Getting Turned Around

One tip i will give but hope you never have to use, if you get anywhere and decide to use anykind of a driveway on a narrow road or street, ALWAYS back in and pull out, NEVER and i mean NEVER pull in and try and back out, not only for the traffic, but there is situations where you can pull in but there is NO way to back it back out the angles just wont work, but you can almost always, not always but almost always pull out where you backed in.

 

in the nyc metro area, you just dont get turned around. It cant happen. Do everything you possibly can to avoid it. For the most part, you can not turn around, period.

I once drove for 4 hours trying to turn around near Trenton, i wasnt even anywhere near trenton before i tried to turn around (going to cranbury), but somehow i ended up down town!

last time i was in brooklyn i got lost for about an hour. thank god NYC is easier to turn around in then jersey. but good lord, i thought i was going to be working at mcdonalds after that. i accidently turned onto a one way the wrong way and had to get backed out by a traffic director...

 

in most places you cant even do that.

the best bet is to remember that two lefts equal a right. Try to go around a block with left turns only. You're more likely to not tear anything up that way if you accidently end up in a residential area. I pull a tanker and work for a small outfit that, while affiliated with QC, owns their own trailers, and I really can not hit stuff with my tandems. If i put a dent in the darn outer skin of the trailer (VERY THIN sheetmetal on top of fiberglass insulation!) i'd get my butt chewed out, let alone if i came back to the shop with a stop sign wedged in the fenders...

oh yeah and these trailers cost $60,000 and last around 30 years...

oh another trick i used to do when i pulled dry van if i got lost on some BFE road, is turn onto another BFE road at a 4 way intersection....back back across the intersection....and turn back onto the road i started on in the opposite direction. it usually turns out to be some narrow residential road im turning onto to do this, and i usually atleast touched someones lawn. I think i wont be doing that one anymore.

 

Except when in Chicago and that could be even worse of a disaster!

 

lego has some good advice.

Do good trip planning. I have a GPS but always do my map reading and call the customer. Customers voice mail directions are especially good for that one way in, one way out deal. Then you can program your GPS accordingly if you have one.
If you are map reading, note the road before your turn. This will let you know your turn is coming up.

We all get lost and getting turned around is usually your best bet. Look for somewhere BIG to turn around. If it's questionable, go further down the road until you find something better. I think I can, don't get it. Respect peoples private property. There is always a parking lot where a truck been through. Worse comes to worse, put your flashers on and pop your brakes. In the past I've stopped at police stations, fire stations, etc. Now I'm high tech, lol.

Places like northern Jersey, New York and other big cities you need to do your homework until you know the area. Once you run an area a few times, you'll learn the ins and outs.

Google maps are good because you can even see the buildings and parking lots. Click and drag on the little yellow man and you'll have a view like you are standing there.

Last, but not least, get on the CB. A local is usually around to help.

 

Alot of people don't know you can make your own route on a GPS by putting your finger on a spot on the map and tell the GPS to go to that point. This way you can get around bad GPS routing and go the right way someone told you. After all, you take away all the voice commands the GPS is just a map. You be the boss of it and tell it how you want to go. Then you can be comfortable with it.
Example is you want to go to Happytown USA, the GPS wants you to get off the 1st exit and you were told to get off the 2nd exit. You just stick your finger on the 2nd exit and tell the GPS to detour there and it will take you in the right way. The same with city roads, just zoom in and select the road and detour here. It just adds legs to the routing.
It keeps you from missing turns/exits. It lets you plan your turns in advance. You have a down to the minute ETA and distance.

 

I always double-no, triple check my directions before I head out to someplace that's unfamiliar. I use my map first so I get a general idea of where I'm headed, and then I use my GPS like reinforcement.

That said, I've been in a pickle a couple of times too- happens to everyone. I was in PEI one time , and the dispatch gave me freeway directions (note: don't always trust dispatcher's directions!!). Anyways, here I was on a divided highway, cruising along and approaching an overpass. Problem- my rig wouldn't be able to clear said overpass. After a very brief freakout, I managed to calm down and call the cops so they could come and stop traffic for me (I'd passed all the exits that were before the overpass- so I had no choice but to reverse on the highway to get to the exit). Even still it took a while for me to back up to the ramp.

Moral of the story- stay calm, call for help if you need it, and double check your routes before you head out

 

Doing a good job of pretrip planning is important, but sometimes things happen that are out of your control. Several times I have been directed off of a freeway because of an accident. The biggest thing is not to panic, stay calm, go slow, and ignore the jerks blowing thier horns.