Question:
No you can't drive through the Lincoln or Holland tunnels with a 13'6" box
No you can't drive on Parkways in the Northeast,Kentucky yes,northeast NO.
I have been going to Brooklyn,Queens and the south Bronx for over 6 months now.I'm still alive.
Nobody has jumped up on the side of my truck to even ask for money, never mind demand it with a gun or knife.
You don't have to go in at 4am,just cross the bridge around 6am and you will make a 7am appointment.If your late,you where stuck in traffic,just tell them some dumb azz truck driver crashed,they understand,it happens to them every week.
Long Island is a strip of land that sticks out into the ocean,it is not part of NYC or anything like NYC.It is the suburbs.It is 2 counties,Nassua and Suffolk counties.Stay off the parkways,use I-495 Long Island Expressway(L.I.E.)
Long Island City is part of Queens New York,it is in the city.Every neighborhood in New York has a name,so if dispatch says Maspeth,Glendale,Ridgewood,ect you are going to Queens,NYC. brooklyn and the bronx also have neighborhood names,like Harlem ain't a town,it's a neighborhood in Manhatten.
New York,NY will most likely mean Manhatten.
I-278 in Brooklyn has all sorts of signs that say all trucks over 12'2" must exit,ignore them.It's 13'6".
Near the Tri-Boro Bridge there are signs saying all trucks must exit,low bridge,obey them or better yet don't go near the Tri-Boro bridge,to damn confusing and the cops will hang out in the area once in awhile and give out tickets to trucks that go under 12'6' bridges with their 13'6' trailers,even though the truck fits,you didn't obey the sign.
53' trailers,not allowed on any city street and only allowed access to CT via I-95 or to Long Island via I-95,I-295 Throgs Neck Bridge to the L.I.E. I-495,you have to cut across the bronx on I-95/295,you can't cut across Staten Island,Brooklyn/Queens with a 53' trailer.
Mostly ignored in industrial parts of the city,but in lower manhatten,you will be given all sorts of oversize tickets.
Now block traffic trying to back into some place anywhere in the city and keep the wrong cop waiting on his donut run and you probably have problems.More than one or 2 minutes to back in and your toast,like one or 2 pull ups and you better not be blocking traffic any longer than that.
Bridges are either not marked on city streets or marked lower than they are,maybe,never assume nothing.
If you spent a few thousand on driving school and than spent a few months as a starving 2nd seat driver/trainee,don't blow it all over the cost of a map,the first time you get sent to NYC,buy one,a good one,who cares if you never use it again,if you make it in and out with no problem and the trailer in one piece,you will still have a job,don't blow your job over the cost of a map and call for directions,looking at a map alone ain't going to get you to a lot of places,what looked good on the map,won't look good when you get there,you need to call them also.Than look at the map and see what they ment in english.
I asked one lady if there was room to park for the night
"yeh big lot on the side of the building"
is it safe
"yeh no problem"
Without a map,I might have screwed up trying to find the place,she said just go straight off the ramp and the road went sort of straight 3 different ways.Having a map I knew which straight she ment,straight down whatever BLVD. it was.
It was a small lot and there was no way to back in at 10pm with the traffic.So at about 3am when the garbage dumpster truck came and woke me up,I was able to back out of the hole I drove into at 10pm and get turned around and back in after he got the dumpster.This big lot wouldn't hold 2 trucks I just about croaked when somebody knocked on my truck at 3am and than hearing the diesel engine running,made for a big sight of releif.Ah just a truck driver.
Not many places to spend the night in the city,either you ain't safe or you won't be able to idle your truck.
Everyone has the right away except you,let them go first,they are more important than you,at least they think so,let them go.Many of them won't give up trying to get past a truck,let them go.About 1/4 of the people will give you a break,so wait for the one that will cut you some slack.If you want to change companies,an accident is an accident on paper to some recruiting clerk,let them go first,keep your record clean.Forget this S.O.B. ain't cutting me off stuff,let them go.There is 8 million people in NYC plus millions more in the metro area,you ain't going to even in 100 lifetimes teach them all a lesson,let them go.
Right turn on RED is against the law in NYC,unless there is a sign permitting it,I'v never noticed one yet.
and turn the damn CB on,somebody might just tell you exactly where your going,just to get you the hell out of the way faster.
Alexandria, VA, June 8, 2003 - Robert Hirsch, president of the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) today expressed disappointment that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rejected a pilot program aimed at the trucking industry's critical and growing driver shortage.
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Answer:
Good post. Sure it will help a lot of people.
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
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ive seen but you forgot this
they will honk their horn at every light....let them go...lol
I've smoked d___ and chewed rope
Fought, f___, farted, shot the moon and drove big trucks
I've been to Janesville Maine, Blain, Spain and Spokane
Been around the world twice, seen three world fairs
Seen man shot into space and goats screwing in the market place
BUT I ain't never seen anything like the stuff that goes on around this
place ......
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I lived there for 30 yrs. and left for good reasons, many are the ones you listed that haven't happened to you.I drove a truck local in Queens 20 yrs. ago and it sucked. I just recently had a run to L.I. and many memories came flooding back. I used my memory of the area to bypass a closed LI expwy. for a turned over truck and was very happy when I got to PA.
It's just an area full of aggravation that I don't need. But I do miss the food!

