Truckstop lat-long

Essentially that's what was necessary with 75 % of the Interstate Rest Area locations - the coordinates were far enough off the roadway that the GpSr didn't alert.
It is a rather large task to change every set of coordinates (both directions) to the ramp off the highway and to verify the location !

I agree, but I still think it's worth it.
Besides, I am sure there are others that are willing to help.

For example, this last week we went to Chicago. I started up my trusted Nuvi and guess what? Only one truckstop actually gave an alert. And I counted it up that we passed by about 35 in our trip that we could actually see the signs from the interstate.

What good is the information if it doesn't work for you?

Maybe I am a minority on POI Factory in thinking like this... but I want the information to work for me. That's why I bought this blooming piece of technology.

I would think that as we all get more involved in this that we would want to come up with some standards as to how we make these files... so that everyone can be working together.

And as to time... I still think it's better to take the time... and do it so that it's useful.

I don't know of anyone that would set their Nuvi to find a truckstop.... unless they are in dire need of one.

I still think it's better to let our Nuvi's tell us where the truckstops are. And anything else along the interstates that we travel on.

I suggest this as a file format:
long, lat,"name","Interstate exit, address, city st, phone(if available)"

Personally I think that format would work for all files except reststops and campgrounds.

But... there I go again... thinking out loud....
But... I do know that you can take my opinion, and about $1.25 and buy a cup of coffee in most places.

I didn't want to release this info so soon, but I am very close to the mythical "don't drive thru there" type POI. I call it the "Forbidden Zone" POI.

The TourGuide .GPX style POI does true proximity alerts, rather than having to drive til you're almost on top the the darn spot to get the GPSr to sound off.

TourGuide files work really slick but it takes a bit of tinkering with your PC folders and such to get them to load just right and to work as expected.

More to come.
dd

This is MY views only.
I don't want a poi file give me an alert ahead of time;truck stop,rest area,etc.When i look at my list of costom poi's "truck stop,rest area's" the gps points in that direction and says 3 miles.if I want to go to that one ,I pick it and my gps calculates the way.I'm really glad that I had the old rest area file for that reason.
Please give me the address or the lat/log and let me decide if I want to change it to approximents.
Fuzzybr

fuzzybr, I appreciate what you say.

Ok... I understand not everyone is like me. I can live with that.... but maybe we need two types of files.

Maybe one designated as "Address Associated" for people that do not want to have alerts when they drive. Personally, I say you can do this with the lat and long on the interstate by not setting a distance when you load the poi file.

Maybe a second for people, like me, that want the Nuvi to do all the work for me. When I am driving, and DW is asleep, I don't want to have stop and manually look up where to take a reststop or find a truckstop. Maybe this file should be designated as "Interstate Associated".

Then one will know which file they want to download.

Look...
POI Factory is a great place to get poi files. I appreciate what has been done. But I think because of all the files it now has, that we need to start making the files more useful by associating the file with the natural association of the purpose of the file.

Truckstops, reststops and such are of no value if they are not associated to the interstate.

Museums on the other hand are not normally associated to the interstate... it would make sense with a museum file to have it associated by "Address" instead of "Interstate".

What I am saying is, I think that by having some standards about why we create a poi file, would make the POI Factory a lot more useful to all.

And from what I have seen... many people on the POI Factory are willing to help and work with creating a poi file... so why not use all this for the good of all?

Sure, I can grab a bunch of addresses and run them through the gps visual and get the lat longs. But are they really useful when one is boondoggin down the interstate and just needs to maybe find a place to stop and rest or spend the night? (such as campers, truckers, etc.)

At the least, why not designate the file as "Address Associated" or "Interstate Associated" so one can know whether they want to download the file or not.

And last remember.... just because I am free with my opinion.... does not mean my opinion is useful to anyone.

but I have some concern (me personally) about trying to read the small GPSr screen and fiddling too much with the menus when I'm driving at 70 MPH with other cars, semis or other vehicles all around me !
It's all what people feel comfortable with !
It's not a major problem on some highways out West but I-95, I-10 (East), I-81 can get a bit hairy driving at times ! And I've been driving for over 50 years !

You can load your truck stop file manually with your POI loader and make an alert like you want. Use your loader and try it.

I don't think we are are on the same page, but maybe... Let me try with an illustration...

Say you are driving on I-10 East in the busy time... when everyone and their kinfolk are all driving also...

I agree I don't want to have to get my Nuvi and go through the manual process of finding a truckstop. That's the point I was making.

But with the lat lon so far off of I-10 (if there is a close by truck stop) then you will not get an alert.
But by having the lat long in the middle of the exit (on I-10) where the truck stop is... then you will get an alert and not have to go through the manual process.

This way, when you are in busy traffic... the Nuvi alerts you "Truck Stop Ahead" or whatever and you know the exit coming up has a truck stop. No manual intervention at all.

This way, also, the Nuvi is working for you and allowing you to keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road.

But by having the lat lon on the address... and as is the case with most truck stops... they are off the interstate by at least 100' or so... you will never get an alert, and like me on my recent trip, won't know there was a truckstop close by until you see the sign either out the window as you pass or in your rear view mirror.

And something else. If you don't want the file to alert you and you want to look it up manually, then by all means don't put in a proximity setting for the file. That seems simple enough.

Like I said, you want the lat lon on the address... well maybe we need 2 files for rest stops and truck stops... one designated as "Address Designated" and one noted as "Interstate Designated".

If I was a betting man... I would bet the truckers that use this site and most travelers that use this site would like to have the lat lon on the interstate so they can know when a truck stop and rest stop is coming up.

But... I gave up betting many, many moons ago... simply because I lost much more than I won.