What Is The Hardest Place You Have Ever Maneuvered A Truck Through?

I have been thinking about it when I go to local stores, parking lots, etc. that it must be hard to maneuver trucks in some places... In the comments tell me what the hardest place you had to maneuver a truck in... This can help fellow truckers know where to avoid!

I know it might sound silly but Opelika Alabama.

I had to do a relay with another driver which was a three way swap to get yet another driver home.

My GPS routed me through Opelika to the relay point at a "truck stop." I got the phone call about the swap while driving and had to be there in a hurry before my clock ran out so I didn't get a chance to study the route carefully beforehand.

No specific restrictions for trucks on these roads but dang, a truck should definitely not be there! I had to make a right turn onto a road. This was ridiculous. There was a pole right next to the turn lane where I would swing out and split the lane in order to make it around the pole on the right hand corner. Plus there were cones around the first pole which further restricted the room I had to swing. I ended up having to pull all the way across the road into the oncoming traffic lanes to make it around that pole. Luckily there was no traffic!

Then I get to the "truck stop" and it's a glorified gas station with a few spots to park a truck. The only way to back into a spot was to pull into the fuel island first. But there wasn't enough room to swing out to get into the fuel island straight. Not a big deal if you were pulling forward but I couldn't get into a spot without taking out a mirror or a concrete pylon. And this place was super busy. The other driver was already there and parked so we dropped the trailer in the fuel island and swapped real fast.

Needless to say, I told dispatch that was the most ridiculous place for a trailer swap, especially since there was a wide open giant truck stop 2 exits away. Never again.

I know it might sound silly but Opelika Alabama.

I had to do a relay with another driver which was a three way swap to get yet another driver home.

My GPS routed me through Opelika to the relay point at a "truck stop." I got the phone call about the swap while driving and had to be there in a hurry before my clock ran out so I didn't get a chance to study the route carefully beforehand.

No specific restrictions for trucks on these roads but dang, a truck should definitely not be there! I had to make a right turn onto a road. This was ridiculous. There was a pole right next to the turn lane where I would swing out and split the lane in order to make it around the pole on the right hand corner. Plus there were cones around the first pole which further restricted the room I had to swing. I ended up having to pull all the way across the road into the oncoming traffic lanes to make it around that pole. Luckily there was no traffic!

Then I get to the "truck stop" and it's a glorified gas station with a few spots to park a truck. The only way to back into a spot was to pull into the fuel island first. But there wasn't enough room to swing out to get into the fuel island straight. Not a big deal if you were pulling forward but I couldn't get into a spot without taking out a mirror or a concrete pylon. And this place was super busy. The other driver was already there and parked so we dropped the trailer in the fuel island and swapped real fast.

Needless to say, I told dispatch that was the most ridiculous place for a trailer swap, especially since there was a wide open giant truck stop 2 exits away. Never again.

What was the name of the truck stop?

Brooklyn on New Years Eve and some of the pads I ran to in West Virginia. The lease roads we would use weren't designed for trucks at all but you still had to get back to the well sites to unload. A few even involved chaining up on a single lane, muddy mountain road up some pretty nasty climbs and descents. Two locations required being hooked to a dozer and being walked up and down for safety.

I know it might sound silly but Opelika Alabama.

I had to do a relay with another driver which was a three way swap to get yet another driver home.

My GPS routed me through Opelika to the relay point at a "truck stop." I got the phone call about the swap while driving and had to be there in a hurry before my clock ran out so I didn't get a chance to study the route carefully beforehand.

No specific restrictions for trucks on these roads but dang, a truck should definitely not be there! I had to make a right turn onto a road. This was ridiculous. There was a pole right next to the turn lane where I would swing out and split the lane in order to make it around the pole on the right hand corner. Plus there were cones around the first pole which further restricted the room I had to swing. I ended up having to pull all the way across the road into the oncoming traffic lanes to make it around that pole. Luckily there was no traffic!

