Truck Stops Plus
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Tip: Personalize your Truck Stops Plus 2011 template by setting up your shippers & consignees locations, company terminal locations, drop lot locations, low weight limit bridge locations, restricted route locations, low clearance locations, etc. Download the Personalize Truck Stops Plus.pdf. Don't worry when you upgrade in the future to a later version of the Truck Stops Plus Template, it is very easy to export the latest updated POI data sets into your current personalized Truck Stops Plus Template, which will enable you to retain all of your personalized data sets and personal avoid area boxes. Also, don't forget that if you personalize your Truck Stops Plus 2011 template you should always make a backup copy of it anytime you add something to it or delete something from it. To retain your personal data sets you set up for your own shippers and consignees, drop lots, company terminals, etc. and to also retain all the avoid area boxes you may have also setup in your personal Truck Stops Plus template, please follow the following instructions. Before you get started, please make a backup copy of your current Truck Stops Pus template to be on the safe side. Next, start up your current Truck Stops Plus template and open the Legend and Overview Pane. Delete all the POI data sets with the exception of your own personal datasets such as the data sets you created for your shippers and consignees, company terminals, drop lots, etc. To delete the data sets, right click a data set you need to delete, choose Delete from the context menu, Windows will ask you if you are sure you want to delete it, answer yes. Once all the POI data sets have been deleted from your current Truck Stops Plus template, open up the new Truck Stops Plus template and convert it to the current version of Streets & Trips you are using by following the easy step-by-step instructions under Roman Numeral I in the Readme/Help file. After the new Truck Stops Plus template file has been converted to the version of Streets & Trips you are currently using, open up the Legends and Overview pane. Right click a POI data set, choose Copy from the context menu. Return to your current template (the one where you previously deleted all the data sets), press the control key and while continuing to hold down the control key press the V key to paste the new updated data sets into that template. Repeat this process until you have copied and pasted all the updated POI data sets from the new Truck Stops Pus template into your current Truck Stops Plus template. Once all of the updated POI data sets have been copied and pasted into your current Truck Stops Plus template, the last step is to copy all the hyperlinks from the new Truck Stops Plus template into your current Truck Stops Plus template because for some reason they don’t get copied in the first step you just completed. To do this, in the new Truck Stops Plus template double click a data set in the Legend & Overview Pane to bring up the properties dialog box. When the properties dialog box appears, click the hyperlink tab at the top of the dialog box and then under where it says: “Have Streets & Trips automatically create a set of hyperlinks,” copy the hyperlink in the text box below by first highlighting it and then by right clicking the highlighted hyperlink in the text box and choosing Copy from the context menu. Next, return to your current Truck Stops Plus template and double click the corresponding data set in the Legend & Overview Pane to bring up its properties dialog box. When the properties dialog box appears, again choose the hyperlink tab at the top of the dialog box. Next, click the “Have Streets & Trips automatically create a set of hyperlinks” radio button. Then place your cursor inside the text box below by clicking one time inside the text box. When you see your cursor blinking in the text box, right click inside the text box and choose Paste from the context menu to paste the hyperlink inside the text box. Finally click the OK button to close the properties dialog box. Repeat this process until you have copied all the hyperlinks from the new Truck Stops Plus template into your current Truck Stops Plus template. The final step is to make all your changes permanent by saving your current Truck Stops Plus template as a Map Template (.stt) file by following the directions under Roman Numeral I in the Readme/Help file. Congratulations, your current Truck Stops Plus template has now been updated with the latest POI data sets and your own personal data sets and personal avoid area boxes have also been retained. Tip: One of the things I love about Streets & Trips is you can do things with it you can’t do with standalone GPS devices. For instance, in this tip I’m going to show you how to make Streets & Trips give you turn-by-turn directions directly to the truck entrances of your shippers and consignees. Hence, there won’t be any more searching while you are driving, as Streets & Trips will guide you directly to your shippers and consignees truck entrance. To do this tip, you will need to have an Internet connection and if you don’t have an Internet connection get one because it is well worth it, and you will also have to have a free copy of Google Earth loaded on your computer that you can download for free by clicking the following link: Free Google Earth Download. Okay, the first step is to get your final directions either from your company qualcom or otherwise call the shipper or consignee if you have to. Follow the final directions in Streets & Trip until you get to where the shipper or consignee’s facility should be located. Next, click the map where you think the shipper or consignee’s facility is located and leave your cursor in that position. Press and hold down the alt and control buttons and press the C key. This will copy the GPS coordinates of where your cursor is located into the Windows clipboard. Next, open Google Earth. When it opens, in the field where you type in the address, city, and state, right click in that field and choose Paste from the context menu to paste the coordinates into that field. Once you have pasted the coordinates into that field, click the find button. Google Earth will then do its thing, zoom in, and when it is finished you should be able to see the shipper or consignee’s location below in the display. If you don’t see the facility you are looking for, search for it with Google Earth until you find it. It shouldn’t