Ok so today i had a 2 part pickup 1st stop in Mt. Union PA, and 2nd was in Duquesne, PA

American Textile Co
10 N Linden St
Duquesne, PA

ok so when u call them they have a automated direction's line Good directions i didn't have any trouble finding them... The problem Started when Leaving the shipper..

IT IS A MUST TO LEAVE THE EXACT SAME WAY U GOT THERE!!!!!!

so after you pull out of their yard its a right turn to stop sign then a right turn at the redlight that puts u onto PA-837 North.... after you go a couple miles there will be a BIG NICE HIGHWAY SIGN that says "Left lane TO I-376 Right Lane PA-837 North....

Well i made the mistake of following the big sign over the highway TO I-376 the road splits and curvs back arround to the right, you cross a long bridge then thats where trouble Starts!

THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO "NO TRUCKS" Message posted on that Highway divide Sign for i-376 and pa-837 North

So i took the left lane "TO I-376", crossed the big bridge you go into a Tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny borough resendintal area and then u see it "BRIDGE WEIGHT RESTRICTION 5 TONS... but problem is its a 1 lane road u cant stop, streets are too small cant turn left or right... so i crossed it, THEN, about a mile up the Road theres another one "BRIDGE WEIGHT RESTRICTION 13 TONS" not only was my head spinning with stress if i were to get caught but my heart pounding out of my chest and everything else I PASS A FREAKIN COP GOING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.... so lets see thats 2 bridges where i was an average of 40,000lbs overweight for both...

IM STRESSED TO THE MAX freakin that im going to loose my lively hood and career with a massive ticket, but then another mile up the road theres another sign "BRIDGE WEIGHT RESTRICTION 5 TONS" !!!!!! not only that i pass a cop at the red light making a Left turn.... OMG now i started having tears run down my face thats 3 bridges with an average of 40,000 lbs overweight!!!! OMG my life is over i finally make it to the interstate with tears in my eyes and Shaking with pure nervousness, i was having trouble holding the steering wheel i was fliping out THEN I START TO MERGE!!!

and the cop 4 cars back THROWES ON HIS LIGHTS... i swear to god my heart stopped and i started of thinking how to explain to my wife that i just lost my career and have a ticket i could never afford...... but then a couple seconds later he got arround me and passed me and went up a mile or 2 to an accident on the interstate..... omg it was awesome stress relief but still difficult to cope with....

I picked up the phone called US Xpress Immediately and got a hold of the Safety department told them whats up and demanded that they amend the Directions to state LEAVE EXACTLY THE WAY U GOT THERE DO NOT TAKE EXIT TO I-376!!!! NO TRUCKS ALLOWED!!!!

and i am letting all of you know so u dont have to loose years off of your life due to the stress of the situation i just faced....

I hope this helps someone

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There are Old Truckers and there are Bold Truckers, But there are no Old Bold Truckers.

pa is NOTORIOUS for this....

they put the signs WAY PAST THE POINT OF NO RETURN....I simply ignore pa signs, most roads are off limits to 102" trailers anyway......PA SUCKS.


K

Even worse, that's Pittsburgh. I grew up there, and it is NO place to be wandering around. At least TJ, you made it out safe and sound.
Good old rt 837 (Carson Street), and that whole mess on the river...

Why would you not follow the same directions out of a place you don't know? If you don't know the local area then you are crazy to go any other then what the directions say. Remember you are not car but 80K truck, you are a pro driver.

Mark

I'm competely aware of that but, its not like i just go any old way i feel like the Sign was very deceptive IT WAS A Interstate Sign like the one in this picture except it had I-376 Left Lane only, PA-837 North Right lane only... but looked identical to this picture...

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There are Old Truckers and there are Bold Truckers, But there are no Old Bold Truckers.

I think all of us have been in this situation at one time or another, But, WHATS this gotta do with a shipper?

Funny,
Same type thing happened to me on thursday morning, I put up at a small kwick stop truck stop right on lake erie, I was on my way to our Aliquippa terminal - Plant USG, I have never been there before let alone driven in this part of the country, Yeah I have 16 years exp but It didnt feel like it, So I was travelling and missed my exit, and for some reason decided to follow my gps to the plant instead, Now I know way better than this but I figured it would be ok. No frekin way, thank god it was 1 in the morning because the sweet lady on my dash had me on this mountain road with all little houses along it, it was so narrow that I barely fit on the whole thing, I was loosing it, this went on for like 13 miles, I was so lucky never once did a car come the oher way, if it did that would have been it, I was almost in teaRS too, how was I going to explain with all my years of "PRO" driving and here I am in a stand off where I have to back 5 miles to let a car by,, finally I landed on a road called 51 and could see the plant across the river and of course went over the wrong bridge, except I got busted, I will say this he was a real nice guy, older man and could see that i was frayed and said no problem specially since it was my first time here,, so I get through that, pick up my load it was heavy 50,015, and got directions back to 79 from a driver,, oh yeah what a beauty that 79 is, it is under construction and the lane is so narrow I think you might have an inch to play with, of course it was 4 am by this time and I had a line behind me for about 5 miles, most of whom have probably been on this road before, and yeah it was raining,,,, Man needless to say when I reached a rest area I took an hour nap, I was toasted.,,,
As i always have said it is part of the reason I love the job so much, You will be humbled every so often to the point You feel like a rookie again.
Dave
Safety First!

I don't go to PA anymore. I had the worste week of my career in PA, and won't go back. I don't care if the load pays a million dollars.. well, maybe i'd go back for that.. but other than that, screw pa.. they suck!!!!!

If you think Pa is bad you should drive in new jersey or connecticut or michigan, I drive about half the states in the mid and east and sometimes things go a little bad but not by a longshot the crap you eat in a lot of other states. I agree to disagree about signs here, Pa does a lot better job than a lot of states, at least they give the semblance of trying to care. drive55cat

Michigan is just fine -- i live here in Michigan, NJ And Conn do suck, i avoid them.. But mainly because of the shortage of flatbed freight that comes back out.