How to Find Truck Routes on Google Maps (and What to Use Instead)

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The Google Maps app doesn’t have a truck mode. As of September 2026, its travel modes are driving, transit, walking, ride sharing, cycling, flights, and motorcycle, and none of them account for your truck’s height, weight, length, or hazardous cargo. Google Maps can still help you plan: you can avoid highways, tolls, or ferries, add up to 9 stops, preview roads, and download offline maps. But you should check the route against truck restrictions with a dedicated truck GPS app or device, or official truck route maps, before you drive it.

Google does offer truck-aware routing, called Large Vehicle Routing, but only to developers through the Google Maps Platform Routes API, not in the consumer app. This guide explains how to use Google Maps safely for truck trip planning, where its limits are, and what to use instead.

Quick Answer

  1. Open Google Maps, select Directions, and choose the driving mode.
  2. Enter your start and destination, and add stops if needed (up to 9).
  3. Open Options and choose to avoid highways, tolls, or ferries if your route calls for it.
  4. Compare the suggested routes and preview tricky spots with Street View.
  5. Verify the route in a truck-specific GPS app or device, or on official truck route maps, that knows your vehicle’s height, weight, and cargo.
  6. Follow posted signs for clearance, weight, and truck restrictions over any app.

In This Guide

Before You Start: What Google Maps Can and Can’t Do

This guide covers Google Maps on a computer browser and in the Android and iPhone apps as of September 2026, plus Google’s developer tools for fleets.

What Google Maps can do

  • Give driving directions with traffic, and offer alternate routes.
  • Avoid highways, tolls, and ferries through route options.
  • Handle trips with multiple stops (up to 9 stops, including the destination).
  • Show Street View imagery so you can preview turns, entrances, and loading areas.
  • Work offline in downloaded areas, with driving directions but no live traffic.

What Google Maps can’t do for trucks

  • It doesn’t ask for your vehicle’s height, weight, length, width, or number of axles.
  • It doesn’t route around low bridges, weight-limited bridges, or roads where trucks are banned.
  • It doesn’t know about hazardous materials (hazmat) restrictions on tunnels and roads.
  • It can send you down residential streets, tight turns, or parkways that a car can use but a large truck can’t.

A driving route in Google Maps is a car route. Treat it as a first draft, not as clearance to drive a commercial vehicle.

What you need

  • Your vehicle’s exact height, weight, length, and width, and any hazmat class for the load.
  • A truck-specific navigation tool, or official truck route maps from the state transportation department where you’re driving.
  • Google Maps on a computer for planning, and on your phone for reference.

Plan a Route on a Computer

A big screen makes it easier to compare routes and inspect trouble spots. Google’s steps are in its Google Maps directions help page.

  1. Go to google.com/maps in your browser.
  2. Select Directions. Expected result: boxes appear for your starting point and destination.
  3. Enter your start and destination, then select the driving (car) icon.
  4. To add a stop, select Add destination below your destination and enter the address. Repeat for each stop, up to 9 in total.
  5. Select Options and check Avoid highways, Avoid tolls, or Avoid ferries if needed. Expected result: the suggested routes update.
  6. Review the suggested routes in the left panel, and select one to see the turn-by-turn details.
  7. Zoom in on each turn, overpass, and final approach, and use Street View to look for low clearances and tight corners.

For more on these settings, see our guides on avoiding highways in Google Maps and turning off tolls in Google Maps. Note that many truck routes are designed to use major highways, because they’re built for heavy vehicles, so avoiding highways can lead a truck onto less suitable roads.

Plan a Route in the Google Maps App

The Android and iPhone apps work in a similar way, though button names and positions can vary by platform and app version.

  1. Open the Google Maps app and search for your destination, or tap it on the map.
  2. Tap Directions and select the driving mode.
  3. To add stops, tap More (three dots) and choose the option to add or edit stops (labels such as Add stop or Edit stops vary by app version), then drag stops to change the order. Our guide to planning multiple stops on Google Maps goes into more detail.
  4. To change route preferences, tap More and then Options (in some versions, Route options), and turn on Avoid highways, Avoid tolls, or Avoid ferries. Expected result: a flag on the route card shows the preference is on.
  5. Compare the route options shown in gray on the map, and tap one to select it.
  6. Before you tap Start, check the route against your truck tool or official truck route maps.

