There are probably many people — both truck drivers and nondrivers — who think truckers’ GPS tells us everything we need to know and that we just listen and watch and follow it.
And while a standard GPS certainly has its benefits, there are some drawbacks. For example, a GPS allows drivers to enter their trucks’ maximum height, weight and length, but sometimes it doesn’t alert you when you enter a restricted road, which may have been fine until the first 2 feet you moved into the restriction. Then it’s a little too late.
There is only one tool that offers just about everything a trucker needs to drive across the United States: the Rand McNally Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas.
Rand McNally road atlases were first printed April 15, 1924, under the name of Rand McNally Auto Chum. They were only printed in red and dark blue ink and didn’t have any city indices or other places of interest, just roads.
The Auto Chum did not identify roads as numbers, unlike today’s editions. Rather, it used names, like Brown Road. So if you didn’t know where a town was, you had to flip through the whole “Chum” to find what cities you were interested in. Thirty-six years later, in 1960, the first full-color edition of the Rand McNally Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas was printed.
Most drivers refer to the Rand McNally Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas as the “Atlas” or “Road Map.” It is large in size but that is because it contains more information than Google Maps. It comes in several versions: the Standard, Large Scale and Deluxe editions.
The Deluxe also covers Canadian provinces and has an overview map for Mexico. It has Canadian provincial contact information as well. Highways show the latest truck roadways as designated by the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) — also known as designated highways — with distinct orange overlays. They come with spiral binding so the pages lie flat and are intricately detailed with updates and printed yearly. The Atlas even comes laminated, tear-resistant and waterproof for those of us who can sometimes be a little messy in our trucks.
Each edition of the Rand McNally Motor Carriers’ Atlas has the same features in routing and mapping. The differences are mainly in the way they are bound and their print size. The Standard edition is a paperback, which is affordable to anyone traveling the highways, and is convenient to carry in a personal vehicle as well. The Large Scale edition has spiral binding and 37% larger print. It is laminated as well as tear- and water-resistant, but it lacks the Canadian provinces and Mexico overview. The Deluxe has all the features but again is smaller in print size:
- State maps of the U.S. with STAA-designated roadways
- Maps of Canadian provinces as well as provincial contact information
- Mexico overview map
- Coverage of select Hazardous Materials Regulations
- A robust mileage directory with more than 40,000 truck route-specific, city-to-city mileages
- Charts of state permit agency phone numbers and websites, low clearances, and weigh stations, as well as hotlines for road construction and conditions
- Tough spiral binding and laminated pages
- Large-scale maps
The Atlas has many working parts to help with routing. It has individual alphabetized states with the more heavily populated cities as insets. Additional features include:
- Updated restricted routes, low-clearance and weigh station locations.
- Road construction and conditions hotlines.
- Updated coverage of hazardous materials regulations.
- Easy-to-use chart of state and provincial permit agency phone numbers and websites.
For truck drivers, the Atlas includes the location where a partial restricted road begins and ends. This information is organized by state in the front with the city index. Not only are truckers concerned with restricted highways and roads, but restricted bridges for low clearance and weight can also become a major issue. In the state truck index, you will find each low clearance below truck maximum height of 13 feet, 6 inches listed and its exact location. Now let me say, looking at a bridge’s markings is the most accurate means not to take the top of a trailer off or get stuck under an overpass. So a reminder on bridges: PAY ATTENTION TO MARKINGS and if it still looks low STOP, GET OUT AND LOOK! No matter how hard you mash the fuel pedal, if it’s low you will not come out the other side.
A few other details a Road Map will give in the front truck index are individual state and province truck rules, laws and regulations. Per state/province, it gives weight limits broken down to axles as well as highways with weight restrictions. It provides bridge lengths per state/province as well as state/province contact information for commercial motor vehicle registration and permits for heavy and oversize loads and border crossings. Rest areas and weigh stations are marked as well, along with mileage between points. Highways show the latest truck roadways as designated by the STAA with distinct orange overlays.
As handy as an Atlas is, it does take time to sit and do your route planning and make sure you have written your route down so you don’t have to keep stopping in order to avoid missing your roads, highways or interstates.
When your GPS tells you to go a certain way and it doesn’t look quite right, you will thank me for telling you to buy a Rand McNally Motor Carriers’ Atlas so you don’t get yourself in a bind. And if you cross a scale and are told you’re not the correct length for the state bridge law, you can’t be mad at me for not telling you when you pay that big fat ticket.
I am a true believer that the known path taken will always lead you there safely. And with all the features of an Atlas, there is no guessing what lies ahead.
Again, to keep from taking the top off a trailer, going across a restricted bridge and falling in, or making a turn on a dirt road because the lady in the box on your window said to “Turn right, Clyde,” go buy an Atlas! You can thank me later! It will be the best money you have ever spent in trucking! Or in your car!
And check out the Rand McNally Road Atlas collection. You will even find one for the little humans buckled in, whether in your car or your truck.