Way to We take an in-depth look at the latest
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truck-specific sat-nay units, determined to find out which ones won't lead you down the garden path...
Vurij.uz; vuy Gone are the days when GPS navigation units gave you a route from A to B and that was it. Now there are plenty of models equipped with truck-friendly routeing and sophisticated traffic information.
the-art when a truck was launched can look pretty ho-hum by the time it reaches your fleet. Truck makers now tend to dealer-fit double-DIN audio units, which also include navigation, from manufacturers such as Kenwood and Pioneer. Daf, for instance, offers an audio unit with truck-specific routeing from Navman. Volvo offers Garmin units through its Roadcrew parts operation, although later this year FH trucks will be offered with factory-fitted units. Scania's Premium Radio has truck-specific navigation too, while Iveco's Iveconnect has other features such as a driving style monitor.
Routeing and traffic data A good route can be spoilt by bad traffic, so a lot of effort goes into traffic data and dynamic routeing — getting you round a hold-up as quickly as possible.
Most sat-nays rely on the TMC traffic information service; it's free to receive (transmitted along with normal radio transmissions) but although the quality of data is good, TMC is a low-bandwidth service that contains little detail. TomTom's HD Traffic and Garmin's Lifetime Digital Traffic improve on TMC. HD Traffic gathers its data by looking at the speed of movement of mobile phones; it covers secondary roads as well as motorways and major routes, and its delay information — sent via the mobile phone network — is updated every two minutes.
The full TomTom Live service includes other features such as mobile speed camera and weather information; it normally requires a subscription to TomTom's Webfleet fleet management service, as well as an active GPRS connection — built into the Pro 9150, while lesser models have to be connected to a Link unit. For owner-drivers, the Pro 5150 Truck Live can get these services without the Webfleet subscription, and comes with Live services for A Car audio manufacturers such as Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine, Clarion and JVC now offer multimedia 'head units' which fit in a double-DIN dashboard aperture. These can play audio or video from CDs, DVDs, radio and iPods. Some have quite sophisticated sat-nay functions. Several manufacturers use the Igo Primo navigation software from NNG, which can be upgraded to truck specification one year — thereafter, they cost £47.50 a year.
Sat-nay firms can no longer get away with poorly-adapted versions of conventional mapping, and user feedback has made mapping much more reliable than it was. However, firms must update their data regularly: TomTom, for example, promises at least four full map updates a year.
While most drivers never leave the UK, some need mapping that covers the widest possible area. TomTom's 'EU45' mapping covers 45 European countries, most of them in full detail. Garmin's Navteq mapping goes as far as Turkey and the Ukraine.
Lifetime updates Most of the major firms offer lifetime map updates, or you can upgrade to lifetime updates at a fixed cost — Garmin's package of European maps costs £75.
Truck operators are most interested in data such as bridge heights and weight restrictions, which has been painstakingly compiled using information from hundreds of local authorities and feedback from users, and is now pretty reliable. Most of the truck-specific units will also route you away Navman is one of the longest-established sat-nay makers and, uniquely, it does not sell truck-specific units: instead, there is a month's free trial of truck-friendly features in truck mode on the relevant models, then you pay £69.99 for a truck mode activation key.
Confusingly, Navman Wireless is no longer Linked to Navman, having split off several years ago. But it now offers the M-Nav 760, a conventional-looking sat-nay unit which can also provide fleet management services such as tracking, scheduling and driver monitoring Garmin is the most long-established of the ■ mainstream manufacturers and has a good reputation: it uses Navteq mapping, and has a wide range of truck-specific models called 'dee' (pronounced 'dieser) • Snooper is hardly a household name the rather bizarre name comes from its origins making radar detectors but it offers a feature-packed range of truck-specific sat-nay units. Some have DAB radio or Freeview TV built in, with an FM transmitter to send sound and navigation instructions to your in-cab audio. Another feature is 'car mode', to switch off truck-specific restrictions. Snooper uses Navteq mapping and the Aura speed camera database, including average speed cameras and roadworks cameras As far as the hardware is concerned, most of it is straightforward: the larger the screen, the easier it is to see. More memory — or a memory card slot — lets you add more maps and points of interest (POIs).
Many units include Bluetooth, to give you hands-free calling even if your truck is not equipped for it. Some include FM transmitters to send navigation instructions to your radio. Most also have a text-to-speech function, to read out the name of approaching roads.
But whichever unit you choose, make sure that it is mounted where it will not obscure the driver's view through the windscreen. • LINKING TO THIRD-PARTY SERVICES You might think a fleet routeing and scheduling system would make sat-nay units redundant, but according to Tim Pigden, MD of routeing specialist Optrak, the two can work well together. "A pure sat-nay is capable of calculating a single route very well, and potentially a modern sat-nay might know more about traffic conditions than the routeing and scheduling system," he says.
"The big crossover product is TomTom Business: we can feed it a planned route, so the driver logs in and sees a list of jobs." Once the driver accepts an order, that becomes the active destination for the TomTom. "We're telling it exactly where to go and we're leaving it to the TomTom to calculate how to get there."
