Best thing about having my SatNav permanently on even when I knew where I was going was using it to judge whether I had enough time to roll a ■■■ before getting to the next roundabout or junction. A close second was knowing the rough ETA, seeing as you always get a phone call asking that very question. Oh I sometimes used it to find my way too 
yourhavingalarf:
We learn routes…My second trip over the water was to Oss in Holland. Got talking to a driver on the boat and he said he was going to there too. I followed him round Antwerp and all the way to the industrial estate I was tipping at. The following week I had the same run. I had absolutely no idea how to get to Oss. I missed my turn off the Antwerp ring road and got well and truly lost trying to get back on.
I occaisionally use Google maps for the last few miles to a new drop and it does an adequate job. But I couldn’t rely 100% on a Satnav I feel uncomfortable blindly following directions from a computer.
I guess that anything that means you use your brain less is a brain drain.
I rarely get lost,honest I’m like a homing pigeon, but that Antwerp ring road is an utter barsteward if you make a wrong turn, even the very nice and helpful person who gave me written instructions missed out a junction, which by a very rapid eanny meanny minny mo I got right.
Spent the last 4 years doing the same run and now back in the limping game. TM asked me if I had a satnav and he looked puzzled when I just asked for the address.
Quick check before I set off and a refresh in a layby a few miles out.
Old skills in an old head.
I’ve never owned one and only ever driven a hire car with one in it while on me hol’s in Engerland. It was a pain in the arse. I’m embarrassed to admit that although I’ve driven trucks and/or buses for most of my life, my two sons are both jeffin’ useless without theirs. Sometimes I imagine myself ripping them out. 
Saturday I left Colchester on me way to Girvan and the £230 bloody VW stealership SD card routed me thru Glasgow and then down the M77 past Ayr so ignored the ■■■■ thing and did the Dumfries Newton Stewart way instead. 
I think they are a brain drain. Until about 2 or 3 years ago I seemed to find anywhere without one. I usually got information from other drivers, or looked on google maps etc (even further back I used to manage Eaton twin splitters and A to Zs in London!). But these days I use a sat nav even for places I’ve been to 100 times, mainly for the ETA and mileage, or just in case I get diverted and the diversion signs aren’t set out. But much to my shame, I tend to glance at it so I know what the speed limit is on any given road 
A couple of weeks ago I had a lorry without a cig lighter and was on a route I’ve not done before, and although I did fine, I felt a slight sense of ineptitude without my saynav. I kept looking at where my satnav would normally be, only to see a blank space, and I was like “[zb], I’ve got to look for speed limit signs and signposted routes!” It’s interesting how we come to rely on certain things. I took it as a wake up call. This is one reason why I continually resist having a smartphone.
So I’ve made a decision to use it only with deliveries I’ve not been to before. I do miss the old days where I used a hand drawn map and verbal instructions from other drivers. So I’m going to try and revert back a little.
Cant see the big deal with whether or not you use a SatNav or not? You can see the route the SatNav wants you to take, if you don’t agree with he route make your own custom route the way you want to go, that’s the way I use mine. I use CoPilot that allows you to adjust your route to any road you want to take and adjust anything, no different to following a road map but with the benefit of live traffic updates up to 100 miles in front of you on your route. Also great for finding post codes and addresses when your near to your destination. Nothing to do with a brain drain, my brain is still intact!!
I have a sat nav in the window turned on but not set to anything so it just shows where I am so I can check I’m on the right track
They’re a big help if you’re doing lots of drops in towns you’ve never been in before, or don’t know well. People who’ve been in their jobs for years often forget that some new agency guy may have no clue where any of the drops are. You get some guy who’s finally cracked flipping burgers, decides to go out and get an HGV license and then is out with an agency the next week. He knows literally nothing. The sat nav will be his best friend - and occasional worst enemy - for quite a while.