Then I get to the "truck stop" and it's a glorified gas station with a few spots to park a truck. The only way to back into a spot was to pull into the fuel island first. But there wasn't enough room to swing out to get into the fuel island straight. Not a big deal if you were pulling forward but I couldn't get into a spot without taking out a mirror or a concrete pylon. And this place was super busy. The other driver was already there and parked so we dropped the trailer in the fuel island and swapped real fast.

Needless to say, I told dispatch that was the most ridiculous place for a trailer swap, especially since there was a wide open giant truck stop 2 exits away. Never again.

What was the name of the truck stop?

Circle K I think.

I know it might sound silly but Opelika Alabama.

I had to do a relay with another driver which was a three way swap to get yet another driver home.

My GPS routed me through Opelika to the relay point at a "truck stop." I got the phone call about the swap while driving and had to be there in a hurry before my clock ran out so I didn't get a chance to study the route carefully beforehand.

No specific restrictions for trucks on these roads but dang, a truck should definitely not be there! I had to make a right turn onto a road. This was ridiculous. There was a pole right next to the turn lane where I would swing out and split the lane in order to make it around the pole on the right hand corner. Plus there were cones around the first pole which further restricted the room I had to swing. I ended up having to pull all the way across the road into the oncoming traffic lanes to make it around that pole. Luckily there was no traffic!

Then I get to the "truck stop" and it's a glorified gas station with a few spots to park a truck. The only way to back into a spot was to pull into the fuel island first. But there wasn't enough room to swing out to get into the fuel island straight. Not a big deal if you were pulling forward but I couldn't get into a spot without taking out a mirror or a concrete pylon. And this place was super busy. The other driver was already there and parked so we dropped the trailer in the fuel island and swapped real fast.

Needless to say, I told dispatch that was the most ridiculous place for a trailer swap, especially since there was a wide open giant truck stop 2 exits away. Never again.

What was the name of the truck stop?

Circle K I think.

Just looked at it on Google Earth... I can see what you mean... Why didn't they put it in that big like 10-acre field across the street!?! That would've made a lot more sense!

Getting a truck in and out of the alleyways in Chicago. Driving in Chicago is a different world.

I live and drive in New England. Unfortunately most of the cities and towns around here were built before thinking about truck traffic. Boston itself is a miserable mess to try and maneuver around.

I got to agree on Brooklyn, NY. Pick a street... Flatbush Ave, Atlantic Ave, Grand Army Plaza, etc. Everyone double parks, pulls out in front of or races around you, buses try to take you out. They must play some game there where they get points for stopping trucks in the middle of the road. This is one city you don't use the city horn, just the air horn.

Linden we usually don't have the option of avoiding places, part of the job.

I have several favorites that are frequently visited:

Sam's Club dock in Elmsford NY. Tight is a understatement. I draw the short straw once a month. Good news, big mileage.

Watching NJ Walmart, docks are underground requiring a setup by traversing a path through warehoused inventory scattered everywhere. Every time I go there it's different. Backing is the easy part of this exercise.

Walmart dock in Riverdale NJ requires a 70 degree blindside back in a box like dock area designed for 45' trailers and daycabs. Grocery dock is right next to the wall. Naturally, that's where I always must go. You must nose into the dock hugging the wall on your left and spin around doing a 180 to setup, so tight it's impossible to straighten out.

Getting into the Valley Stream NY Walmart through the tightest most congested parking lot I know and to docks that require a serpentine, 1/4 mile alley back. On a Saturday morning there is a flea market in the parking lot that increases the entertainment value two-fold. What a rodeo.

And my #1 favorite Walmart run, going from the Saddlebrook NJ store to the Garfield NJ store. Requires tremendous care and a skill I call Urban Neighborhood Navigation. All I need is 9.5 feet for safe passage, at times about all you get through these old established neighborhoods. What I like about it though, usually it's rewarded with my favorite OJ backhaul from Tropicana in Jersey City. 6 down and done.

Just another day...