The TomTom feeds the ETA for the next stop back to the Optrak routeing system, which can flag up problems and reschedule later stops.
When the driver arrives they press the "I have arrived" button, which helps calculate times for later trips. It is not a full proof of delivery system —yet— but it shows that sat-nay can be useful even for the largest fleets. The Android, Apple or Windows alternative Smartphones have been used as alternatives to dedicated sat-nays for a few years now, though their small screens and sometimes flaky GPS counted against them for serious users. However, the iPad opened up the demand for tablets, with their larger screens, and this is now a fiercely competitive market.
Given that a powerful tablet with a high-resolution seveninch screen starts at around £150— and even a 10-inch tablet is only £300— do they stack up as a good alternative to the sat-nay?
Apple led the way with iOS for the iPhone and iPad, but Google's Android OS is now available on hundreds of phones and tablets, and is arguably just as full-featured at lower cost.
Apps are generally cheap and easily updated, and turn-by-turn navigation is even available for free: Google Maps, built into most Android devices, features a pretty good navigation mode with traffic information overlaid.
But it doesn't store maps on the device by default— they are downloaded as you go along, so you need a good wireless connection and a generous data allowance. The CoPilot and TomTom Apps include lifetime map updates but, crucially, neither is truck-specific. However, there is a dedicated truck navigation app: CoPilot Truck Europe offers "the latest streetlevel maps of the UK and Ireland with truck restrictions and weight limits" for £89.99 on Android or £129.99 on i0S. This, too, offers live traffic updates at extra cost.
User reviews so far are mixed, some saying that it is slow and Aeon unreliable, but these are early days —things will only get better, and quickly. CYCLE SAFETY As protecting cyclists has become a hot topic, Navevo has launched a new low cost sat-nay-based cycle safety system for trucks using exclusive data on LGV and cycle flows from Transport for London (TfL). ProNav HGV Cyclist Alert is standard on Navevo's new ProNav PNN420 sat-nay, designed specifically for LGVs, and will be rolled out across the ProNav range.
Cyclist Alert identifies 100 junctions in London with high levels of LGV and cyclist convergence and alerts the driver as the vehicle approaches any of them. The system is endorsed by TfL and includes over 1,200 height, width, weight and other restrictions in London not found on other route planners. It also gives valuable information on events, red routes and loading bays — including times when they can be used — which greatly helps planning multidrop routes around the capital.
SPECS OF SELECTED UNITS AVAILABLE IN THE UK Make Model Screen size Screen resolution Memory Area covered Updates included? Other features Typical street price linc VAT) TomTom PRO 5150 Truck LIVE 5in 480x272 8GB internal All EU Lifetime Includes one-year subscription to TomTom LIVE £255 TomTom PRO 7150 Truck Sin 480x272 8GB internal All EU Lifetime £311 TomTom PRO 9150 Truck Sin 480x272 8GB internal All EU Lifetime Requires Webfleet subscription £353 Garmin nOvi 465T 4.3in 480x272 Internal+ microSD card Western Europe No £225 Garmin dezl 560LT Sin 480x272 Internal+ microSD card All EU No £279 Garmin dezl 560LMT Sin 480x272 Internal+ microSD card All EU Lifetime £288 Garmin dezl 760LMT-D 7in 800x480 Internal+ microSD card All EU Lifetime £370 Navman EZY Advanced 4.3in 480x272 2GB internal UK/Ireland No Requires £69.99 'Truck mode key' (see text]. £70 Navman Tourer Sin 480x272 2GB internal UK/Ireland Lifetime Requires £69.99 'Truck mode key' (see text]. £100 Navman Tourer 695 LM Sin 480x272 2GB internal All EU Lifetime Requires £69.99 'Truck mode key' (see text]. £130 Snooper Truckmate Pro S2500 4.3in 480x272 Internal+ microSD card UK/Ireland (EU & Russia +£50) Lifetime £230 Snooper Truckmate Pro S6400 7in 800x480 Internal+ microSD card UK/Ireland (EU & Russia +£50) Lifetime £340 Snooper Truckmate Pro 55000 Sin 480x272 Internal+ microSD card UK/Ireland (EU & Russia +£50) Lifetime Input for reversing camera. £285 Snooper Truckmate Pro Sound DB8500 7in 800x480 Internal+ SD card UK/Ireland (EU & Russia +£50) Lifetime Freeview TV and DAB radio £430 Snooper Truckmate Pro S8000 7in 800x480 Internal+ SD card UK/Ireland (EU & Russia +£50) Lifetime Freeview TV £380 Snooper Truckmate Pro S7000 7in 800x480 Internal+ SD card UK/Ireland (EU & Russia +£50) No Freeview TV £350 Further information Garmin: garmin.com/en-GB Navevo: navevo.com Navman: navman.com/en-gb/ Navman Wireless: navmanwireless.co.uk NNG/Igo Primo: naviextras.com Optrak: optrak.com Snooper: snooper.co.uk TomTom: tomtom.com/en_gb/