how often are greenhorns sent to the east coast or big cities?

I took my road test in lower Manhattan (Canal Street area) in a rig I had never SEEN nor DRIVEN before. The tractor was a Dodge. (This was in 1972.) I have not driven a Dodge tractor again. Oh, and they were kind enough to set this up on a training day, so I took the road test with TWO examiners in the cab.

Hauling freight ain't nothing compared to that!

 

I was "apprehensive", to say the least, on my first trip out east in '83. Got lost in Patterson, NJ, went across a 10 ton bridge, with 42,000 in the box, you know the routine!
No easy way to say for you to do it, but carefully is a good start!

 

you get no special treatment.....when you are with your trainer, he should be taking you into some cities.......miami, LA, detroit, chicago, houston/fort worth, etc.

now, when you are on your own, you WILL do cities, and IF you live PAST a city on your way home, you ARE doing city,,,,,then go home from there. they will not usually let you go past a city on your way home.

 

I'm not to keen on running NE, but Chicago sucks no matter which way you slice it.

And pretty much the whole of Virginia.

 

I was sent to the big market in the bronx to deliver meat with 2 months experience and never any big city driving and I learned a lot and really boosted my confidence

 

Here's a tip. In school they'll tell you crap about not button-hooking and about not interfering with another person's direction of travel or causing people to back up. In a big city, toss that crap out the window.

 

Amen to that man, do what you got do do. I did a U turn in Downtown L.A. in front of a cop. Just looked at him shrugged my shoulder as if saying sorry cant continue ahead and screw things up for eberyone and went ahead and made the common sense decision. Might not always work out like that but remember dont do stupid stuff that might get yourself into deeper trouble like " like well I will just go a little further and see if I cant find a better spot to turn around" trust me I have been there and it aint pretty

 

My first load out solo was to Bohemia, NY on Long Island from Jacksonville, FL. I was sweating bullets, but my trainer taught me to read ALL signs and follow them closely. Follow your company's routing to the letter and you should have minimal problems. Nothing's perfect, but if you get pulled over and you're following their routing, they get the ticket. Good luck out there.

 

Another perfectly good reason you should go with a trainer. Yes, companies will try you! Plus you have to realize most dispatchers don't know the difference between driving in NYC or Idaho! As far as their concerned you went through training and now you are a driver! Go make us money!

 

"Amen to that man, do what you got do do. I did a U turn in Downtown L.A. in front of a cop. Just looked at him shrugged my shoulder as if saying sorry cant continue ahead and screw things up for eberyone and went ahead and made the common sense decision. Might not always work out like that but remember dont do stupid stuff that might get yourself into deeper trouble like " like well I will just go a little further and see if I cant find a better spot to turn around" trust me I have been there and it aint pretty "

I took a load to Navy Base San Diego following the qc directions and even called to confirm I was in the right place after the gate guards assured me I needed to cross the Coronado bridge to get on the Naval Air Station. After several hours of haggling with the DM about it I offered to go to a nearby gate and try a building over there that might be the place to take the load before trying the Naval Air Station. Long story- wrong building of course, had to leave out on a T street right turn. 2 lanes coming into the Navy gate, 1 lane going out and a chain link fence immediately to my right. Did I mention 2 way cross street I needed to turn right on? So I sat there through 2 lights cycles trying to figure out what to do. The only answer was for me to go out against a red light and take everybody's lane, traffic coming from the right would have to wait, traffic coming up from the left too. Got out OK and got to the right place on my 10th hour of the day driving- got out just in time and found a great place for a 10 hour break.