low bridges in ny

Then bring this up with the NY dept of Public works, or the NY Dept of transportation. Seems to me that over 100 years now, truckers have been dealing with this NY and NYC and NJ signage situation, and I cannot say that I have ever read from someone wanting to takes pics to prove the signs wrong.


How long you-a-bin drivin"?

Let us know how it works out for you, complaining the the NY Highway Dept.

 

Sometimes, when dealing with NYC and other areas, you just have to have confidence in your directions source and take it on faith you got good directions and wrote them down correctly. Once you've done that, then you just have to learn how to "pucker up" as you head under those bridges and tracks. The first time is nerve racking if you're not following another truck.

But, it is what it is.

 

No, none of US missed the point, I think you did. NO MATTER what the signs say, YOU HIT the bridge, you are at fault.

If the signs bother you this much, then I suggest you tell your company, that you only want to do NY and NYC and NJ in the summer months. The signs are like they are to allow for packed ice and snow. So now, you have packed ice and snow, and you see that sign that say's 12' 5" and you DO NOT GET OUT AND LOOK, and YOU TOP the trailer, then what? I guess by then, the GPS was wrong, as well as directions from dispatch?

 

Ah yes, BUT several New York Times trailers are at 12'0"..!!

I wouldn't recommend following one of 'em!

 

Are you a driver op?

 

Chicago friday afternoon at 4:30 pm, I needed to get on I - 55 or 57 to go west, about 7 years ago, not knowing where to go I stopped in at a bus garage and asked the dispatcher for directions, making it very clear to him that I was driving an 18 wheeler, he told me to turn right on California Ave then I would see the sign for the interstate, turn left and I would be at the interstate he said, twice I made it clear to him I was driving an 18 wheeler.
So I did like he said, turned right on California Ave, after about 6 - 8 blocks I see a sign for a low overpass, around 10 ' high, knowing I need minimum 13'6", I started to look for a place to turn around, No problems, I found a junk yard on my right, looked like I could go in there, go around the building and make a left, back out the gate and find another way to the interstate, perhaps there would be some one to ask directions again.
California Ave was a four lane street, so I swung all the way over to the left lane in able to make the turn in to the junk yard, when my trailer tires was even with the gate, I could not go any further.
I thought, friday afternoon, rush hour traffic, should I call the police for help, no, my luck I get a ticket, no one to help me, just as I decided to do this on my own it started to rain, not a drizzle, a downpour, so I put my four ways flashers on, started to back up while cars was doing everything they could to pass me, nobody had time to wait or help, I continued to back up clear over to the far left lane, now I was facing oncoming traffic backing down California Ave, figured I make a turn to the left at the next light, but the next street and the following 3 streets where to narrow for me to back into, while I was backing up, the cars in my lane passed me and pulled in behind me, I had to keep track of all of them so I wouldn't hit any one, I got turned around and found my way out of Chicago.
The moral of this story : I made the mistake of listening to someone else for directions, but it was now up to me to correct it !!! And I did !!!

 

If you videotape yourself striking a low bridge...
the ONLY one that will gain from that "evidence"... will be the one that justly fires you.

You hit the bridge, it's YOUR fault... whether the sign is 8'2" or 13'6"

 

I got your message. The signs are wrong, so what. Buy a truckers atlas most low clearences are in there.

 

Sometimes before going to a place I know will be tricky and might have serious height issues (for example parts of chicago) I walk the route on google streetview and read the signs. You can't always do this but if I know it might be a bad one I'll do that. You still have to pay attention to the real life situation when you get there as things may have changed but that's helped me out many times. Sometimes in the pictures there's even a truck going through somewhere for confirmation of size.

NYC's bridge heights deifnitely piss me off so I sympathize with the OP. On some stops you can shave off a TON of time going under a bridge that is marked 10'10" which is really over 13'6". The real problem with the wacky bridge height postings is that it erodes people's confidence in the signs and makes you more likely to try going under sketchy bridges. Some of those clearance heights are WAY off. Don't get me started on i95 through NYC, there are low bridges marked but only when you get there, and then they turn out to be 13'6" in the middle and everyone blasts through them. And I understand that bridge heights can change with weather and all, but some of the NYC bridge signs just seem arbitrary like the magic 8-ball told them what number to put on the sign. Some 13'6 bridges are in fact just that tall and you're close to the top, some 10' bridges are the exact same height. It's bonkers, and I wonder if there are any real standards for calculating what they put on the sign or if it's just some guy in an office guessing.

With weird rural deliveries I look at the satelite photos and if I can't determine the bridge height I call the local PD and ask them, they usually have a list, and write down who I spoke to in case I get stuck I can say "hey, I asked Officer Smith and he said it was 13'6". They've always been helpful and seem to appreciate someone trying to stay out of trouble.

 

Not sure if you realize this either, but on tight low bridge clearances, just because it doesn't scrape with the first 3 or 4 feet of the trailer
... does not guarantee that the rear half of the trailer will clear.