Trip Planning

Tony B wrote:
Thanks guys.

It's not the major highways I am worried about. Sometimes I would need to get off the highways to get to a campground or do some local stuff. Some towns have low bridges or very sharp turns on narrow streets. How would I know this ahead of time?

Will a truckers GPS tell me this and where would I get a good GPS for this purpose.?

You're right to be concerned with roads and routes away from highways, and with our fiver at 13.5 feet, we take care in that regard. We've been using Garmin's RV760 for a few years now, and it has worked well for us. There are other brands out there that I understand work well, but make sure you get one designed for RV's and not a "trucker's" version. Both will route you to avoid low clearance bridges and such, but a trucker's version will also limit you to streets and roads designated by local municipalities as "truck routes". We started out with one of those, and found ourselves frequently going way out of our way needlessly in order to get from one point to another.

Only one time in all the years we've been traveling around have we encountered a low overhead. We were following our TomTom GPS in South Carolina and were about 10 miles from the campground. TomTom wanted us to go down a country road. When turning off the highway, I caught a slight glimpse of a low-overhead sign, but caught just enough of it to realize the trailer was too tall. I wasn't sure how far ahead it was either. We turned around in a church parking lot that was right there. Saw the sign indicated the low-overhead was ahead about 8 or 9 miles.

We studied the paper map then and compared with Google Maps on our SmartPhones and found a way around. Next day, after the trailer was unhitched, we were driving the opposite direction site seeing, and we ended up on the same road. We found the low overhead! I had to stop and get photos. It's the only one I've ever encountered.

I guess the moral of the story is to REALLY pay attention to your road signs once you get off the main highways and Interstates. Know the height of your rig, so if you see something indicating a height clearance, you know immediately to take evasive action if it's too low:

Thanks guys.

It's not the major highways I am worried about. Sometimes I would need to get off the highways to get to a campground or do some local stuff. Some towns have low bridges or very sharp turns on narrow streets. How would I know this ahead of time?

Will a truckers GPS tell me this and where would I get a good GPS for this purpose.?

Stick to major highways that the big rigs use and you won't have any problems. Get off the beaten path and your on your own.

Per federal law all federal highways have a minimum height. Truck stops sell books that list any restrictions. A good GPS that has trucker settings can also help.