kansas city MO to Jonesboro AR

that is your best way.

 

70 to St. Louis, 55 South to the turnoff at Tyronza, and west to Jonesboro. It's not the best route, but it's another way and you don't have to deal with the hills and turns of the Boston Mountains.

 

Just so you know there is a weight limit on US 63 now of 33 tons. The weight limit is on the big bridge south of Imboden. I heard the fine is huge. I have seen them there busting trucks for it.

 

the boston mountains is on 71. he should'nt be going that way.

 

That way is longer and harder anyways.

The only question is how you want to cut down to Springfield. 7/13 is the shortest. But I like running down 71 to I-44 which is about 10 miles further, but alot better ride.

From Springfield you really have no choice but to run 60/63. Don't go through Imboden, but about 7-8 miles outside Hardy, turn right on 58 towards Cave City and run it down to 115. Turn left on 115 and run it up to Smithville and stay right on 117 back to 63. Turn right on 63 into Jonesboro. It's not easy anyway you go.

Another choice, easier, but about 10 extra miles. When you get to Hardy, instead of staying on 63, turn right on 412 west. Run it about 10 miles and turn left on 167 and run that down towards Cave City. It's much better road than 58. Then turn left on 115 before you get to Cave City and run it up to 117 over to 63.

That's me but take your choice. I'd rather run 63 than running 62. That's 3 hours of nothing. I'll run 71 down to I-40 in that run.

 

No...the Boston Mountains go thru Hardy, AR and that area as well. My family is from that specific area, so I'm very familiar with it.

 

dont take 63 if your gvw is over 32 ton DOT sit at the bottom of black river bridge checking trucks about once a week since they decreased the weight on the bridge due to flood damage a couple of years ago.

 

No offense intended to anybody or their thoughts or ideas. I have lived in SW MO most of my life and my Mother has lived in NW AR for more than 30 years so I have made many trips across state lines in both trucks and cars. I love the old two lane roads as they bring back memories of my younger days and my outlaw trucking days. I'll share my thoughts and experiences on these routes.

This route down US 71 was treacherous thirty years ago and claimed many lives. They used to have signs on it showing how many people had died in the bad curvy mountainous part of it and it changed almost every time I went through. I have run it many years ago at more than 100,000 pounds without a jake brake and it was exciting. With the improvements in equipment and the road, I think it is a cake walk today. I guess it still claims lives but IMHO that is mostly just a natural purging of stupidity from our civilization with an occasional tragic chain of events that claims a life that shouldn't have been claimed.

I haven't been down MO 13 and AR 7 in a number of years. Unless this road has been greatly improved, it isn't for the faint of heart in a loaded truck. I used to run loads of truck brake drums out of Springfield, MO to Huntsville, AR about 20 years ago on this route. Many years ago a bus crashed on the one bad curvy grade on AR 7 near Dogpatch. It went over the side and killed several. If you could make the sharp curve Southbound over the speed limit, you could pull the grade in the high-side. Coming down was definitely done in the low-side as you would never make the curve if you had any speed.

I hadn't been through Walnut Ridge where my Mom lives in a truck for several years, so I hadn't payed any attention to the weight limits until I came through there to see her a few months ago in the truck. I was quite worried when I crossed the bridge between Black Rock and Imboden. I then found this post and decided to take the suggested detour on AR 58, AR 115 & AR 117 without checking and verifying it on a map. Shame on me! Let me share my story for laughs and so others don't have to get their experience on this route the hard way. For liability reasons we won't discuss gross weight.


I'm headed Southbound on US 63 and as I slow to turn onto AR 58 my gut tells me this wagon trail through the forest may not be a great choice but I got this information from the finest trucking forum in the nation so I press on. A quarter of a mile after I turn there is a sign that establishes the weight limit on this road at about 64,000 pounds. I say about because I didn't note the hundreds, tens and ones. Don't you wonder why they put signs like that past the point of no return?

As my journey continues I note the dual wheel black marks where other drivers have misjudged several corners. The black marks and an occasional tree strike on an antenna or the front of the trailer causes my butt to keep a solid grip on the seat covering. Worrying that the occasional vehicle I meet will pick up their cell phone and call the State Police keeps the acid level in my stomach a quart overfull. I do however note that it is good the traffic is light because it takes 1.3 lanes to make a few of the corners. After catching a pickup going 45 MPH I wonder if the 60 MPH I have been traveling is a little too fast.

Finally I come to stop sign at a dead end in a little ghost town with no name, no people and abandoned buildings, making a left to continue on AR 58. Now a little relief as this part of the road has about a 73,000 pound weight limit. Since I am going slower than when I passed the last sign like this, I notice the sign says something about farm products being exempt. Now my mind is feverishly trying to figure out how Soy Milk fits into this exemption that I didn't even completely read. Besides now my fine will only be half as much..........right? Never mind I had to go across the other part of the road to get to this part.

