New York City - Driving

NYC has gotten quite a bad rep over the years...Personally I have never had an issue with crime while I was there BUT....Driving is a nightmare...Trying to get around is the problem..Small narrow streets with cars paked wherever the driver felt like leaving it and so on. Not to mention the low bridges!!! They have signage which used to say "Commercial traffic exit here" but once you would exit, there would be no more signs therefore getting lost!!!! I used one of these exits once and boy did that one cost me!!! I was lost and I hollered on the CB for help. A fellow came back and asked if my overall height was 13'6? I replied that it was and he said..."You can fit under these bridges all the way to the George Washington bridge" So I figured OK then and got back on the freeway. There was a Werner and a Schneider truck in front of me and we were only doing maybe 30-35MPH...We come to a bridge and I thought no way!!!! But Werner made it and so did Schneider, So I tried and sure enough..Smash, Fiberglass flying everywhere!!! I had nowhere to stop, so I kept going till I crossed the G.W. then stopped and checked the damage. All I did was make a 6inch gash in the front of the trailer but it was enough for me and NYC.LOL.

So anyways, if youre a new driver chances are you will eventually get yourself a taste of NYC no matter what. But IMHO I would steer clear of it if you can.

 

All of the above, and then some, Scanner. I refuse to go in to NYC as a rule. Told them only if the load payed $10.00 a mile for a minimum of 2000 miles, would I consider a trip into NYC. No takers yet, so I am safe for now. Got too close for comfort though a little while back, had a load offer, oversize heading for the outskirts of NYC, paying $8.00 per-mile from Longbeach CA. But had to pay escorts and permits out of it, and load wouldn't be able to come in to NYC for 2 weeks, something about routing, construction, and power lines that had to be re-strung to make the route into the city do-able. Had to pass on it. lol

 

In all my training years back, I was never sent to NYC. It really ticked me off because I knew eventually I would have to drive there and I would be so totally lost.........

 

Knock on wood 2Lilboots, KNOCK ON WOOD.LOL
I will never forget. My wife was bugging to come with me to NYC...So sure enough I called her one day and said pack your stuff, were going in the big truck!!!
It was a sidewalk delivery at 3:00am in the bronx. So we get there and after unloadind (driver assist) she needed a bathroom in a real bad way, So I asked the receiver and he said " sure go ahead, but just let me warn you that there is a dead mouse in the toilet bowl" So I showed my wife where the bathroom was and she proceeded to do her thing while the receiver was signing off my paperwork when we suddenly heard the most horrible, horrifying scream out of the bathroom...So I went rushing in and she was freaking out!!! She said look in the bowl...To my amazement...
Mouse my foot!!!! It was big freakin RAT the tail had to be 2 feet long...I coulda thrown a saddle on this sucker and rode him home!!!! Funny how she hasnt asked to see NY again since.LOL

 

That will teach her to go before she leaves the house....LOL! Methinks that dude was being a tad bit sarcastic stating there was a "mouse" in the john..........

 

Good that you look how others set-up for a back. Never hurts to watch others do their backing exercise. I've done that many a time and learned.
If a driver thinks he/she knows everything no matter their experience, that's when they'll have problems. You'll always learn something new no matter what.

Now to the NYC part. You need to ask the company what they mean by NYC. It could be just the burroughs or Long Island or both. I, myself with 2 companies did "their" NYC. All it was (for me anyway) was 1 time in Queens near the East River (1 mile away) and driving through the Bronx (I-95) and Brooklyn (I-278). I have heard (never found any written law on the books) that the state of NY and NYPD do not want 53'ers in the metro NYC area. They are too big for the narrow streets. But with the contact I had with a NYC traffic cop on the Queens trip was that he knew I had a delivery and I just wanted to get out of there and into NJ by way of I-278. (I already made delivery and was empty). He was very nice and escorted me through a U-turn under a Subway overpass to the other side of the road and onto the ramp for 278 south. ( in this case, the Truck detour was the cause. Beware of Truck Detours in metro NYC. They are not well marked.)

NYPD is there for you cause they want you out safely. They know drivers don't want to be there but have to be. Be nice to them and they will be nice to you. It worked for me.

The Long Island part in no biggy. I have been on the Island 3 times with no problems. There is a lot more room out there than you expect.

Manhattan is closed to at least 53'ers I have heard; maybe even to 48'ers. I never had a load that went in there so I can't say for sure. I do know from my last job they had a straight truck for their Manhattan loads but I never got "that" load. I did tell them that if i ever got a Manhatten load that I wasn't taking it in a 53'er.

So talk with your company choices on their NYC thing. If you question their replies, seek out their drivers in a truck stop and ask them. Drivers know more on their company than a recruiter. Drivers see it everyday.

Good luck.

 

Anyone coming to NYC/NJ can make a stop at Brockport, NY (near Buffalo, NY)? I need some help and willing to pay. thanks,

 

Delivering to the co-op markets in Brooklyn or the Bronx is peanuts. It's the darn recievers in Manhattan near 14th street/ Gamesvoort/ Little West 12th which were the real Pain.

 

Interesting first post. Where do you want the bodies dumped??? lol. How many illegals you want to put in the trlr??? lol.