Skip to main content

CoPilot Truck

Contents

CoPilot Truck offers a number of enhancements to the standard CoPilot product in order to efficiently route trucks on the most appropriate streets. CoPilot Truck is an additional paid license feature that generates routing based on the vehicle dimensions and load, avoiding unsuitable roads.

Vehicle Types

The vehicle type affects the type of routing that will be planned by CoPilot. Once you have selected a vehicle type, you can further define the type of vehicle you are driving with settings in the vehicle routing profile. The following Truck vehicle types are available within CoPilot Truck:

  • Heavy Duty / HGV — Heavy Duty vehicle routes will avoid local streets as much as possible—unless those roads are required to reach a destination. Instead, interstates and divided highways are heavily favored when CoPilot generates a route. Heavy Duty routes will also avoid roads that are truck restricted (no trucks) or truck discouraged (no through trucks). These routes avoid sharp turns and U-turns on the same road, and will only take U-turns on parallel roads (a divided highway, for example) if the connecting road is long enough to accommodate the truck.

  • Medium Duty / MGV — Medium Duty routes are very similar to Heavy Duty routes—they obey truck restrictions and avoid sharp turns. The main difference is these routes are slightly more likely than Heavy Duty routes to use local streets in routing.

  • Light Duty / LCV — Light Duty routes are for commercial-plate vehicles, and are much more likely to use secondary and local roads than either of the other two vehicle types. These routes obey height and weight restrictions, and avoid roads that are restricted for commercial vehicles. They will, however, use roads that are truck restricted (no trucks) or truck discouraged (no through trucks). Sharp turns will not be avoided and U-turns may be used on the same or parallel roads.

Practical vs Shortest

CoPilot Truck offers two choices for generating truck routes: Practical or Shortest.

  • Practical routes will choose the quickest route that is suitable based upon the selected vehicle profile. This will add significant favoring to motorways and dual carriageways, and only use local and secondary roads if essential to reach your destination. Practical routes consider distance, road classification, terrain, urban/rural classifications, and truck-restricted roads.

  • Shortest routing has a slightly more even costing between each of the road classifications. This will generate a straighter route, but potentially a route that will take the driver a significantly longer time. Shortest routes represent distances and driving routes that a vehicle would take to minimize total distance travelled while still following a reasonable route.

Practical routes are the chosen default. This is the recommended option.

Routing

In order to find the most appropriate route for your vehicle, CoPilot Truck will take into account four different routing criteria:

  1. Physical restrictions – These are road restrictions based upon the vehicle dimensions provided. CoPilot will avoid any road that is known to be unsuitable for the vehicle being driven. For instance, if the vehicle height is above that of a low bridge on the road, CoPilot will never guide the user onto that road. If the user does drive onto this road, CoPilot will indicate to the driver that they are currently on a restricted road. It will not provide any guidance until they leave the road and are no longer on a road with a legal or physical restriction.*

  2. Legal Restrictions – CoPilot also has within its map database roads that are legally restricted to all vehicles and restricted specifically to trucks. CoPilot will not guide the user onto these roads. If the user does drive onto these road types, CoPilot will not provide any guidance until they leave the road and are no longer on a road with a legal or physical restriction.*

  3. Favors and Avoids - CoPilot Truck has been configured to avoid lower classes of roads wherever possible. This includes local roads and non-primary roads. CoPilot Truck favors higher classes of roads including highways, motorways and dual carriageways.

  4. U-Turns - As performing a U-turn is very difficult in a large truck, CoPilot has been configured to strongly avoid U-turns. It will try to find an alternative route, which may be up to 20 miles.

*This is entirely based upon the information within the map database. It is therefore possible that some roads may not be marked as restricted within the database and would therefore be open to guidance. If the destination is within a restricted road then CoPilot will route you onto the restricted road.

Below are the restriction icons shown within CoPilot:

EU Sign North America Sign Description
icon icon No Trucks allowed on road
icon icon Width restriction on the road
icon icon Weight restriction on the road
icon icon Height restriction on the road
icon icon Length restriction on the road
icon icon Hazmat restriction on the road

CoPilot also adds additional costs to left/right turns (varying to favor the side of the road being driven in a particular country) as well as significant costs on U-turns and sharp turns, to avoid these where possible.

