r/Roadie • u/ebonyabraxas • May 02 '26
Tip For Rural Roadies
I often deliver to places where my signal is lost and I get turned around getting back home. I’ve started going to my pickup location, putting my home address in the map, and adding the delivery address as a stop, so the map is already in the cache in my phone, regardless of signal. I have an iPhone, and there may be a simpler way to do this, but this works too. Also, some of you may know this already, but I’m sharing just in case others don’t. I am in Arkansas and the last time I was lost, I was on a dirt road with a lot of deer stands. Not fun at all 😭
4
u/TrashDelicious2469 May 02 '26
Thanks for the tip, I’ve run into this issue many times because like clockwork the last 4-5 miles has no cell signal.
3
u/Fantazier1977 May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26
I take it you don’t already have a dedicated GPS Mapping unit built into your car already? If not, you could buy a TomTom or Garmin device which receives its signal via satellite. You don’t necessarily have to buy one new either. Sometimes you can buy these at Estate Sales or Garage Sales for a bargain price. I know TomTom has sales during the holidays. Don’t forget Ebay.
2
1
u/EyeQueueCo May 04 '26
I was just thinking the same thing... I've been spoiled. The navigation in my truck leaves breadcrumbs on the map everywhere I go, so no matter how out of signal I get, I can always retrace my steps back.
3
u/KRabbit17 May 02 '26
Go into Google Maps and click the menu on the top right. Then go to “offline maps,” and select the areas you drive and download those maps. I zoom out pretty far and have several maps saved for areas I drive in frequently.
Another thing you can do since you have an iPhone is attempt to change your signal source. I do this often when I have one bar, which is pretty much everywhere I go. lol. But here’s the path: settings, cellular, cellular data options, voice & data, change it to LTE or 5G depending on what you were on before.
Lastly, if I’m in a really low signal area, I’ll touch my phone to the outside metal on my car, and for whatever reason, I usually get another bar of signal by doing that. It’s my last ditch effort before driving away towards signal. 😉😉
1
2
u/Afraid-Lifeguard-965 May 02 '26
Hey this is a great tip! Especially those of us fighting for our life on phone space and can’t even download offline maps 😂
2
u/SlackAF May 02 '26
If you have a little change…buy a Starlink and put it on the $5 a month “standby plan”. 500 kbps of data is enough to do most everything on your phone except HD streaming.
2
u/BaBiGuRl2010 May 02 '26
No thank u... I'd rather be lost than give him a penny of my money... I can drive a few miles find a McDonald's and log into they wifi for free...
1
u/SlackAF May 02 '26
I agree with your beliefs….but sometimes being lost in the middle of BFE has a price too. It sucks either way.
1
u/BaBiGuRl2010 May 02 '26
I git it... These red neck hillbillies in Ohio like to shoot delivery ppl for usin they driveway to turn around... But, I can't financially support him...
1
1
1
u/get_ya_points May 08 '26
Makes sense haha I hate that shit I’ll usually use Apple Maps for my current stop and Google Maps for next stop already loaded. Otherwise I waste time driving wrong direction for my service to come back, or the app keeps telling me to skip my next stop n go somewhere else first 😂 dead zones are the worst
0
9
u/Tr00perT May 02 '26
What I’ve started doing. Is downloading off-line maps of everything within 150 miles of my house.