Bronx, NY, I Made It!

To a lot of fresh hands of us, NYC is a nightmare! Almost all senior drivers will give you advice to avoid the City as much as possible. But after 5 months with Swift and then 8 months with the current company, I finally got a shot towards there.

I assume everybody has their MCRA on hand. Before we move, let's preplan our route. I know, some company will have an assigned route to you, but what happens when there're road closures, constructions, even emergencies? On page A37, there are low clearance locations, permanent weigh/inspection stations (although none reported in NY state) and restricted routes of New York. What we need to do is cross check the list with our route, make sure there are no low clearance hazards along the way. Then we need to try remember all the restricted routes in our mind, and do not take them when we have a visual. One well known restriction for motor carriers are that "All Parkway are restricted routes in New York".

And as a professional driver, we need to pay attention to those posted signs on the road. As some of us already know, motor carriers (aka TRUCKS) can ONLY TAKE the UPPER LEVEL of George Washington Bridge. But the funny thing is, you are pretty hard to ignore each and every sign telling you to change to the upper level lanes 5 miles before you across the bridge.

All in all, NY, NY is not a nightmare, if I can do it, you can do it. Peroid!

PS: DANIEL B sir, pls check your email, I sent you a message. Thanks!

A tip for if you go back.

New York has an interactive truck route map on their DOT website specifically for NYC. It makes trip planning a breeze when trying to figure out where you can and cannot go. It doesn't make the drive portion any faster though lol.

Robert the Fire Breathing Dragon wrote:

A tip for if you go back.

New York has an interactive truck route map on their DOT website specifically for NYC. It makes trip planning a breeze when trying to figure out where you can and cannot go. It doesn't make the drive portion any faster though lol.

Thanks Dragon...I didn't know that. I do occasionally deal with NYC, 1-2x per year.

A tip for if you go back.

New York has an interactive truck route map on their DOT website specifically for NYC. It makes trip planning a breeze when trying to figure out where you can and cannot go. It doesn't make the drive portion any faster though lol.

lol. For sure it is, Robert the Fire Dragon. Thanks for the interactive map! It helped a lot!

No problem. I used to run NYC a couple times a week, many times to the southern tip of Manhattan and that map really does come in handy.

I just like driving under the 12 feet 8 inch bridge clearance signs posted in quite a few Expressways. Makes me wonder how badly NY wants us there.

I replied. And congrats.

All in all, NY, NY is not a nightmare, if I can do it, you can do it. Peroid!

I wouldn't make too many declarations about New York after one trip. It most certainly is a nightmare or we wouldn't have to cross reference three different sources of information to figure out how tall the incorrectly marked low bridges are. I could go on all day about the endless nightmare that is New York. Congratulations on making it out safely. It is very much an accomplishment to be proud of. But one day in New York without hitting anything is no time to be declaring that New York is not a nightmare.

as a professional driver, we need to pay attention to those posted signs on the road

Did you pay attention to the sign that incorrectly states that all trucks must take the next exit and leads you down into a nightmare on the city streets for no reason? The same wrong sign that's been posted over the interstate since before I started driving in '93?

There is no such thing as conquering New York City. You hope to survive New York City. It's over four times the size of every city in the country with the exception of L.A., which is barely 1/3rd the size, and 10 times more difficult to get around than any other city in the nation.

Again, congrats on getting out of their unscathed but don't count your lucky stars after one trip.

Http://nofixedaddress.squarespace.com/journal/2012/9/30/its-the-signs-schumer.html

This might be the issues Brett mentioned about. But no, I didn't go I-278 on this trip.