is maybe $299. I paid $119 for my InVion GPS on 4 “easy payments” from QVC. It does not offer truck routing, but I’ve driven long enough to know which routes & roads to take and which to avoid.
I have seen in Love’s that a large screen truck specific GPS unit that had sold for $599 is now on sale. It’s way overdue, but will not make a difference. They’re offering a $50 mail in rebate. I refuse to buy anything with a mail in rebate. Apply the rebate at the point of sale aka the cash register. Besides, $549 for a GPS unit, truck specific or not, is a outrageous price. I’ve never seen a driver purchase one nor have I seen any of these over-priced devices in a truck. Did the Love’s buyer actually think that a truck driver would reach into his/her wallet and shell out $599? No way.
The typical truck stop display has about six GPS units featured. One or two offer, as a “added” feature, Bluetooth. Those units sell for about $299. Bluetooth is one of the most overrated annoying accessories. I’ve tried several Bluetooth devices and in the truck or not, they don’t work well. I have never felt comfortable talking to anyone on something shaped like a match box sporting a blinking blue light attached to my ear. They are all awkward and uncomfortable. I need a boom microphone that sits in front of my mouth. When the Parrot Bluetooth headset, which I hear is pretty good, is priced at $59, I’ll buy it. But combining GPS with Bluetooth does nothing for me.
The latest trucker specific GPS is from Rand McNally, for, yup, $499. It was introduced this past August. Now unless it puts on my snows chains and gets me more loaded miles, $499 is too much. Rand McNally says: “To create the best product possible, Rand McNally worked with truck drivers from across the U.S. to help design and optimize the product. "IntelliRoute TND 500 is designed from the ground up with professional drivers in mind.”
Hogwash. If Rand McNally was serious about truck drivers, this unit have been priced at $299 or less. Just like truck manufacturers who are clueless about what we need, Rand McNally is being arrogant attempting to pass this unit off in this horrible economy for $499. If a driver decides to buy the unit on his/her credit card with interest rates at about 21% and they don’t pay off the balance in a timely fashion, this GPS could end up costing them about $1500! Again, $199-299 is doable, but anything above that is NOT.
** For $69-$129, I used MS Streets & Trips and I don’t like it. The other GPS software packages that use a small antenna and interface with a laptop are equally ineffective.
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I commented before about the price of diesel fuel prices going up, about a month ago, and we have done nothing about it. And now the cost of fuel is going though the ROOF. Up $.20 cent per-gal. in ONE DAY? What are we waiting for, For the GOV. to take over the trucking companies just like they did with the BUS Company (Cost USA)
It sad to see the trucking going down the same road the Bus companies did. Am retired from trucking of 45 years, and it’s is a sham that we have DONE nothing at all.
Thanks Phil
JDT Trucking Inc.
My boss, with good thoughts in mind, bought a WorldNav 7100 which has a 7″ screen and Bluetooth, for me to try out. His thought was that if it was good he’d get one for all the drivers. It was junk. The satellite usually was about a half mile or more behind you. It’s routing choices were absolutely ridiculous, and twice in one day it routed me onto roads that were restricted for trucks. Plus, trying to program the thing was a nightmare. His little Garmin for his car worked 100% better.
Being a gadget guru… I purchased the new Rand McNally TND 500 GPS. This is a great unit! I have tried several and this is the best unit I have tired yet! Tons of features, easy to use. (Truck specific, Battery backup, calculator, tracks your hours, and if it is in a Rand McNally map book… it is in this GPS!)In the business I am in… I drive on goat trails with directions from ranchers such as… turn right at the big tree and left at the stack of rocks by the old car. This unit actually has the remote roads on it. Very helpfully when most of the road signs have bullet holes in them or are missing. And of course I paid no where near the price you listed. Shop around…. and don’t buy technology from truck stops.
Well where did you buy it at and how much did you pay?