be too far if the directions are accurate. Once you locate the facility you are looking for in the display, zoom in and locate the truck entrance. When you find the truck entrance, zoom in a little more, click the pushpin button in Google Earth, a pushpin will appear in the display, drag that pushpin to the truck entrance. When the pushpin has been dragged to the truck entrance, the next step is to copy and paste the pushpin coordinates into Streets & Trips by first highlighting the latitude coordinates in the top field, left clicking them, and then choosing Copy from the context menu, to copy the coordinates into the Windows clipboard. Next, return to Streets & Trips and click the Find button, the Find dialog will appear will appear. Click the “add to route” button, which will bring up the Find dialog box, and then click the lat/long tab. Then in the latitude field, which is the top one, paste the coordinates into that field by right clicking inside of it and choosing Paste from the context menu. In addition, once the coordinates have been pasted into the correct field, notice the degree symbol at the back of the coordinates won’t work in Streets and Trips. Hence, use the backspace button to delete it. Next, repeat the above process to copy the longitude coordinates from Google Earth into Streets & Trips. Don’t forget to use the backspace button to delete the degree symbol. Once that is done, click the OK button in the Find dialog box, the stop will be added to Streets & Trips and during navigation Streets & Trips will give you turn-by-turn direction directly to your shippers or consignee’s truck entrance and eliminate the hassle of having to search for your shippers and consignees while driving. Personally, I would also add and save my all my shipper and consignee’s truck entrances permanently to my template as I go per the first tip’s instructions, and then in about a year, you will have most of your shippers and consignees locations saved in your template, and trip planning will only take a small fraction of the time it currently does today. Further, when you upgrade to a later version of the Truck Stops Plus template in the future, you can easily retain your own personalized data sets, per the above previous tip's instructions. In the event you aren’t sure you have located the correct place in Google Earth, you can also pushpin the place where you think it is, copy the coordinates from Google Earth into Google Maps, zoom in and then use the street level view. From the street level view, you should be able to determine if that is the correct place or not. In addition, you can also use the above trick to go to Wal-Mart Supercenter truck entrances if there is one or to figure out the best way to enter the parking lot. To do this simply click the Wal-Mart Supercenter pushpin symbol you want to go to on the map to highlight it while also leaving your cursor on the pushpin symbol. Next, click alt, control, C to copy the location coordinates into the Windows clipboard, and then repeat the above steps. Streets and Trips will provide turn-by-turn directions to exactly where you need to go. Tip: When in navigation and guidance mode, switch to the “use dynamic turn view” feature anytime you are within less than 50 miles away from your next stop or final destination. However, whenever you are farther out than 50 miles, set the display to “keep position centered” and then zoom in to between 10 and 20 miles, with 12 to 15 miles generally being the best settings depending on your personal preferences. This will make viewing the POIs that you are approaching as you are driving, like truck stops, rest areas, turnpike service plazas, weigh stations, etc. much easier to view but at the same time you will also still be able to see them for many miles out ahead in advance. Tip: New! You can hide specific data sets of POIs or hide all data sets of POIs simultaneously, but you must update to the 2010 or later version of Microsoft Streets & Trips or MapPoint in order to have this new capability. To hide specific data sets of POIs, in Streets & Trips or MapPoint open up the Legend and Overview pane, in the Legend and Overview pane double click the data set of POIs you want to hide or alternatively right click the data set of POIs and choose Properties from the quick menu to bring up the properties dialogue box. When the data set properties dialogue box appears, place a check mark in the "hide this pushpin set" check box and click OK. The data set of POIs will now become hidden. To unhide the data set of POIs, in the Legend and Overview pane, double click the data set of POIs you want to unhide or alternatively right click the data set of POIs and choose Properties from the quick menu to bring up the properties dialogue box. When the data set properties dialogue box appears, remove the check mark from the check box for "hide this pushpin set" and click OK. The previously hidden data set of POIs will reappear. To hide all data sets of POIs simultaneously, open up the Legend and Overview pane, at the top of the Legend and Overview pane right click where it says Pushpins, a "hide all pushpin sets" menu option will appear, click it and all the data sets of POIs will simultaneously disappear and be hidden from view. This is a very useful feature for when you want to check over your routes. To unhide all data sets of POIs simultaneously, open up the Legend and Overview pane, at the top of the Legend and Overview pane right click where it says Pushpins, a "show all pushpin sets" menu option will appear, click it and all the data sets of POIs will simultaneously reappear and no longer be hidden from view. For those of you still using the earlier versions of Streets & Trips or MapPoint than the 2010 version, you can download our Creating Customized Maps.pdf. to learn how to create customized maps. Tip: Do you know that you can multitask? Open up several instances of the Truck Stops Plus 2011 Template and leave the ones that you aren’t using minimized and running in the background until you need them. For instance, you may open up a couple of instances of the current .est trip file that you are currently working with and a couple of instances of blank and unsaved .est trip files and leave them minimized and running in the background. Then if you should need them in the course of a day for any reason like in the event that you have to make an unexpected detour, or if you want to check mileages between two points real quickly, or if you want to locate a