Don’t adjust your phone while driving. Set everything up before you leave, and mount the phone where it doesn’t block your view.

Check the Route for Truck Restrictions

This is the most important step. Use Google Maps to find a sensible route, then confirm each part of it is legal and safe for your vehicle.

  1. List the risky points. Note every overpass, bridge, tunnel, railroad crossing, tight turn, and residential stretch on the route.
  2. Check clearances and weight limits. Look up low bridges and posted weight limits using your truck GPS tool or official truck route maps. Google Maps doesn’t show clearance heights as routing rules.
  3. Check truck route designations. Many states and cities publish designated truck routes and roads where trucks are prohibited. Search your state transportation department’s website for its truck route map.
  4. Check hazmat rules if you carry hazardous materials. Some tunnels and roads prohibit certain classes.
  5. Preview the first and last mile in Street View. Shipper and receiver entrances, docks, and turnaround space are where many problems happen.
  6. Plan parking and fuel. Mark truck stops and legal parking along the way, since Google Maps can’t tell you which lots allow large trucks.

If the Google route crosses anything your vehicle can’t use, pick an alternate route, move a stop, or rely on the route from your truck-specific tool.

Force Google Maps onto roads you’ve verified

Once you know which roads are suitable, you can steer Google Maps along them with extra stops. This is useful when the app keeps choosing a shortcut your truck can’t take.

  1. On a computer, set up your directions as usual.
  2. Find a point on the road you want to use, such as an interchange or a truck stop along the designated route.
  3. Select Add destination and enter that point, then drag it into place between your start and your final destination. Expected result: the route bends to pass through that point.
  4. Repeat for any other section where the app picks the wrong road, keeping the total at 9 stops or fewer.
  5. Check the whole route again from start to finish, since a new stop can change the roads used before and after it.

Pick waypoints on the main road itself, not at a business set back from it, or Google Maps may route you onto side streets to reach the exact address.

Preview tricky spots with Street View

Street View shows street-level photos, which helps you spot a low overpass, a tight corner, or a narrow gate before you get there. On a computer, zoom in on the spot and drag the small person icon (often called Pegman) onto a blue line on the map, or select a street-level photo when one appears. Keep in mind that Street View images can be months or years old, so signs, construction, and clearances may have changed. Always trust current posted signs over photos.

Download Offline Maps for Dead Zones

Rural routes often lose cell signal. Google Maps lets you save an area so you can still see the map and get driving directions without a connection. Google explains this on its offline maps help page.

  1. Connect to Wi-Fi and open the Google Maps app.
  2. Tap your profile picture and choose Offline maps.
  3. Tap Select your own map, adjust the blue box to cover your route, and tap Download.

Offline directions have limits: there’s no live traffic, and transit, cycling, and walking directions aren’t available. Offline maps are a backup for navigation, not a replacement for a truck route check.

Use a Dedicated Truck GPS App or Device

For day-to-day truck driving, a navigation tool built for commercial vehicles is the safer choice. Several companies make truck GPS devices and phone apps. Features to look for:

  • Vehicle profile: enter height, weight, length, width, axles, and trailer type, and have the route respect them.
  • Restriction data: low bridges, weight limits, truck bans, and turn restrictions.
  • Hazmat settings for different classes of cargo.
  • Truck points of interest: truck stops, weigh stations, and truck parking.
  • Offline maps and regular map updates.
  • Coverage for the countries and states you drive in.

Many drivers use a truck GPS for routing and keep Google Maps open for traffic, search, and Street View. That combination plays to each tool’s strengths. If you drive for a carrier, ask whether the company already provides a navigation or fleet app; it may already use Google’s truck data.

For Fleets and Developers: Large Vehicle Routing

Google offers truck routing to businesses through Google Maps Platform, its paid developer service. Google’s Large Vehicle Routing documentation describes a TRUCK travel mode in the Routes API that calculates routes and arrival times for large vehicles and avoids restrictions based on the vehicle’s details.