Physical Restrictions

CoPilot Truck routing is based upon the specific vehicle being driven. There are many shapes, sizes and weights of trucks, carrying many different and sometimes dangerous loads. To find the most appropriate routing, CoPilot needs to know the details of the vehicle actually being driven.

Users can provide the following physical vehicle information:

  • Height
  • Weight
  • Weight per Axle
  • Width
  • Length

With this information, CoPilot will avoid any roads that are not suitable for the vehicle, only providing a route on roads that do not exceed the maximum allowed values.

Hazmat

The CoPilot Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) categories vary depending on the map data present on the device. Users are only able to select one category. If your vehicle contains multiple materials that are both Explosive and Harmful to Water, select General.

European Region

  • General – All hazardous Goods forbidden.
  • Explosives – Explosive goods forbidden.
  • Flammable – Flammable goods forbidden.
  • Harmful to Water - Natural goods that can be harmful for the water forbidden.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) set out the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR). Within this agreement, tunnel codes are defined outlining the different categories of tunnels as well as load categories. Further details of these categories can be found on the UNECE website.

Four options are available within CoPilot for the different prohibited tunnel categories:

  • E Prohibited
  • D, E Prohibited
  • C, D, E Prohibited
  • B, C, D, E Prohibited
Tunnel Category B Tunnel Category C Tunnel Category D Tunnel Category E
Truck Restriction Code B No No No No
Truck Restriction Code C Yes No No No
Truck Restriction Code D Yes Yes No No
Truck Restriction Code E Yes Yes Yes No

There are other restriction codes relating to the whole load. Further definitions of these restrictions can be found within the ADR European Agreement. The table above only illustrates the restrictions based on the single-letter restriction codes that may be present on a vehicle transporting hazmat materials.

screenshot

North America

  • General – All hazardous goods forbidden.
  • Explosives – Explosive goods forbidden.
  • Flammable – Flammable goods forbidden.
  • Inhalants – Goods that are harmful if inhaled are forbidden.
  • Radioactive – Radioactive goods are forbidden.
  • Caustic – Corrosive goods are forbidden.

The North America CoPilot Truck version has two other significant routing differences, providing the option for 53-Foot Trailer and National Network routing.

  • The National Truck Network is a network of approved state highways and interstates for commercial truck drivers in the United States, if this option is selected CoPilot will ensure to use this network of roads whenever possible.

  • 53-foot Trailer routing uses roads that permit oversized trailers whenever possible.

Destination on a Restricted Road

There may be instances where a destination is set to a road that has either a physical or a legal restriction. CoPilot will successfully geocode the address and calculate the route. When looking to navigate to the destination, the behavior of CoPilot will depend on the restrictions that are in place at the destination.

Note: CoPilot will never include a road on a route with a restriction that conflicts with the truck routing profile.

When there is a legal or physical restriction at the destination, CoPilot will provide a pop-up warning to notify the driver that CoPilot has detected the destination to be on a restricted road. CoPilot will provide guidance up until the driver reaches the restricted road. Once on that road CoPilot will not provide any guidance and indicate to the driver that they are currently on a restricted road. No further guidance will be provided until CoPilot detects the user has navigated to a legal road.

If a destination is entered for a road that is restricted for trucks, but allows deliveries. CoPilot will navigate to this road as it assumes the driver is on a delivery. Once it reaches the destination, CoPilot will notify the user they are on a restricted road. No further guidance will be provided until CoPilot detects the user has navigated to a legal road.

International Borders Open

If this option is checked, the calculated trip will ignore international boundaries when necessary to generate the best route. If this option is not checked, the calculated trip will never cross international boundaries. For example, if all your stops are in the United States, the route will stay in the U.S. even though the most practical or shortest route would involve some Canadian mileage.

U.S. Only Routing Option

National Network Routes

The National Network is a U.S. government-designated system of highways originally established by the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 (STAA). This routing option is based on the federally-designated National Network system updated in the April, 1992 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 658, Appendix A.

The National Network includes the Interstate System (several minor segments are not included), and many selected U.S. and state highways. Highways continue to be added to the National Network by federal and state governments. CoPilot National Network routing represents distances and driving routes that are most reasonable and legal for larger trucks.

National Network routing stays on the National Network to the maximum extent possible. Given that many areas are not directly served by the National Network, the origin and stop-offs of your route may not be on the National Network. In these cases, CoPilot will take the shortest reasonable path from the origin and stop-offs to the National Network. As a result, National Network mileage tends to be higher than Shortest or Practical mileage.