About the time I get wound up in 6[SUP]th [/SUP]gear I start a series of curves and a large grade which requires a shift to the low-side. This is something I used to be good at running around from 95,000 - 115,000 pounds on every Eastbound trip. With modern equipment and roads this is not something you do often on a grade these days. I know this shift is as much art as skill. A little hesitation and you better go for 3[SUP]rd [/SUP]instead of 5[SUP]th[/SUP]. Miss this shift and you are looking at 2[SUP]nd [/SUP]or 1[SUP]st[/SUP]. Worse yet you could end up stopping and restarting on the grade, a good way to drop a driveline out on the ground. I choose 4[SUP]th [/SUP]and hit it like I knew what I was doing. Was it luck or skill? We'll never know without more exposure.

Now I make it to AR 115 and make a left. This road looks much better, almost fit for a truck and I meet one. Just as I am starting to feel some relief I cross a 32T bridge. Wait wasn't that what I was trying to avoid. At least there isn't a DOT Officer guarding this one. A few more miles and I cross another bridge, did that sign say 11T? I must be delirious. I'm thinking surely I misread that under stress noting that the acid level in my stomach is now two quarts overfull. Besides I closed my eyes on that bridge crossing which means nobody saw it so it didn't even happen.

Finally I make it to AR 117 which is strait and not a right. If you take a close look at an enlarged map you will notice that after a hard right turn you continue strait. The road marked AR 115 on the map is Lawrence County 226 or 228 in reality. It isn't hard to pick the correct road because you would most likely get hung on the first tree down that goat path. A few miles and I cross a 34T bridge but it hardly phases me now cause I am all in at this point. The fear is like a wound on pain medication, just a dull ache. Probably the adrenalin rush I got going on. Besides just a few more miles to US 63. Once I make that turn onto the Big Road, this whole incident never happened. What's that sinking feeling in my stomach, the one I can't put my finger on, something about the mileage sign showing Black Rock???

Wow Super Trucker you made it, pull onto the Big Road. WTH, a sign that says 33T bridge ahead with an orange flag on it. I guess I can't deny seeing that. Surely I did not come out North of the bridge, did I? Oh no that sign says AR 25, that road is North of the bridge, isn't it? Snap out of it quick, I'm North of the bridge and it's cross it or backtrack. This is all happening way too fast for the unprepared super trucker. My butt has now ripped the cover completely off the seat and has it in a death grip.

I grab my Microphone and say, "Northbound you seen any cops, cmon???". This is CB speak for, "Is that Freaking Diesel Bear working the bridge today?" As I round the gradual curve past AR 25 my answer appears on the Northbound side with CR England truck before the CB answers back. From a half mile away, I see him step out of the car walk to the front between the car and truck and motion to the driver to join him. This most certainly means the stop has just taken place, I may survive my stupidity. Still I don't take anything for granted as I have had them drop everything they were doing to pursue me, so one minute at a time. As I go by his eyes drill holes in my skull and I sense he wants to check me out badly.

I push on and cross the 33T bridge and then the long 30T bridge across the river bottom. All the while the truck is driving itself while my eyes are glued to the mirrors. I guess England had enough to keep him busy for a while. The lesson learned is never take any route from a GPS or any other source before you set down with a map and verify it goes where you need to go and that trucks are allowed on it. The condition of our quickly decaying infrastructure keeps this profession interesting at the very least and it can be horrifying when we engage our transmissions before starting our brain.

I asked some local drivers what they did now and I got a no brainer answer that I had completely overlooked. I have not verified this route but I will and then report back. Going Northbound on US 63 you take US 67 North at Hoxie/Walnut Ridge to US 62 West at Pocahontas then back to US 63 North at Imboden. Going Southbound on US 63 you take US 62 East at Imboden to US 67 South at Pocahontas then back to US 63 South at Walnut Ridge/Hoxie.

I can't endorse this route since I haven't tried it. I know the big bridge with the 30T limit over the river and all that river bottom land is South of Black Rock. There is another bridge North of Imboden and I'm not sure what it's weight limit is. I know the Diesel Bear hangs at the one South of the AR 25 intersection. Also if you look closely you will see that three rivers join to the North of this bridge to make it as large as it is.

 

Great story LoL.. I'm running a 64 mile load on a pig path route down a mountain at 80K this morning.. that's tight with a couple of bad switchback curves that have the trailer in the other lane entirely but traffic is always light maybe see one or 2 cars. Rarely another truck... Easy money load near home..