Is Driving In The Northeast Really That Bad?

I've been up and down the east coast, and lived in RI for my entire life. No money to be made; Every road is slow going and hilly, therefore getting you fewer miles.

That is not entirely true Linden. On a Dedicated assignment like Walmart or Target, there is excellent money to be made.

Yeah. It's awesome dedicated because you're almost guaranteed the miles. But OTR or otherwise you're basically out of luck.

Yeah. It's awesome dedicated because you're almost guaranteed the miles. But OTR or otherwise you're basically out of luck.

Not exactly how it works...there is no gaurantee of minimum mileage. Top performers get the best runs, no different with Dedicated than with OTR.

Depending on the account, NE mileage pay (CPM) is 35-45% higher than OTR. There is additional pay for stops after the first (a good day is five stops), and flat dispatch pay.

I think the Northeast is vastly overblown. When I first went solo I ran up there most of the winter, and the entirety of December, and that month I didn't have a single week under 3,000 miles.

I never really had parking issues up there, in over 3 years OTR I have never once parked in a non-parking spot. I have parked on streets where it is legal to park a handful of times in areas where there is not rest areas or truck stops (Oakland comes to mind), or for convenience.

There are a few nasty traffic areas, cross-bronx and into Connecticut probably being the worst section of interstate in the country, but those exist in every metro area. I think I've had more issues with traffic in Cali than the northeast. Hell, Texas traffic has been getting pretty bad lately.

Tight backs exist everywhere, a few of the gnarliest that I can think of were in Denver and Chicago. I've never delivered into NYC because my company simply doesn't (we drop in NJ and they get shagged in by local drivers), but I've delivered plenty in Boston, Baltimore, Philly, Newark, etc... I mean I was nervous as hell the first couple times I drove into these cities but there was never a reason to be.

The northeast is great in the winter, pretty rare that roads get closed. Out west that is a much more common occurrence. I'm guessing due to the population density road crews are much more proactive. Elevation differences may effect that too, I'm from South Texas so I don't know much about snow and it's removal. I just know how to drive on it now.

If you are responsible for paying your tolls, I could see avoiding it. But for the average company driver, nothing to fear up there. I've always been mystified when I hear one of our lease drivers say they don't go up there (for reasons other than tolls).

Every area of the country has it's problems, except Nebraska. Your only issue there is not falling asleep behind the wheel passing your ten thousandth corn field.

Yeah. It's awesome dedicated because you're almost guaranteed the miles. But OTR or otherwise you're basically out of luck.

Not exactly how it works...there is no gaurantee of minimum mileage. Top performers get the best runs, no different with Dedicated than with OTR.

Depending on the account, NE mileage pay (CPM) is 35-45% higher than OTR. There is additional pay for stops after the first (a good day is five stops), and flat dispatch pay.

Yeah. No offense, but I purposely put "almost". You're right, top performers always will get the best. NE pay is also higher, because, for the most part, people don't want to do it. What I mean is there is usually consistent freight; The customers got a dedicated account for a reason. Of course, sometimes those accounts can go downhill... But, this is the same for any dedicated account. For dedicated, the same customers will have freight, no matter where the account is. Northeast has a slight lack of people who are willing to do it. I'm basically repeating myself here, so I'll stop.

I've run up there with a trainer; and I've run up there as a solo driver.

CERTAIN parts of the Northeast are okay. Pennsylvania...upstate NY, Maine, etc.

But when you get involved in NYC, Newark, Boston, etc., it's stress inducing.

Roads are narrow. High traffic. Tight intersections where you HAVE to jug handle to make the turn.

People won't yield the right of way. Tight backing at difficult angles. Driving through burned out neighborhoods in high crime areas to get to a reciever.

Yet, I've never refused or whined about a load going up there. To me, as a company driver, thats unprofessional to not want to work because its a difficult load.

Not to say I like it; I don't. A lot of people think that NYC, Manhattan in particular is bad (it is), I always had my worst experiences at the Boston Meat Market.

Not to mention the problem of truck parking.

I go, but I'm more than happy after I get on the GWB heading *southbound* on I-95.

They mostly keep me on the West Coast now anyway. California is a pain, Los Angeles is a pain, but its a comforting pain because if I am in California, I'm not in NYC.

xD