First NYC run. What to expect?

Update:
Well, I made the deliveries, and all in all, it went very well.

I downloaded a truck route map from nydot and verified what the Qualcomm gps said to do. Turns out the Qualcomm gets it right. So I didn't have too many worries there.

The horrendous traffic started about 40 miles outside the city. Apparently people commute from pretty far out. As I got closer to the GW bridge, I saw 2 wrecks and a poor trucker who's engine apparently overheated. He was stopped in the left lane with the hood up. I felt bad for him. Those things didn't help traffic any, but it was pouring a glass of water into the ocean. Hardly mattered.

I think it took an hour to get across the Bronx and into Queens. Less than 20 miles. Things got better once I was in Queens, at least with the traffic. But what I feared happened. I had called the customer to verify the address. They said it was right, but it turns out I had asked the wrong question. The address I had been given was not where they actually received deliveries. That location was a few miles away in Brooklyn.

Getting there got a little hairy, but I managed not to hit anything. Fortunately, the delivery location had an open curb with no parking big enough for me to park out of the travel lane. They unloaded me with a forklift and pallet jack and forklift. Since it was a bakery, I went in and got some delicious pastries.

Then it was on to Hicksville. Once I got out of the Queens/Brooklyn area, it started to feel more like a town anywhere else in the country. The worst part was getting to the customer and having to do a blind side back into an alley off of a 2 lane road. That wasn't fun. Fortunately it wasn't a heavily travelled road.

Anyway, it was an interesting experience. I also found out that Swift pays a $100 bonus for going into NYC. Not sure I'd do it again, but it was worth doing once. I'll post a couple pics, too.

 

That's awesome.