  • Vehicle details: developers can specify height, weight, length, width, axle count, and hazardous goods classifications.
  • Availability: the documentation lists general availability for the contiguous 48 US states, with Japan marked experimental.
  • Limits: truck toll prices aren’t supported, and neither is routing for radioactive hazardous materials.

Industry coverage in August 2026 reported the feature reaching general availability for developers and fleet software, not as a new mode in the Google Maps app. In practice, you’ll most likely benefit from it through a fleet or dispatch app your company uses, not by typing addresses into Google Maps. Features and coverage may change, so check Google’s documentation for the current status.

Which Option Should You Use?

Your situation Best option
Pickup truck or small van within normal car limits Google Maps driving directions, with normal caution
Box truck, rental moving truck, or RV Google Maps for planning, plus a check of clearances and truck restrictions
Tractor-trailer or commercial truck Dedicated truck GPS app or device; Google Maps for traffic and Street View
Hazmat loads Truck GPS with hazmat settings, plus official rules for tunnels and routes
Fleet or delivery business building its own tools Google Maps Platform Routes API with Large Vehicle Routing, or fleet software

Safety Checklist for Truck Routes

  • Know your numbers. Keep your exact height, weight, and length where you can see them.
  • Signs beat apps. Posted clearance, weight, and truck restriction signs always take priority over any navigation instruction.
  • Low bridges are unforgiving. Never assume you’ll fit. If a sign shows a clearance at or below your height, don’t proceed.
  • Watch weight limits on small bridges and rural roads, which may be posted well below highway limits.
  • Stay aware of your surroundings. Google’s own directions help page reminds drivers to watch the road and follow traffic laws when in doubt.
  • Don’t back out blindly. If you’re routed onto a road you can’t use, stop safely and get help instead of backing into traffic.

Troubleshooting

I can’t find a truck icon in Google Maps

There isn’t one. The consumer app doesn’t offer a truck travel mode. Use driving mode for planning and a truck-specific tool for routing.

Google Maps keeps sending me through a low bridge or residential street

Google Maps doesn’t know your vehicle’s size. Choose an alternate route, add a stop on a road you know is suitable to force a different path, or use your truck GPS route instead.

Avoid highways gave me a worse route

Highways are usually the best-suited roads for heavy vehicles. Turn the option off and use your truck tool to handle restrictions.

I can’t add more stops

Google Maps allows up to 9 stops. Split longer trips into legs, or use route planning software built for deliveries.

Directions stopped working in a remote area

Download an offline map of the area before you leave. Without one, Google Maps may not load new directions without a signal.

The route options I set disappeared

Some preferences apply only to the current trip. Check the route options each time, and look for the flag on the route card.

Related: find alternate routes in Google Maps.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Google Maps have a truck route option?

Not in the consumer Google Maps app as of September 2026. Its travel modes don’t include trucks, and it doesn’t consider vehicle size or weight.

Is Google Maps safe for semi-trucks?

Not on its own. It can route you under low bridges or onto roads trucks can’t use. Use a truck-specific GPS and follow posted signs.

What is Google’s Large Vehicle Routing?

It’s a Google Maps Platform feature for developers that adds a truck travel mode to the Routes API, using vehicle height, weight, length, width, axles, and hazmat details.

Can I use Google Maps to avoid tolls with a truck?

Yes, the Avoid tolls option works in driving mode. It doesn’t account for truck-specific toll rates or restrictions, though.

How many stops can I add in Google Maps?

Up to 9 stops, including the final destination, on a computer and in the app.

Should I use Google Maps for a rental moving truck?

You can use it for planning, but check the truck’s clearance height and weight, avoid parkways and low bridges, and follow posted signs.

Summary

  1. Google Maps has no truck mode; its driving routes are built for cars.
  2. Use it to plan: set route options, add up to 9 stops, and compare routes.
  3. Preview risky points with Street View and download offline maps.
  4. Verify every route with a truck GPS app or device, or official truck route maps.
  5. Fleets can use Google’s Large Vehicle Routing through the Routes API.
  6. Posted signs for clearance, weight, and truck restrictions always come first.

Next step: write down your truck’s exact height, weight, and length, then plan your next trip in Google Maps and check it in a truck-specific tool before you leave.

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