These designated highways permit, at a minimum, 102-inch wide, single 48-foot trailers and 28-foot double trailers. The interstate system and most, but not all, remaining designated routes are open to 80,000 pound vehicles. Certain states, notably Arkansas and Mississippi, have designated certain National Network segments with less than an 80,000-pound capacity. In addition to the National Network highways, access routes and access policies are components of routing STAA dimensioned trucks. The federal government has mandated that no state may prohibit travel from the National Network for a minimum of one road mile unless safety restrictions apply. Additionally, no state may deny reasonable access to terminals and facilities for food, fuel, repairs, and rest.

Several states maintain more generous access policies and lists of specifically designated access routes to terminals and facilities. (For detailed information about pre-approved access routes, contact the individual states.) Should you need to travel beyond the National Network and the access roads, you must acquire the proper permit.

53-Foot Trailer Routing

Because every mile equals money, CoPilot offers enhanced routing specifically for 53-foot/102-inch trailers. The calculations for these routes are based on National Network routing, with the addition of roads that permit 53-foot/102-inch trailers.

State Exemptions for 53-Foot Trailer Routing

(Available in CoPilot 10.26 and later)

CoPilot now incorporates more state-specific exemptions to the State and National Network when routing 53-foot trailers. In the states where exemptions to State and National Network designated highways are in place, CoPilot generates a more practical route with increased freedom to travel off the network.

Highlights of state exemptions include:

  • The following states allow all non-OSOW (over-sized, overweight) truck/trailer combinations freedom of travel off of the State + National Network:
    • Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
  • The following states allow all non-OSOW truck/trailer combinations EXCEPT twin trailers freedom of travel off of the State + National Network:
    • Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota, and Virginia.
  • The following states restrict all non-OSOW truck/trailer combinations to the State + National Network with a width of 102 inches or greater:
    • Alabama, Florida, and New Jersey.
  • The following states restrict all non-OSOW truck/trailer combinations EXCEPT 28-foot trailers freedom of travel off of the State + National Network: Illinois, Maryland*, Missouri, Oregon, and Pennsylvania**.
    • *MD also allows 48-foot trailers with a width of 102 inches.
    • **PA also allows trailers with a 53-foot length if they are only 96 inches in width.
  • The following states restrict all non-OSOW truck/trailer combinations to the State + National Network with 53-foot length or greater:
    • California, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
  • The following states restrict all 102-inches wide or 53-foot long non-OSOW truck/trailer combinations to the State + National Network:
    • Arizona, Washington DC, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, and Tennessee.
  • West Virginia is the only state with NO truck/trailer combination exemptions to the State + National Network, including 48-foot and 96-inch combinations.

Truck Alerts

Based upon attributes within the map database, CoPilot can be configured to provide the driver with audio and visual warnings ahead of dangerous areas or turns. CoPilot will look ahead on the current route for any known dangers. If danger is detected, it will display the respective symbol with a distance countdown on the guidance screen as well as an audio warning. The distance to the warning can be configured to suit the driver or vehicle to ensure the warning is provided with enough time for the driver to adhere.

Truck warnings in Europe

Image Description
icon No Overtaking / End of No Overtaking
icon No Overtaking for Trucks / End of No Overtaking for trucks
icon Danger Lateral / Cross Winds
icon No Left Turn for Trucks
icon No Right Turn for Trucks
icon No U-Turn for Trucks
icon Protected Overtaking Lane for Steep Hill
icon Danger Risk of Grounding
icon Caution Lane Narrows
icon Caution Sharp Left Turn Ahead
icon Caution Sharp Right Turn Ahead
icon Caution Tree Overhang
icon Warning Accident Ahead
icon Caution Tramway Crossing
icon High Risk of Rollover
icon Steep Hill Upwards
icon Steep Hill Downwards
icon School Zone

Truck warnings in North America

Image Description
icon Railway crossing ahead
icon Weigh station ahead
icon Caution, risk of rollover

When available in the map data CoPilot can display the current road speed limit, in the top right hand corner of the navigation screen.

Note: Some road class types have lower speed limits for trucks, if known, CoPilot Truck will also display the speed limit specific to a truck.

Last updated June 10, 2024.
Contents