From: Sonny Heath (sonny@defuniak.com)
Date: Fri Nov 19 2004 - 18:06:27 PST
Nobody told me that Auther, it was me in the truck reading the clearance
signs at like eleven feet six inches. That was in either 1995 or 1996. The
actual clearance was at least 13'6" because I went ahead and cleared.
Somebody told me on the CB that they measured from the hub to get their
markings for the signs. I was going up Interstate 95 as I remember it and I
turned east, crossed a big bridge and went to Long Island to deliver a
partial load of paper products. My wife was with me and we still talk about
that trip to hell. The delivery address was across a railroad track and I
had to turn right in to a junkyard and then back out of the junkyard and up
beside the tracks about 500 yards and left in to a dock at a rickedy
warehouse with about six inches of clearance as I put it around the curve
and down the ramp to the dock. I thought "Never again" No wonder they paid
us an extra $100.00 anytime we had a delivery to any of the five burroughs
of New York
Now if you're from there or at least worked there I'm wondering how this
happened to me and some residents never knew of it being that way. It won't
effect me again because I won't take my rig there ever.
As a matter of fact I encountered that again last summer. I left my
daughters house in New Palz, New York headed south to the interstate through
the country and I hit the very same problem within a few miles of the Pa.
line. That time I stopped at the overpass and started asking people in cars
about the clearance, finally a man told me that he didn't think I would have
any problem getting under it because he saw big trucks of all sorts go under
it all the time. I didn't trust him and backed up and went around it which
took me about fifteen miles out of my way. I can probably look on the map
and tell you the name of that little New York village.
MV content. I was headed to pick up another military truck.
Sonny
----- Original Message -----
From: "m35products" <m35prod@optonline.net>
To: "Sonny Heath" <sonny@defuniak.com>; "Military Vehicles Mailing List"
<mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 7:22 PM
Subject: Re: [MV] Highway truck scales
> Sonny, whoever told you that was kidding with you. All overpasses on NY
> highways (and I suspect, in other states) capable of handling commercial
> traffic are posted with a number that is, in fact, up to a foot lower that
> the actual clearance, to give drivers a bit of a break if they have
figured
> their height wrong.
>
> HOWEVER, there are roads within the NYC and Long Island area that are
named
> "Parkways" and these are part of a system of highways originally designed
by
> a racist lunatic named Robert Moses. (As an adventure in reading, you
might
> want to read up on his exploits. He was a con-man who was at one time
> considered the most powerful man in NY State, and was not elected or
> appointed. He just "was".)
>
> The parkways were originally designed to allow ONLY passenger cars to
travel
> on them. NO buses or trucks. The feeling was that the parks and beaches on
> Long Island that the parkways served were to be enjoyed only by middle
class
> and higher class people from NY City who could afford a car. Those low
class
> stiffs who could only afford a bus ride were excluded by Moses. The
parkway
> clearances under the arched overpasses are significantly lower than "real"
> highways. (Sometimes as low as 11 feet in the middle lane and 8 feet at
the
> edges) In NY, the difference is "Expressway" vs "Parkway" and truck
> drivers, especially, must be alert to the difference.
>
> As a rescue truck crew member, working for the NYC police, I often
> encountered semi drivers, stopped abruptly in front of these low
overpasses,
> without a clue as to how they got there (not paying attention to warning
> signs) and no clue as to how to go back and try some other route. That
> always resulted in hours-long tie-ups as the truck needed to be backed-up
> the ON ramp, often a mile back. On several occasions, we would encounter a
> truck wedged under a bridge, with cargo spread over the road. One night,
it
> was frozen duck. All the drivers of the cars going the other way had duck
> for dinner. There were thousands of them as far as the eye could see.
> Another time it was watermelon. "Slippery, but Yummy".
>
> apb
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sonny Heath" <sonny@defuniak.com>
> To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>; "m35products"
> <m35prod@optonline.net>
> Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 7:57 PM
> Subject: Re: [MV] Highway truck scales
>
>
> > It tickled me a few years ago as I entered New York and saw that the
> > clearances posted for bridges, etc was much less that what I could get
> under
> > with the rig that I had so I got on my radio and asked what was going on
> > with the markings on so and so highway. A driver answered and said "pay
> no
> > attention to the clearances, the idiots in New York measure from the hub
> of
> > the vehicle to post the clearances, keep on trucking, you'll clear it
> fine"
> > Since then I have had a different frame of mind on anything originating
in
> > New York. No personal offense to anyone of course.
> >
> > Sonny
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "m35products" <m35prod@optonline.net>
> > To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
> > Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 6:33 PM
> > Subject: Re: [MV] Highway truck scales
> >
> >
> > > You are correct (at least in the Serene People's Socialist State of
> > > Clintonia.) NY State V&T law talks about the "weight as stated on the
> > > manufacturer's original bill of sale" as a reference to what's the
> correct
> > > weight of something being registered. Interestingly, the registered
> weight
> > > is not typed on the registration document that is stuck to the
> windshield.
> > A
> > > LEO must ask to see the "other" registration document, which is also
> > > required to be carried. Royal Pain in the Ass, in my humble opinion.
> apb
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "GOTaM35" <GOTaM35@joetrapp.com>
> > > To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
> > > Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 7:27 PM
> > > Subject: Re: [MV] Highway truck scales
> > >
> > >
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Bjorn Brandstedt" <super_deuce@hotmail.com>
> > > > >
> > > > > A new question now emerges: What is the "real" GVWR for the deuce.
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > My truck weighs about 14,000 pounds empty. The tag on the dash (it
> was
> > > put
> > > > there by the manufacturer) states the capacity of the truck is 2.5
> tons
> > > off
> > > > road and 5 tons on the highway. That means the factory's, which is
> all
> > > that
> > > > maters in these cases, indicated my truck has a potential gross
weight
> > of
> > > > 24,000 pounds loaded.
> > > >
> > > > Laws change, but a few years ago the manufacturers rating is all
that
> > > > mattered. We found out the hard way that buying a truck rated at
over
> > > > 26,000 meant only a CDL driver could operate even if you tagged it
for
> > > less
> > > > than 26,000. I think we have the paid ticket to prove it :-)
> > > >
> > > > Joe Trapp
> > > >
> > > > And yes, I have forgotten more than I remember.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ===Mil-Veh is a member-supported mailing list===
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> > > > To switch to the DIGEST mode, send e-mail to
> > <mil-veh-digest@mil-veh.org>
> > > > To reach a human, contact <ack@mil-veh.org>
> > >
> > >
> > > ===Mil-Veh is a member-supported mailing list===
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> > > To reach a human, contact <ack@mil-veh.org>
> >
>
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