Comments By Heavy C

I don't think you did the wrong thing in taking the east exit. Generally speaking when there's two exits the road is still connected. I also wouldn't worry about the GPS calling out with restrictions. Depending on when it was updated or when the town have that information it could be way outdated. If it's not posted physically on the road then you should be fine.

- Call the local Highway Patrol or State Police. I actually had the Vineland NJ Police ecourt me through a residential area to detour around a parade. Take no chances.

What's funny about this G-Town is I had almost an exact thing happen to me in NJ. My company gave me directions to a new store opening and I had to come north from the Philadelphia area. The directions lead me to an exit that was going to bring me north through Princeton. Well along the highway there was a sign saying my exit was closed but didn't give a detour route. Well because I looked at Google maps prior to leaving I knew the exit before also went through Princeton and joined up with the road I was supposed to be on. So I took it. Well a few miles down the road narrowed and eventually I was at a for way intersection where each direction was posted for no trucks over 4 tons. No where to turn around so I kept straight. Ended up at a posted one lane bridge. So I pulled over and called the local police. They sent a cruiser out. The cop said they have trailers cross the bridge all the time, so he escorted me the rest of the way. It's hard when you're not familiar with an area and can get in trouble quickly. Pull over and use all the resources available. Sometimes it even helps to ask passersby. Not the most reliable but if you're already in a pickle at least they can give you a general way to go. Also if it's a state highway and major construction, the state DOT may have information on detours so you can call and ask them as well.

It's a rule that allows us local guys to extend our day by two hours from 14 to 16 once between resets. We can only do it if we return to our home terminal every night. We still only get 11 hours drive time, but generally we don't have a problem with that.

My first load delivered to a Walmart distribution center in San Antonio. I pulled in and had to wait on a guy backing into what seemed like the only available spot, and he had to set up in a way the looked like he was jackknifing the rig to get it in. No pressure or anything! I found one and tried to get it in for something like an hour and a half. Finally a yard guy came along and seemed to take pity on me, and told me to drop it at the end of a row for him to take. That day felt like the first day of basic training at infantry school, where it's all screaming and pushups and holding everything you own over your head until your arms get numb, except it's a truck and I couldn't figure out the pivots and mechanics of that maneuver.

Since then I've pulled mostly doubles, but I did pull a tridem axle flatbed for a while and that thing can be a beast when you need to back it up with a load on it. If the pavement isn't pretty smooth and level, your trailer could react in undesirable ways and make a backing maneuver kind of frustrating if you don't have the luxury for a straight-in back.

Yikes! I feel like on every back I currently attempt. 😲

I thought about the doubles and triples endorsement when I first went for my CDL, but having no actual training with the things I passed on that idea.

Do you find turning or backing with doubles more interesting than a 53 footer?

I pulled double pup trailers with OD. So much fun and so easy. You generally don't back when you've got both hooked though.

G-Town in case your interested here's my personal YouTube channel. I uploaded a number of videos when I was with my last company Olympia Sports. I did this as a courtesy to the company to help new drivers navigate to stores. Some of them are pretty fun. Sorry no sound. The dash cams microphone was pretty terrible so I turned it off.

HeavyC's YouTube

The description for the dock setup was great. And looked great. Sometimes I can find that perfect angle when trying sneak into a parking spot, but most times I still need to wiggle around a little bit before I get a decent line-up like that.

Funny thing is, I can picture the mechanics of the whole thing. I can even accurately describe the setup and execution fairly well. But in no way does my mental picture ever translate to my execution.

That really is the key Jeremy. Set-up. If you get the setup right, any back can be "easy" or "smooth". You get that setup wrong and your gonna spend an hour trying to fix it. Knowing how to properly setup each individual back will come with time.

You wanna know how I know when a day has gone to crap. When I have to break into the 16 hour extension on my logs. Oh boy what a night lol

Hey Heavy C...I was hoping to amuse with that!

Yeah that one I shot is the Baby Pool version. There are others with 5 points and two lanes. Pennington 202&206 is fun during rush hour. My favorite (tongue-in-cheek) is on 322 through Rowan University. Impossible to get through it without running on the sidewalk. Lots of fun on a Saturday morning in the spring.

I’d like to see some of your spots. We too have stores where a 48’ Wagon is recommended...that’s as far as it gets. The WM 48’ vans are for running NYSTW doubles. I’ve only been under them 6x in over 5 years.

I’ll send the second set of video tomorrow. Thanks for commenting.

Below is a shot of our Bar Harbor store. If you have a 48' with a day cab you can hug the outside wall like I marked in the picture. If you don't stay far enough outside then you won't make it. Some of our outside carriers that deliver for us, go up in sleepers. They have to blind side in from the road. Which during the summer months can be ridiculous because of pedestrians and cars parked on the side. It's definitely one of our least favorite stores

G-Town I had to watch that first video. You said Jersey Circle and I was like WTH is that. Then I realized it's a Rotary, Traffic Circle, Roundabout. At least that's what we call them in New England. I swear they are turning every intersection up here I to one of those. They really aren't hard to navigate. Most of them anyway.

I really need to get a new dash cam. I'd love for you to see a couple of the stores we gotta back into. Bar Harbor is probably one of the worst ones. We can't send anything larger than a 48' trailer because larger wouldn't fit.

I mean using Google maps and street view it looks like the easiest way is to come in the 10th St entrance and site side in beyond the fence. Unless I'm missing something from the info I have it doesn't look too bad actually. Pictures can be decieving though...

Honestly I've found the Google maps app with it's traffic setting is pretty accurate when showing delays and closures. I use it every time I'm heading south of Boston to see of going threw the city will be ok or if I need to go around. Most often than not it works well.