I have been looking for companies hiring in the Northeast. Some are paying more if you drive in the Northeast. Why is that? Snow, dense population, crowded roads, what is it?

 

its b/c drving up there takes alot of patience...... to say the least...................

 

Snow can be found just about anywhere. And to be sure, it is much more of a problem in some of the Western mountain ranges. But your other two ideas are pretty on target.

The Northeast tends to be undesirable to a lot of drivers. Traffic congestion, poorly designed city street infrastuctures, lack of parking, limited facilities for drivers, lots of anti idle laws (though the rest of the country is catching up on that), having to pay to park at truck stops... There are a lot of negative points and a lot of drivers just aren't fond of the NE because of them.

 

I live in the Northeast and would have to agree with you about the infrastructure. You are right about the snow, you can find it about anywhere.

I saw one company offering $100 just to go to Long Island. You can not take a tractor into NYC. They have outlawed them there.

It seems someone that is hungary could do well here in the Northeast driving.

What am I missing?

 

I presume you've never been onto Long Island. If you ever get the opportunity, bring a lunch. You'll be there all day. Which is another reason for those incentives. Going into NYC or Long Island is generally quite time consuming. It can really wreck your mileage for the day. As trucking goes, for the company driver anyway, no miles = no money. the bonus money (or "combat pay" as NYC bonuses are often called) helps to make up for that loss.

 

I deliver in queens and then a few stops on long island every tuesday. From stroudsburg, pa and back it is 230 miles but it takes me 9 hours and no where to stop for lunch.

 

Ok now I see what I was missing. I have driven on the LIE and I have seen the parking lots on the LIE. Just never thought about it in that light.

 

There's more. A couple of years ago, I talked to a retired NYC cop that went to driving. It was suggested that as a cop, he knew the city well enough that he would be a good candidate to get all that $100 combat pay per load. He said that even at $1,000 a load, it is not enough to run a truck into NYC. When you have drivers that refuse to go there, companies have to pay more to get drivers to run it.

 

I imagine if you're talking regional/local driving jobs that they take into consideration the cost of living. If you're talking regular jobs with extra pay for going to the northeast- it's because no one wants to drive up there- traffic, small roads (even the interstates), bad roads, confusion.

Our company also charges $100 extra for anything on or off long island- so if you get a couple cars out there sometimes it works out well. The tolls are crazy- Almost $30 both ways if you cross from the Cross-Bronx side- same for coming in via Staten Island. And if you leave out via Staten Island it's somewhere around $50.

I don't think it's the tractor that's the problem in NYC- Long Island and Manhattan. It's the 53 foot trailer. They aren't allowed- you're supposed to get a permit. We go to Long Island and Manhattan fairly often- more often to Long Island. We've never gotten a permit. The cops don't know their stuff there- I don't mean that in a negative way. It has been my experience that they know their little segment of the world and that's it. I asked a cop in Manhattan for directions once and his directions were literally "go a few blocks that way and ask another cop- he'll know.",

They know their little area and that's it.

I'm not saying I won't get slammed with some huge ticket someday- I'm just sharing my experiences.

Tips:
*If you can go in in the middle of the night and/or leave in the middle of the night, you're much better off. In Manhattan you can park over by Jacob Javitz convetion center, on Long Island there are a few rest areas- the further out you're going the better your chances of finding a spot.
*If you go to Manhattan, keep in mind that not all low clearances are low- we go in via the 3rd street bridge (or is it the 2nd street bridge?) and you go under several low bridges... but they are marked a foot or so lower than they really are.
*If you go in (or out) via Staten Island and you're coming from (or going to) southern NJ, cross on 440- the Outer Crossing rather than the Goethals Bridge. Less traffic. It's also slightly less tolls- on the NJ TNPK side- the bridges cost the same). Take 440 to 278/BQE or vice versa for outbound.
*If you travel the BQE (I 278), ignore the signs that say all trucks over ** must exit (I think they may have changed the signs again so I'm not sure but it's marked lower than 13'6"). Just get in the middle lane. I don't think the right lane is actually low and I think I've seen trucks in that lane, but I'd hate to find out differently.

 

The best way to understand the problem of driving in the northeast is to visualize the trip I made out to Denver and Las Vegas and return to Mississippi.....hour after hour of 75MPH...I ran 4400 miles in 7 days... :lol: . Made 1500 bucks doing it, too. You can make 1500 bucks in the NE in 7 days, too, I'm sure....but it ain't gonna be near as much fun!