Northeast Region question

Main problems are simply traffic congestion and the size or the streets and docks. A lot of those places were built long before there was any thought of 72' long vehicles using them.

 

I would say that if you reside in Ma then you have some idea of what you will be getting into. Generally in the Northeast the roads are smaller. The warehouses and docks are tighter and smaller etc... When all this stuff was built and wasn't mean't for tractors with 53' trailers. In fact it wasn't long ago when I started driving in 96' you needed special permission to run a lot of places up there if you had a 53' trailer. Back then 48' was kind of the standard and 53's were just coming out.

As you probably already know traffic is a little worse up there and drivers are a lot more aggressive. There are also a lot of areas you don't want to be caught in after nightfall. Lots of areas too where cars line the streets at night and make for turns #### near impossible! During winter when there are high snow banks its even worse!

As far as driving a big truck up there, truck stops are few and far between, toll roads/bridges make up 90% of your travels, fuel is at maximum prices, etc.... All of this just adds up to making driving up there a little more of a pain in the butt! Good trip planning is a must and you really can't just veer off any exit or turn without expecting to run into a low overpass or restricted route. Construction is also a very popular sport year round and barricades, detours and rough roads are all about your route.

Running up there occasionally isn't bad but to drive up there constantly or for that to be your main route of your driving can be exhausting. Most companies pay a little more to run up there and some boast they don't go there at all. Pavement is pavement though and as a professional driver you are expected to able to do it all.

Good luck...

 

i too live "up here", in fact, not too far from your "hood"..(i had PM'd you previously)

i have run the gambit of roads myself in my 25 years, and i can tell you that New England is indeed a pain in the buttocks. but i am home DAILY...!!! i make a decent paycheck, and i do not have to worry about finding a parking space for my rig, as it stays on the customers property.

as you should know by now, New England has SMALL roads, city streets, loading dock areas. 5 will get you 20, that YOU WILL BE driving a rig with a 53 foot trailer.

rather than do this job now, i'd suggest you give it a full year of the driving you are doing now at your current employer, THEN after the one year time has passed, go for a more "local" gig.

i would also "suggest" that you ask your current employer to SEND YOU into the northeast, especially Hartford,CT, NYC, Boston, then see for your self what it's all about. i think it would be "best" to be scared doing this with your current employer NOW, rather than you quit, get a job "here" and get all flustered, and maybe end up quitting, and be out of a job.

if you do a "regional job", most likely you WILL BE driving a sleeper truck as well as that 53 foot trailer. so with your current employer, get your "time in" here in the northeast.

one other thought, if doing a north east "regional" and you do have a sleeper truck..?? you may actually NOT GET your rest, as much as now doing OTR....just an added thought.

come to work here as a local daycab driver, not a regional driver.....

 

Gizmo knows everything I swear

 

That may be, but he was spot on with this one.
Don't worry about that N.E. job getting filled, NE jobs are always opening up.

 

the previous answers are good, but you also need to take into consideration the kind of freight the company hauls. Do they take on anything and everything expecting you to do ltl regional with 10 stops on? or is it a dedicated toilet paper account?

there's a big difference between the 2, even in the northeast. one is you're stuck up here all week, the other might be an in+out situation that you can tolerate. in other words, would you rather hand unload a couple hundred cases of condoms to an indian's garage with the wife and grandmom hand trucking them up the driveway in port chester, or backing into a dock at a costco and be on your way to a pick up an hour later?

the challenge is going to be getting the potential company to be honest on tell you what kind of freight they haul. i've done both and honestly it can be nerve racking in the beginning, but you do get used to it.

 

Have fun trying to match your toll recipts and fuel slips to your logbook, and still make a decent pay.

 

sometimes, i even surprise myself....here is your pebble, grasshopper....

Pete wasn't being sarcastic. i know, i almost met up with him in person one time..!!!

yes, i run dedicated and only have 3 stops (all the same each night) so i know which you speak of. doing "multiple stops" on a daily basis, and each stop being different each day can be a challenge indeed. but once you have been to a place, hopefully one learns real quick how to get in, set up for a backing, etc,etc...

so....ummm....a "couple of hundred condoms being delivered to an Indian..???"

you get that kind of freight..???


to pjay...

if you were to switch at this early a stage in your gaining of experience, a switch to yet another OTR company, perhaps one in our area would have been more advisable, as you would be getting home more frequently, under "most" circumstances. you will still be gaining much needed road time, and inner city pick-ups and deliveries. but right now, with your limited time in, and going regional/city, would be ill advised.....