What's so bad about running the Northeast?

I have been running to Maine once a week at least for the last month.
Tolls are a pain.
Missouri made me get an Escort for an oversize load this week, even though according to there regs I did not need one. Would not grant me a pike permit without one though.
Was good in PA, NY, ME, NH, and MA, just not on MA Pike.
Tolls every 30 miles on 95 in Maine suck.
I like NY thruway, just tolls are high. Lots of non stop miles though.
Loads up north pay well. I am on percentage pay, and my 60' bridge on monday afternoon to wednesday morning paid 4,000 gross for under 800 miles.
I run North East regional, home every weekend. I could get more down to Fl, or AL, but I don't feel like pushing for it. Per mile I can make more running north.
I do my best to stay away from NYC, and Jersey. The bridge tolls stink.

 

My biggest gripe about going to the NE was getting back out of the NE. I hate NYC with a passion but I really hate waiting 2 days to get a load back out of there. Give me LA any day of the week and I am happy. I love the TA in Ontario Ca.

 

The north east sucks because it is the oldest part of the country and the designers of the bigger cites IE: New York, Trenton(hell, all of new jersey) Philly, Boston,etc really did not take in to account that one day a truck would be in there pulling a 53' trailer... That's why most of the mid-west and western states with the exception of the older cites IE: Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee,st.Louise, etc have more room to maneuver.

 

well, for the past 7 months i have ran the NE every day every week for the past 7 months, usually upstate NY, which to me is a walk in the park, other then the DOT being everywhere upstate there. Running in Mass is not that bad, there are a lot of tight rds tho. the same with most states up here in the NE. Im born n raised in Pa. and i thought that Philadelphia had tight/small/tiny steets, but my god was i wrong, the NE is not really built for the big trucks we run today, and i deliver to places that i should not be with a 53 and a sleeper.
this past week i made a delivery to a old mill house up in Mass, my BOL said to call prior to going to them, it was writtin like 20 times to call, so i did, and the guy said park down the st from the mill, and then call and they will come outside and show me how to get in. so i did, and i had to go through a MAZE to get in their driveway, and i had to slowly go under a lil bridge from one mill to the other. my trailer actualy scapped along it the whole way, they demand that i put the truck in 1st, and thank god i did. and then had to make a right turn with out hitting the building on my right side.
Brooklyn: i was there 2 weeks ago, it was scary driving my truck through there lots of low underpasses and tiny streets.
ny post their bridges 12-6, which people say is really 13-6, and youll always here difrent reasons why that is, ex: snow n ice build up. from the curb not the rd. blah blah, i dont go under a bridge if its less then 13-6,
so to sum it up:
1. traffic
2. rude people
3. lots of tolls
4. lots of low bridges
5. lots of tight areas to back into docks
6. lots and lots of one way streets
7. limitied SAFE parking
8. truck stops are few and far between the further north you go.
9. lots of small streets.
10. oh, and did i mention rude people??
im looking forward to going OTR sometime soon.
and when i do, i do NOT wanna see the east coast for months other to come home, which im not to worried about seeing for a while either.

 

Tolls......

 

I always made more money running midwest to the east and back then I made running west. Yes more bull to put up with but more bucks. Danny

 

Eh, the NE isnt too bad. Thats because there is alot of freight there and with the abundance of freight, youll have an abundance of people. Yeah, there are idiots all over, so the poster that made that statement hit the nail on the head. Their just much more common in the NE. My main complaint for the NE is tolls...especially NYC area tolls crossing into LI. I went from East PA to Commack, NY then to North Carolina...and spent right near $180 on tolls. My wonderful company has NO EZpass so that was $180 out of my pocket. We get re-imbursed for it, but still...what a freakin rip off. After spending this dough, I told my DM to take me off the NYC board. $50 to cross a fkn bridge and the roads are fct getting off it(278 ). Never again!
...the rest of the NE isnt too bad though.

 

The posters ahead of me covered most of it, I'm from the Northeast, started driving in Connecticut when 44 & 45 foot trailers were big, pulling them with a Intertrashanal 4070B Cabover Transtar, delivering to newspapers in New England, New York and New Jerkski. I've been everywhere in the United States, Boston has the worse drivers in the world.
Southern New England sucks for freight because the rates are low, Last year my company deadheaded me from Assonet Massachusetts to Streetsboro Ohio because nothing out of Massachusetts paid more than .90 a mile to the truck. How do people live on that?
The highway system sucks, Vermont is the last state in the country that requires a 53' permit, and you can't get a permit to cross US 4.
When I apply for a job I tell the company that I work during the day, sleep at night, I don't handle freight, don't run team, and I don't go to New York City, Long Island, or the peoples republic of Kalifornia. I make that clear before I fill out the application. I've had to do it, but I've paid my dues years ago, there's people who don't mind going to New York City because they get paid well for it, they can have all that crap.

 

Amen brother! I paid my Northeast Dues many moons ago and you're definitely right... they can have that crap. I spent many days in fun places like Bayonne, NJ, waiting for loads out of there.

I run southeast regional now, never getting much farther north than VA nor any farther west than Texas and I come home every weekend. New Orleans is about the only place I really would prefer not to go... but I guess no job is perfect. I love it and wouldn't trade it for OTR 48 again, that's for sure!

 

I've been a NY'er for years, and I started out driving Taxis and limos, before moving to PA and going out for a CDL.

A good strategy for NYC is to drive nights, try to get into the area before dawn. Going against rush hour doesn't seem to help anymore as there are now just as many jobs in the suburbs as their are in Manhattan (but less public transportation going that way).

You might even have good luck shooting though mid-day. But if you can, AVOID THE CROSS BRONX AT ALL COSTS!!! I've practically "lived" on that stretch of road for over 30 years. There really isn't any alternate routes to avoid it, and you will be lucky to average 10mph.

Oh and the Tappan Zee is going to start being rebuilt in the next decade or so (I guess the powers that be aren't going to wait for that wreck to collapse after all) So enjoy it's relative ease while it lasts. Also avoid on Fridays and Sunday nights

If you're just "passing though" I'd say stretch all the way up to I-84. Compared to the lower NY roads that's practically empty.