truck stop real fast, or if you want to decide to accept a preplan or not, then they are readily available, so thus all you have to do is maximize them and at the same time you won't disturb the current .est trip file you are using for navigation. Hence, you can multitask and do several jobs at the same time simultaneously and you can't do that with a portable GPS standalone unit. Tip: Find, locate, and route to the nearest truck stop with truck scales far easier and in a fraction of the time that it takes using a truck stop guide and Motor Carrier Road Atlas. Maximize one of the blank .stt templates that you should always keep minimized at the bottom of your Windows desktop for such chores. Just right click on your current location or a location that you anticipate being at, when the quick menu comes up, select Route, and then click Add as Start from the sub menu. Next, right click on the same spot again and when the quick menu comes up, click Find Nearby Places. Instantly, the Find Nearby Places Pane will appear on the left side of the display with an alphabetical listing of every point of interest located within a 50-mile radius. Just open up the listings, go through the listings, the truck stops in the listings are sorted from nearest to farthest, and when you find a truck stop with a truck scale that will work for you, right click it, from the quick menu choose Route and then click Add as Stop or Add as End from the sub menu, depending on the situation, and bam you are in business. Next, just right click it again, select Route from the quick menu and then click Get Directions from the sub menu to create a route. Now you are ready to go! Tip: You can quickly and easily add truck stops, rest areas, turnpike service plazas, etc. to your route that you want to stop at by simply right clicking them on the map and when the quick menu comes up, choosing Route, and then clicking Add as Stop from the sub menu. After the stop has been added, then right click it again and choose Route from the quick menu, then click Get Directions from the sub menu. The route is now recalculated with the addition of the new stop that you added. Tip: Learning to use avoid area boxes can really be very handy and you can use them for a variety of situations to force Microsoft Streets & Trips to route the way you need it to. For instance, anytime Microsoft Streets & Trips routes you through the center of a city but instead you really need to travel around the perimeter of the city, add an avoid area box to the center of the city to force Microsoft Streets & Trips to route you around it. Then save it permanently in your Truck Stops Plus 2011 Template. Next time you route through that city again, Microsoft Streets & Trips will route you around the perimeter. Tip: Use avoid area boxes to prevent Microsoft Streets & Trips from routing down HOV lanes. Use avoid area boxes to prevent this nuisance from happening again and then save them permanently in your Truck Stops Plus 2011 Template. You can also use avoid area boxes to prevent Microsoft Streets & Trips from routing down restricted routes or to avoid known low clearance locations and also save them permanently in your Truck Stops Plus 2011 Template. Tip: Use avoid area boxes anytime you pickup or deliver to a particular shipper or consignee repeatedly but because of its location you can only take one truck specific route in and out of that particular location. In that situation, you can use avoid area boxes to block off all other routes in and out in order to force Microsoft Streets & Trips to always route you via the truck specific route only and then save it permanently in your Truck Stops Plus 2011 Template. Next time you have to go back to that particular place again, Microsoft Streets & Trips will only route you via the truck specific route that you created. Tip: An easy way to find avoid area boxes that you need to remove for whatever reason is to switch the display to night view and the avoid area boxes will then glow yellow in the dark making seeing and finding them very easy. Tip: To save avoid area boxes permanently in your Truck Stops Plus 2011 Template, configure them as needed first. Then after they are configured and have been tested, save them permanently by clicking File to open up the File Menu and when the File Menu comes up, choose Save As. When the Save As dialogue box comes up, change to the .stt (map template) file format in the “save as type” box by clicking the down arrow and choosing the .stt (map template) file. Next, migrate to the location of your Truck Stops Plus 2011 Template file at C:\Truck Stops Plus 2011\Truck Stops Plus 2011.stt and then click the Save button. The avoid area box will be permanently saved in your Truck Stops Plus 2011 Template. Tip: To remove avoid area boxes from the Truck Stops Plus Template, click any open spot inside of an avoid area box to highlight it, the curser changes into a square four pointer curser indicating that you can move the avoid area box in any direction. Hit the delete key and the avoid area box is deleted. Alternatively, you can also right click in any open spot inside of them, when the quick menu comes up, remove the check mark from the Avoid Area menu selection by clicking it. This will leave darken lines outlining the perimeter of the avoid area box on the map. Click anywhere on the darkened lines and then hit the Delete Key on your keyboard. The darkened outline will disappear. Then if you want the changes to remain permanent, save the Truck Stops Plus 2011 as a (.stt) map template file to make the changes permanent using the same process as described above. Tip: To make large avoid area boxes that appear too bright during night view navigation less bright you can change its color by clicking on any vacant spot inside the avoid area box to select it, then from the drawing tool bar below, click the down arrow on the “fill color” tool. (The “fill color” tool is the bucket icon on the tool bar that appears to be about to pour out paint.) A color pallet will appear above the “fill color” tool after you click on the down arrow, select the darkest shade of green. The avoid area box will then change to the same shade of green that you selected on the color pallet. Then if you want the changes to remain permanent, save the Truck Stops Plus 2011 as a template (.stt) file to make the changes permanent using the same process as described above. Tip: For more tips and tricks, click here.
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