North East Driving

Baltimore has been rotting for several generations since the NY Boys came there to sell the drugs. in the early 80's Before that everyone swept their stoop in the morning. After the early 80's no one cared once the sweepers died off in a generation. Half the city has lost physically the famous rowhousing after the collapsed, burned trap houses etc. Even if you got em for a dollar you would be very stupid due to lead and asbestos and all sorts of things outside of modern code. Mine is still standing. Only because they put some money into it. It posses a white roof up top now for central air which much have been a true ##### to put in. (Its designed for fan cooling from the alley side fans pull and exhaust out through the bathroom steeple etc as heat rises. It would be 100 outside but as long you stayed in the 60 degree basement alls well as you took your 3 hour hot time nap. Not a speck of air conditioning anywhere. (And steam heat...)

I can go on. But Baltimore brought it on themselves in a couple generations due to drugs. Its home ground and the history and all that. Wonderful. Great. But I would not go in there without packing. Its just stupid not to these days. Everyone that has the ability to flee has fled, many old ones migrated to the towers built from them above the crime and the industry continues to disappear.

Thats the other side of Baltimore. If you went to the Harbor at 1974, you saw a working harbor with very few tourist attraction. Pepsi cola was across on the other side by Pratt. Now it's a ball diamond and a some sort of grass field. POOF. Thats one example. The ship yards are condo towers and so on. If you wanted to work in the 70's anywhere down there make a bunch of money. After all that went away and turned into harborplace selling 10.00 burgers and 20.00 fries with 30.00 haganz das icecream at 40.00 forget it. Hopefully they still paint the place and chip rust using convicts as a work to release program. /snark.

Cities on the hill are sometimes good. But when the people inside them rot fast, then they too rot the city.

 

I went up there once, the problem I seen was there was just too dad gummed many Yankees in one spot. lol

Actually all I have ever done was pass through the city, never picked up or delivered there, but tried very hard to just stay out of the whole congested area at all.

 

Its only like 100 extra to deliver inside NYC. Not worth it. I will drive through it on I95, and did just two days ago. But getting off and driving into that jungle--no thanks.

Most of the North East is fine. Parked in Buffalo right now, its nice. Its just the major cities. NYC, Philly, Baltimore, Jersey City, Boston. In my opinion Pittsburgh almost makes the list, but not quite.

And yes I would agree once you drive some of those cities Chicago is easy. I havent been into NYC or Boston, but done the rest.. Clogged an intersection in Baltimore for like 4 light cycles. It was embarrassing to say the least. Philly was its own mess too. Jersey City had overpasses where only 1 lane was 13'6 and the other 3 lanes too low.

 

That's why our small company has (2) 35 ft and one 45' trailers with lift gates plus (3) box trucks and (3) owner-operated box trucks.

Also a few guys who are not afraid of starting at 2 am to deliver 53 footers to the Bronx...

Try 10 deliveries and 6 pickups out to Montauk and the Hamptons and back through JFK...

Deliver a load of Air conditioners w/ one helper to a NYPD building. unload in the parking lot and watch the bomb sniffing dogs before the PD helped buggy lug them all inside.....

 

When I have the experience to say “no” I won’t be back in the northeast. The extra pay as a company guy is not worth the frustration of driving through it.
I just delivered rubber parts to a factory built in a semi residential area. Wrong direction means 20mins to find another street my truck will fit down.
If I deliver in the NE I leave 2-3hours “early”

 

Ya want some real fun? Try delivering farm machinery in Central PA sometime. I'm not talking from the factory to the dealer, either. I'm talking from dealer to the farmer.

Little roads barely wide enough for two cars to pass, tight corners, (some tight enough that it takes another tractor to pull the trailer around a tree strategically placed on the edge of the roadway), and hills steep enough to stall the truck in low gear. (Here's to you, Pitman, PA!) Then you get to the farm that hasn't seen anything other than a little ten wheeled milk truck in the last 30 years. Junk everywhere you need to drive to make the turns in the driveway. The farmer always says the same thing "The milk truck can make it". And you always reply "The milk truck ain't 70 feet long, either"

Fun times, and a great way to learn. Sadly the pay wasn't enough to support a growing family ....