Northeast Regional Routes Undesired Why???

Hey Rainy D, I talked to you here once before about coming to Prime. I'm from Camden County and so were pretty close. I am very interested in this NE Regional from Prime. Could you talk more on it? What's home time like etc

Hi I'm from NJ so I think I can compare other areas to the NE. For one there is limited parking compared to other states. You might be lucky to park within 80 miles of your customer. The truck stops are smaller and older, made for shorter trailers, meaning accidents are more likely. Plus, even shutting down by 1600, you often fight for parking spaces with other drivers.,..and often have to wake drivers up just to pull out. Our buildings and landmarks are so much older...meaning many of our US and state roads are much narrower and don't have the intersection swing room that other places do. Our drivers are much more aggressive and we have more low clearances because many of the bridges are older. If you miss an exit, you usually wind up on a long winding road up and down hills with no turn around in sight. It is very easy to go 50 miles out of route this way. And...some drivers pay their own tolls. The NE has not only the most expensive tolls in the country but the most number of tolls. Because the buildings are older many of the customers have really tight areas or doors...not enough swing room cause they weren't meant for our longer trailers.

Then comes the weather. Our winter is much wetter than other places. We get freezing rain which turns to ice on the surface....but other places are always so cold it would be snow. They don't see much slush. They don't see the ice storms we do.

And as stated before...we are much more congested with traffic...most of the time. For me to make a pickup 40 miles away, it could literally take me 2 plus hours to get to the customer. When the snow hits..the smaller truck stops often don't plow or open. So you THINK you planned for a safe place to get to...and its closed and covered in a foot of snow. True story..happened on I 90...but I always have backup plans ;)

And as Errol stated...many companies will pay you more per mile. Prime has a NE dedicated route where you are guaranteed at least $1250 per week, regardless of how few miles you get. There are other routes there too that require a lightweight...so instead of 41.5 CPM for the condo, you get 46.5 CPM for the LW. But then get an additional 5 CPM for NE. So a newbie straight out of training can make 51.5 CPM.

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Well for me is traffic and parking, if you don't time it just right you'll get in trouble, it has happen to me.

I hear it all the time your a rookie running solo northeast regional goodluck with that! I was born and raised in upstate ny i love it hear i cant imagine driving anywhere else.Company is in love with me im a worker and have been pushing my single trips further and further im sittin in nc right now.im just curious is it because of any particular reason like the cold or occasional weather?j/w id say my biggest gripe is heavy loads on the mountains but its trucking i love a challenge. Thanks Jeremy from ny

Hi LeeBoy.

I just found out we have a route that shuttles trailers from swedesboro to Florence. Its considered a dedicated route , has every other weekend off, but that close you could probably sneak home a bit more. I considered it, but I love my FM and what I'm doing.

To behonest, I'd seriously recommend going OTR for a while first. NE regional and dedicated are tight...and it takes a while to get the hang of driving the trailers. Also, Prime wants you in a lightweight for those accounts. And those trucks are way too small for.me.

Being from a small town in Iowa, but city driving was a HUGE learning curve for me. After i got my CDL , I trained in Chicago. Dealing with that for a week was pretty much the equivalent of throwing a toddler in the deep end of a swimming pool and telling them, "learn how to swim." After i got my automated truck, traffic just became one of those things that I'd have to deal with. First experience with the NE was interesting to say the least. Got a load from Atlanta GA to South Portland ME. After that, had to go from somewhere in MA to East Rutherford NJ. Had to drive through the Bronx on I-95 (?) and go over the GW. Now, I'm in upstate NY and don't really mind the NE at all anymore. I just hope that I don't get sent to Manhattan or any of the NYC boroughs, but if I do, it's just another challenge to overcome. Every day's an adventure!

ANYTHING in the NorthEast scares me to death. The roads up there I have heard are EXTREMELY Tight for any kind of truck. The furthest NE I care to go to is Pennsylvania.

I haven't (and probably wouldn't do NYC and the boroughs, but I do go to Buffalo area quite often.. it's not too bad at all. You all can have NJ.. done that before lol. I go to PA mostly which I actually be like since I'm used to it by now. I'd rather drive in Chicago than Atlanta, only because I'm more used to it lately but when I first started I was in Atlanta almost every week. It's all in what you get used to.