The GPS instructed me to turn right, onto a narrow road paved with bricks. While I would normally disregard this kind of direction, I chose to take it - since I was only operating a bobtail tractor. The route became very narrow; cars lined both sides of the street; the houses appeared to be historic; tree branches hung low; hills were steep & slippery; and turns became tight. What were my directions thinking?!
I finally arrived at the assigned customer & picked up my empty trailer. To get to my next destination, the company-provided directions tried to get me to take the same roads I had just struggled through. That absolutely wasn't going to happen. Physically impossible with a trailer. Since my Rand-McNally truck GPS had expired into a yellow screen long ago, my next tool was Google Maps via my iPhone. These are not truck-specific. I studied the suggested route before I got rolling. There was nothing on satellite to indicate truck restrictions or inhibitions. A mile into the trip: "No trucks beyond this point". There were no signs indicating where I COULD go. So, I turned left - finding myself in a newly-constructed condominium community. The streets were too tight for me to make ANY turns, even with my trailer axles slid all the way forward. I wiggled and backed for 30 minutes. One of my options out of the situation was to call the police (but that option cost me $300 the last time I was in this wretched portion of the state). So, I resigned myself to turning the best I could - climbing curbs & indenting grass with my trailer tandems. Luck smiled on me - I didn't cause any damage to the community. I had to break a few laws to get to the big highway, but there were no other options. I didn't suffer any lingering consequences. But I do have this to say - the engineers of much of the Northeast are either sadistic bastards or they are wildly ignorant to the plight of truck drivers.
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