THE DREADED NORTHEAST

I've been driving around the dreaded northeast for 15+ years. If you have been driving for 6 years, my prediction is this: You have heard so many horror stories, you'll be waiting and looking for all this bad stuff to happen. Before you know it, you're leaving the northeast and nothing bad or out of the ordinary happened at all.

 

Sorta.

Wait until you encounter Cross Bronx during rush. And you can only use the upper level of the GWB (106 dollar toll nb for a semi, hope you have prepass etc)

If you really want some fun, try the CT's Q Bridge during morning rush. The problem hits you when you realize the afternoon rush is beginning when morning is finished.

Small towns, even smaller. Dating to before there was America.. I once fed 8 parking meters in a row with a reefer downtown with all wheels within 3 inches of curbing to go get breakfast across street. Reefer howled high range into angry person's second floor bedroom for a hour. Police measured and timed everything and found all is in order. No noise laws back then. There is now... Staff in eatery gave me top class fast service. Feed him and fast, kick him out soon as bill paid.

Downtown in Brooklyn street kids carried paint cans, you hired several hookers to keep them off your truck at 20 each times three hookers to keep your truck clean. So you can gulp down some street food in a diner at the corner. Time is money.

when you close in against what is called the ring of steel with a 18 wheeler (*Financial district) NYC staffers do nothing other than getting onto your fuel tank and tell you where to go with that semi, especially loaded) It's not going where YOU want or need to go. But around there you will not take a semi.

 

No one's blaming you; rather, you've let yourself become a statistic.
And a victim.

 

Ya right, this morning leaving Jersey I broke a drive shaft ujoint and had to get a tow.

 

Company schmuck...$100k...guarantee?

And you are hesitant...why?

 

Just do it! Make the money! You'll have stories for your grandkids someday.


I live in Central PA. Been everywhere to the northeast of here. (All the horrible places). My first time through the city,I was like a nervous teenager getting laid for the first time. I fumbled around and made it out though. After the first trip, which was merely running 95 through the Cross Bronx in rush hour traffic, crossing Throg's Neck bridge and out to Riverhead, I never really minded going up there. I just figured that all those other people are doing the same as I was. Just trying to go somewhere to make a buck. Can't hate them for that.

Now, Connecticut and Boston, fuggataboutit. I hate 95 through Connecticut, and Boston is just Boston. By that I mean everyone is in a hell fired hurry to drive nowhere.

The rest of the Northeast is easy. Just like any other area of the country, but with horrendous potholes.

Couple years ago, I loaded in Jersey, headed for Harrisburg. I ended up following some garbage haulers along the way. We hit the state line, crossing into PA on 78, and one of the garbage haulers annonces that he's glad to finally be on the big road. I couldn't help but laugh at the poor sucker. Apparently he's never been anywhere that has 'big roads'.

 

If you go to Chicago now, you should be fine in the NE.. I guess it just depends more about what does NE mean for your company. Does it mean NYC or MA or NJ or NH, VT ect...

The biggest issue as long as you don't have to hit the big cities in the day hours is the lack of truck stops and parking.

 

Online people make it out to be worse than it actually is. In almost 4 years of driving and not really ever leaving the N.E corridor I've had plenty of 600+ mile days on elog. Gotta trip plan that's for sure especially running New England I90/95 corridor not much truck parking, good luck pulling in at 1 am and try and get a spot.

I learned to pretty much drive in nyc doing food service. 2 driver run, leave out of Binghamton with a full 48 and run 8-12 stops around the 5 borough's 3 times a week.

 

just look at your paycheck, add up the hours worked and decide if the difference is worth it, its not about horror stories or whether or not a driver is a whimp, its whether its worth the pay to an individual, i spent most of my life in the northeast, its not worth it to me, its that simple. if i buy a truck i will do the same thing i do now, decide if the rate is worth running there, if not then i wont. but some driver calling me a sissy isnt gonna make any difference to me i can tell you that lol

 

I'd take NYC and Boston over Philly and Pittsburgh any day.