Overheard a trucker say he ignores GPS on rural roads

I was grabbing coffee at a Pilot off I-40 last week and this old trucker was telling the cashier how he never listens to GPS once he gets off the interstate. Said he's seen too many semis stuck on some dirt road because the nav thought it was a shortcut. Made me think about how much I trust my phone blindly. Just last month my GPS took me down a one-lane road in the Ozarks that ended at a locked gate. Had to reverse like a quarter mile with my wife freaking out. Do any of you ever override your GPS based on gut feeling or local knowledge? Or do you just let it route you wherever and deal with the consequences?

2 comments

2 Comments

henry_kelly541d ago

My buddy Jim swears by ignoring GPS on farm roads after he tried to follow it to a buddy's hunting camp in Kentucky. GPS took him down this gravel path that turned into a muddy two-track, and he ended up having to winch his F-150 out of a ditch at 2 AM with no cell service. Now he keeps a paper map in his glovebox and looks at it before he even plugs his phone in for long trips. I think truckers have the right idea, they see the worst of it with those backroad dead ends that'll tear up a rig.

ninas701d ago

Ha, your buddy's smarter than me - I once GPS'd myself into a literal swamp in a minivan.