WHY NO NORTHEAST ??????

I read that a large amount of drivers really dislike loads into the Northeast and wonder why? I lived in New Hampshire for a year, and spent 2 years in Rhode Island.....only thing I didn't care for was the narrow streets in Boston...and the crazy drivers!

Also wondering what other areas drivers tend to dislike and why? Only area for me that I really wish to avoid is New York City.....and if I go with Knight, they have NO NYC

I read that a large amount of drivers really dislike loads into the Northeast and wonder why? I lived in New Hampshire for a year, and spent 2 years in Rhode Island.....only thing I didn't care for was the narrow streets in Boston...and the crazy drivers!

Also wondering what other areas drivers tend to dislike and why? Only area for me that I really wish to avoid is New York City.....and if I go with Knight, they have NO NYC

Hey Brian. Basically, some of those cities don't have any business having big trucks in them.

Weather, narrow and crowded roads, low bridges, traffic ... those are the main reasons. Also, keep in mind that until you are in a big rig driving through the NE, especially a metro area, you have know idea how stressful and frightening it can be. Driving a car is one thing, driving a big rig is a WHOLE different story.

As long as you don't panic and manage your stress, eventually driving in the NE cities will get easier. But it's a trial by fire, and you don't get experience without experience! I'd say to make sure you just pay attention to the signs, but NY is notorious for having bridges marked under 13', but that really are high enough for a truck to pass. Case in point, I95 southbound heading to the GW bridge has a bridge marked 12'10", even though it's a truck route. Scared the crap out of me.

Brian, you kind of answered your own question when you said:

only thing I didn't care for was the narrow streets in Boston...and the crazy drivers!

=

An eighteen wheeler is very large - 102" wide and usually around seventy feet long. Now days we are almost always pulling a 53 foot long trailer. These towns in the Northeast were designed and built long before we even had vehicles this size. Therefore many of the places we have to figure out how to back a truck into simply weren't even designed for that type of vehicle. I was somewhere recently that after backing into their dock the front of my trailer was completely blocking the traffic in one lane of the street and the tractor was blocking the other lane and partially sitting in the parking are of the business across the street. I had to uncouple my trailer and leave the scene until they could get me unloaded, and still my trailer was blocking one complete side of the street. This type of stuff is not that unusual in the North East - you just have to know how to deal with it.

I see your points. My time in New England was managing for Home Depot, Both stores, Nasua New Hampshire & Warwick Rhode Island were in areas that were easily accessible to big trucks, and we got a lot of them! But now that I look back on my time their, and remember the small towns around the area.....it would be a nightmare for a big truck

I'd say to make sure you just pay attention to the signs, but NY is notorious for having bridges marked under 13', but that really are high enough for a truck to pass. Case in point, I95 southbound heading to the GW bridge has a bridge marked 12'10", even though it's a truck route. Scared the crap out of me.

I remember driving to New Hampshire from Florida, Home Depot just transfered me from Boyton Beach to Nashua....... I95 through NYC, my 1st time through there, crossing the GW bridge, then seeing cars broken down along the interstate stripped of there tires, doors, etc sitting along the shoulder on blocks..... that's what really freaked me out about the area.....what would happen if I had car troubles???? Now makes wonder if you had truck trouble.....do the gang bangers scale the walls and try to rip off your loads???

Yikes!!!

Hunts Point Market is cleaned up now in Jersey but as early as 15 years ago cars did not drive at night in that area because big trucks were rolling through there and NO ONE stopped at lights. You rolled through there non stop till you got to the market gates. It used to be bad in there. Stop at a light and people would be in the back of your trailer before you knew it.

Now a days it's been cleaned up and not as bad as it used to be.

One other major drawback to the NE: truck parking. Or, rather, the significant lack thereof. Finding a place to park for the night can be challenging on a good day, and all but impossible on a bad day.

Didn't you know that the great state of NH finds it more important to build liquor stores on the sides of the highways than to waste real estate on trucker safety? Their just finishing up on two across from each other in Hooksett, they took what truck parking area there was and put in a Huge restaurant. Wouldn't want you to drive hungry while hauling your booze.

One other major drawback to the NE: truck parking. Or, rather, the significant lack thereof. Finding a place to park for the night can be challenging on a good day, and all but impossible on a bad day.

THIS^^ I absolutly hate driving the NE for this reason. If you don't make it to a truck stop by 3:00-4:00 PM, you're gonna be lucky to find a spot to park. The traffic up there I can manage alright because I"M the one driving slow and ****ing everyone else off, not the other way around. I still feel the rudest 4 wheeler drivers in the country are in CA, OR, WA. If you drive a truck with the OnGuard system, you can't use CC near cities as people on the West Coast seem to cut into your lane when passing 15 ft from your front bumper. OnGuard sees this and applies your brakes HARD. I'll take driving in the Mid-West any day and twice on Sunday.

Ah the memories!!!! of why I love to hate NYC. im in NYC sittin at a light talking to my dispatcher on my cell cause Q-comm did not have a signal, got a call from my phone carrier same day, asked me if I was calling the Caribbean islands and did I realized my phone bill was now up to $5000, found out someone had cloned my cell number in NYC. #2 cars parked everywhere all the way up to the cross street, some even blocking the cross walk, could not make turn, receiver had to call traffic enforcement to ticket then tow cars away so I could turn onto street, sat in the middle of road for over 45 mins to get that done. #3 street so narrow and truck trailer so long , that to back in I had to scrape my bumper against the brick wall to put truck in the hole, called dispatcher and he laugh , said he forgot to tell me every driver did that when it came to that receiver, he said don't worry bout it and I can get it fix later. #4 truck stop parking almost none. I could go on and on, but I must say , it did give my experience and showed me how patient or just brain numb I really am.