Freezpak, Clifton NJ

It's been a while since I have posted to TT. I've been keeping busy. Well anyway I currently getting unloaded at the Freezpak warehouse in Clifton which is located on Delawanna Ave. Has anyone had the pleasure of driving to this place? And tried to go east on Delawanna Ave? Yaha ya can't get to the place that way!!! The railroad bridge is 12'9" so you have to go in the opposite end of the Street and that's also deceiving because it's a residential section and Freezpak is located down the street. Well I went in from the western end of the Street and got hung up big time instead of staying on the Delawanna Ave I went up a side street and that's where the nightmare began!!! It took me about Twenty-five minutes to get my self out of that mess driving down streets I shouldn't be. There is a landscape business at the end of this one street and the guys working there were helpful giving me directions to un-f@#k myself they told me driver's get stuck up there all the time. When I finally got over to Freezpak the drivers told me that happens all the time. The Irony is I did my planning and did my recon with Google maps ( I like using the Arial view) and I checked my Atlas this particular bridge is not listed at all. I had both my Garmin and Qualcomm GPS running and Ms Qualcomm sent me down the wrong side of the road. My Garmin sent me the right way but I thought it had screwed up because it had me turn down and drive through a residential section to get to Freezpak warehouse. Oh and my Company didn't have any directions for me either I think I'm the first driver to come here. Now I'm waiting for them to finish unloading me so I can get over to Secaucus to do a drop and hook and get home.

It's been a while since I have posted to TT. I've been keeping busy. Well anyway I currently getting unloaded at the Freezpak warehouse in Clifton which is located on Delawanna Ave. Has anyone had the pleasure of driving to this place? And tried to go east on Delawanna Ave? Yaha ya can't get to the place that way!!! The railroad bridge is 12'9" so you have to go in the opposite end of the Street and that's also deceiving because it's a residential section and Freezpak is located down the street. Well I went in from the western end of the Street and got hung up big time instead of staying on the Delawanna Ave I went up a side street and that's where the nightmare began!!! It took me about Twenty-five minutes to get my self out of that mess driving down streets I shouldn't be. There is a landscape business at the end of this one street and the guys working there were helpful giving me directions to un-f@#k myself they told me driver's get stuck up there all the time. When I finally got over to Freezpak the drivers told me that happens all the time. The Irony is I did my planning and did my recon with Google maps ( I like using the Arial view) and I checked my Atlas this particular bridge is not listed at all. I had both my Garmin and Qualcomm GPS running and Ms Qualcomm sent me down the wrong side of the road. My Garmin sent me the right way but I thought it had screwed up because it had me turn down and drive through a residential section to get to Freezpak warehouse. Oh and my Company didn't have any directions for me either I think I'm the first driver to come here. Now I'm waiting for them to finish unloading me so I can get over to Secaucus to do a drop and hook and get home.

You came out of it unscathed, congratulations! That's a victory in anyone's book.

Been in your shoes many times during the first several months of driving in the "Garden Spot of the North East" (ahem). "Stories", many of them (like a narrow bridge near Rutger's University in New Brunswick that was 106"wide when I was diverted off NJ-18). I deliver to over a dozen Walmart's and Sam's in North Joysey and very familiar with that area. It's tough...really tough, one must experience it to truly understand just how unfriendly it is to truckers. I have all kinds of maps and trip-plans I've marked, filed in a notebook that I keep for reference if need-be. My favorite route is Saddlebrook to Garfield (tongue-in-cheek). And yes, many of my store-to-store routes in North Jersey are through mixed industrial/residential areas; tree lined, narrow/tight, cars on both sides of the street, frequently 1-way, 1 lane roads. BRUTAL for a Newbie.

That said, Delawanna Ave in Clifton NJ is marked with a gray color on the truckers Atlas, which means "other road", and qualified in parenthesis as: "conditions vary - local inquiry suggested". That is a very important phrase. It's unknown and not designated STAA for truck dimensions. From here on out, if your destination requires a route on one of the "gray area" roads, call the shipper/receiver for directions if you do not have any. Worst case call the local PD, they will help you. Visit the website of your destination to see if they have trucker ingress/egress instructions, peruse your paperwork and QC messages for clues. Surprises in that are are not typically good... be prepared.

Pat yourself on the back...you got through it. No worse for the wear, a learning experience for sure!

Street view shows the 12'6" sign in clear view...click the link:

Street View of RR Overpass on Delawanna Ave in Clifton

Don't know what you were looking at but, when I did a quick search on the address using Google Maps, I saw the NJT/Amtrak RR bridge, took it down to street view facing the bridge and the sign is right there.

"Missed or Overlooked Details"...it's where the "Devil" is.

Update I'm currently sitting at the TA in Columbia, NJ it took so long getting me unloaded that I only had time to get to Secaucus drop my empty trailer and pick up the loaded one and get up the road before I ran out of hours. I sat a Freezpak from 11:40 to 2:30 because there was a descripency on what the vendor thought was ordered and what I brought down. What I had in the box matched the BOL so I was good. But the vendor wouldn't release me till he reconsolided the descripency with the supplier. So another missed Friday night with the wife! This will cost me big time! Flowers and a Pedi aren't going to cut it this time..... lol

Chris did you by chance read anything I wrote to you? Any thoughts?

Just curious, because it was designed to help you navigate North Jersey.

G-Town I've skimmed through your post I plan to give it a good look over this weekend. I already have my load assignment for Monday and I'll be headed back into the Lions Den so to speak I'm delivering to USTC in Edison and then probably a back haul of Coffee from RPM.