Are you wondering what type of GPS trucking app is the most efficient for truck drivers? If YES, here are 10 best GPS trucking apps.
GPS simply means Global Positioning System. It is a navigation and geo-positioning system that lets us accurately pinpoint locations and driving directions on earth. It is a satellite-based navigation system made up of at least 24 satellites and is owned by the United States.
There are many applications for GPS from botanists identifying specific locations to plants to truck drivers planning routes. Today’s GPS system is extremely accurate.
However, truck routing and commercial vehicle navigation are more complex than our normal GPS navigation. For example, trucks are prohibited on certain road types that have weight and height restrictions. The best trucking GPS app for truckers is expected to be able to do more than just guiding truckers on their routes.
A capable trucking GPS app should also offer route planning capabilities, accurate navigation directions, voice navigation, and other important features. Long gone are the days of folded up maps stored in the glove box and asking for directions when you get lost. Today’s truckers have embraced technology in a big way. Here are top GPS trucking Apps.
Best GPS Trucking Apps
-
Gas Buddy
Gas Buddy is a free app available on both Android and iPhone. The app has the database of more than 150,000 fuel stations across North America that you can access to find the cheapest fuel prices. Furthermore, the app will tell you when the price of diesel is about to hike, so you can fill up your tank before it happens. It can also monitor your driving habits and inform you when you’re wasting gas and money.
Since Gas Buddy has thousands of users, you can look up for fuel stations and convenience store reviews along your route. If you’re lucky, you may be rewarded with free gas coupons if you pay for items at Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, or other major retailers using the Gas Buddy app or card.
Although Gas Buddy is technically a fuel-saving app, it can inform you where to find fuel stops with food and shower. Otherwise, that is just about it; don’t expect it to tell you anything about weigh stations and low bridges.
-
Waze
Wave is another useful application that is not truck truck-specific. The main usefulness of Waze is to identify upcoming hazards on the road. Waze boasts of a great user interface and offers drivers a realistic view of the road. It will note things such as traffic congestion, dead animals, and road blockages.
All these are possible because of the social aspect of the app. As reported by Wired, the wonderful feature of Waze is that it comes real-time mapping with social media. This unique approach to user-generated content can be very useful. It can be used with the broad public, or with specific co-workers. It can be used on both the Smartphone and the tablet.
-
OsmAnd
Sticking with the offline-availability theme, OsmAnd is a handy navigation tool available on Google, Amazon, and Apple devices.
Note that its navigation features work 100% offline, which is handy for truckers who tend to find themselves in areas where data service is unreliable. Also, note that it goes beyond your normal GPS navigation app with some handy features you’re sure to love.
It can announce traffic warnings, give you a heads up about stop signs, and alert you when you’re over the speed limit. It even offers lane guidance as well as contour lines and hill shades to give you an idea of the elevation changes you might encounter on your route.
-
Sygic Truck GPS Navigation
Sygic Truck is a renowned and well-used application. It is known as a very international application with maps in North America, South America, Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East, New Zealand, and Australia. The application also lets you store maps offline (useful for those who can’t use mobile data). It provides standard features such as turn-by-turn navigation and points of interest.
-
SmartTruckRoute
This wonderful trucker GPS app allows you to see where your destination is using street view, satellite views, or even hybrid views. SmartTruckRoute shows you the fastest route to your destination, as well as affordable gas along the way, and automatic updates. The pricing is based on the subscription model you choose.
-
PTV Navigator
PTV Navigator is designed for truckers, and the focus on the design says it all. The first job is to create routes. These routes are created to aid the driver at each stage. When creating routes, it takes into account all useful parameters such as size, restrictions, the weight of the vehicle, as well as other factors like traffic.
The route optimization feature will then create an optimal route using these specifications. PTV also has other feature and they include:
- Routes across Europe
- Real-time traffic alerts and information (from TomTom)
- Parking assistance ( over 20,000 truck parking spaces and parking places)
- Tolls feature
- Monitor fuel costs
- Takes into account truck restrictions
- ELD functionality and mileage
-
DAT Trucker
The brand provides three different truck driver apps that another top truck route app, such as Truckbook, gives in a single app. For truck routing specifically, you will need to download the Trip Planning/Parking app for mobile devices. It will let you:
- Find points of interest such as parking spots, Walmarts, fuel stations, and fuel prices
- Find nearby services and updated traffic information
- See nearby accommodations and food parlours, but you won’t find lane assist here, though.
-
CoPilot GPS
Copilot GPS (known as copilot truck) is another truck-specific app that is been around since 2014. It comes with similar features as many other apps since it offers navigation and guidance and allows for input of restrictions. Restrictions to avoid are things like dangerous turns, low bridges, and allowable roads.
One of its strengths is the offline maps that can be downloaded. It simply entails that the user does not necessarily need to have mobile data.
This is very useful in very rural areas and dead areas where cellular data may be limited. Much like Trucker Path and other apps, it shows points of interest such as rest stops, CAT scales, rests stops, and more. There is a loyal following and in total there are over 16 million users of this app. It is available on the app store and Google Play.
-
Trucker Path
Trucker Path is destined for professional truck drivers. It is perceived as a favorite among truckers. The primary features allow a truck driver to find weigh stations, shopping centers, truck washing stations, fuel stations, and more. Another powerful feature is the fuel price comparison tool to save on fuel. Trucker Path is available on both major platforms (Apple and Android). Other features include;
- Identify points of interest like
- TruckStop Locator: Easy to find popular truck stops
- Includes smaller stops
- Visualize truck parking in real-time
- Overnight parking locations such as Walmart
- Fuel Station Locator
- Trip Planner feature.
-
Google Maps
Although not recommended, it is useful to include it here because it does offer a large variety of useful features. Since Google (or Alphabet) is such a large company, the Google Maps app gets updated very frequently. It simply means that a lot of roads, businesses, points of interest, and traffic data get frequent updates. What many truckers do is they use Google Maps in conjunction with other truck-specific applications.
As you can see, there are many applications that have either similar or complementary features. Unlike expensive GPS hardware, such as Garmin trucking GPS, trucking GPS apps can be more financially convenient and just as efficient as any GPS device.