GPS not allowed?

bleedinbrown58

That’s Craptacular
Did you hear me say I knew how to perform the job better than a veteran? I said that I couldn't see how using GPS would be a distraction if you were not typing in a address or looking at the screen while driving. If the thing was in your pocket saying make a left on birch street then where's the distraction?
You haven't even gotten the job yet and you're already questioning the rules and the way management wants the job done. Not a great attitude to start.
 

rod

Retired 22 years
Speaking a location into Google maps takes probably three seconds. Also I am not talking about using GPS for every stop. More like if I am leaving a hub and need just to get to the town I will be delivering in.

Just how big of an area does your center cover? If you can't find a whole town without a GPS you are going to have major troubles actually delivering a route. I'm not trying to be an A-hole but where have you been? Is this your first trip out of your neighborhood? I would imagine that now days, being that everyone gets a trophy, they will hold your hand the first few days so you don't get lost.
 

sailfish

Master of Karate and Friendship for Everyone
I think the "everyone gets a trophy" shtick is a little overplayed. If that's what's going on now, it's with a generation that's still way too young to be considering any line of employment yet. I can't possibly be much older than these new drivers now and I never saw that while growing up. Hell, I've never gotten a trophy in my life and I've turned out just fine.
 

ArcherUTR

Well-Known Member
Did you hear me say I knew how to perform the job better than a veteran? I said that I couldn't see how using GPS would be a distraction if you were not typing in a address or looking at the screen while driving. If the thing was in your pocket saying make a left on birch street then where's the distraction?

When you are seated punching/talking in the next address. You are not moving/working. This may seem like 10 seconds to you, but those seconds add up.

IMO, people who use GPS don't learn areas nearly as fast as they should/could. You would be a cover driver often running a different route everyday.

Good luck hearing that phone in your pocket over a diesel manual engine. And sometimes google maps gets it wrong or there is user error. That's not a 10 second waste, that's a 2 to 30 minute waste. That's at $50/hour for a top pay driver when we make overtime every single day.

Yes, I use my phone to run misloads.
 

Dillinger4

Active Member
You haven't even gotten the job yet and you're already questioning the rules and the way management wants the job done. Not a great attitude to start.
I was not objecting to anything. I was just trying to find out how things typically run. If it didn't make sense to me at first then members of BrownCafe could provide further explanation which a lot of people have already done. And like I had stated previously my concern was being dropped in a route blind with no time to run the route on my own time and while running the route on the clock not being given an ample amount of time to use whatever means necessary to orient myself. Whether it be by using GPS or a paper maps. And yes I haven't received a job offer yet but by coming here and asking questions I am being proactive.
 

Re-Raise

Well-Known Member
A lot of the cover drivers at my center print a map of the route before start time which has each stop that day on it. They are numbered in orion order and really help give you a visual picture to take with you. It is a lot more than most of us had years ago.
 

Faceplanted

Well-Known Member
A lot of the cover drivers at my center print a map of the route before start time which has each stop that day on it. They are numbered in orion order and really help give you a visual picture to take with you. It is a lot more than most of us had years ago.
Working off the clock....tisk tisk
 

rod

Retired 22 years
I hope GPS works better for you than it did for us coming back from Texas a couple of weeks ago. Twice I had to dig out the paper maps when the GPS sent us on a wild goose chase at a couple of detours. I would still be driving around in circles in Kansas City if it wasn't for a good city map I brought with.
 
I hear a new telematics update is coming for the seat. It's going to be a fart sensor. It will know how many farts off and how many left. It will track your daily stats with an overall reduction in what you eat that makes you break wind. I think they just want to know if you are waisting time farting around
 

RolloTony Brown Town

Well-Known Member
Op...

Plain and simple: there IS no time to use the gps. There isn't ample time to look at a map, but The map will be a much better tool in the long run anyways. When in an unfamiliar area you will fall on your face. We all did.

If you get the seasonal job they'll teach you a route and by the end of the week you'll know that area better than your home town.

You've solicited responses from a lot of experience here. Instead of defending your stance, trust the process. My first experience driving was in a center 45 minutes away from where I was familiar and another 30 minutes further to get on area. I didn't know where anything was. You don't need a gps. Waste of time when on road, period.
 
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