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Damn good post. I printed it out.

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Me too. Excellent info. THANKS!!!
DD

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Tip # 1
Don't go there.
Tip # 2
Don't go there.
Tip # 3
Review tips # 1 and 2

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Brooklyn and Queens are on the physical part of long island.
just drive like you know what your are doing, your more likely to wreck getting there than when your there.
Always tell the lumpers that they are overpriced and you want to see their green card and working papers, it works, regardless of what you have been told.
you pay going into the city but not coming out on the GWB
always get phone numbers of where you are going to, and use them.
DON"T EAT THE CHINESE FOOD,take my word for it, i've delivered to the whses.
RAT,BIG RAT ,kkkiiilll cccaaatttt,oh boy they grow big down there.
Garbage trucks have the right of way, give it or they WILL take it from you, besides they know the streets better than the cops
green means go, yellow means go faster
I LUV NY,and i hate the buckeye,I LUV NY, and vermont is backwards,I LUV NY,new jersey is crazy,I LUV NY, south of the mason dixon is hillbilly land,I LUV NY

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No company pays enough for me to put up with NYC.
@#*!%$^@!
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Anyone know any companies for newbies that have NYC as optional? I think most do?
Hey, if life throws you a curve ball, try and take a swing at it. Who knows what might happen

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Also, forgot. Is there a website about all of these laws and what you can and can't do in NYC and other cities?
Hey, if life throws you a curve ball, try and take a swing at it. Who knows what might happen

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I think I will print this one out for Hubby since we never know when we could be visiting the area. The tips about places to avoid will come in handy.
Speaking of low bridges, where ARE the REAL low bridges? Rand McNally lists many including some on I-278 if memory serves me right. Is there any source such as city maps that gives the real scoop or is it learned thru trial and error and help from the locals?
Driver to dispatcher, "I was just learning thru trial and error so I thought I'd test and see if that 12'2" marked bridge was really 12'2" or not." Dispatcher: "Well????" Driver: "It was".
Since Hubby and I don't really know squat about the place we would attempt to do the sensible thing and pick a 53' truck route without any Rand McNally marked low bridges. We would then attempt to get driver clarification of our route before committing to it (sometime before the exit ramp). And if all else fails just follow that truck, if he fits under it then we know its ok. The other week up in Niagara Falls while attempting to follow the well-meaning directions of a shipper we encountered a couple low bridges. Hubby stopped, surveyed the situation and decided he wasn't fitting under THAT and backed up and got turned around.
My favorite advice is that supplied by DAK1, "Don't go"! I was wondering how long it would take someone to share that since IMO it's the best advice (if possible). However, for those (like Hubby) not in the position to pick and choose their destinations better follow Ziggy's advice and be prepared.
I saw a helpful link supplied by Bedspread recently that lists Chicago low clearances. Is there anything similar about NY City on the net?
A mind is a terrible thing to have.
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Lol! I printed this one out too. I don't even start school until October and already I'm worried about New York City.

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Try to stay away from the elevated trains. MANY ARE to low to pass under.
Life will give you what you're willing to fight for!

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Every one is afraid of it. I like running New York City. Upper/Lower Manattan is a pain, but not bad over all. I would rather run the city then Chicago anyday. Chicago has more low over passes then anyother city. Traffic is bad 23 hours a day and the people are nuts. For some reason I think most of the drivers that complain about it havn't been there since the 80's or something.202 N Main Street
Summerfield Il 62289
TRUCK PARKING AVAILABLE!