Posted 2011-08-27 12:44 PM (#137045) Subject: How do you find the best route when you haul?
New User
Posts: 1
Location: CA
Hi. I know someone knows the answer to this very basic question. I'm new to hauling a horse trailer, a 2H Logan Coach Slant with my Silverado 1500. I haul an ATV on a Zieman, so I know some basics. My first trip was 10 hours from SoCal Rancho Cucamonga to NorCal Bay Area, quite the learning experience. Good thing the trailer was empty. Two things happened that convinced me that picking the right route at the right time is critical. So my question is....how do you find the best routes for hauling?
First, I got up at 4AM to get on the road at 4:30 and found the 210 freeway near LA packed with compact cars driving 65mph weaving in and out of the truck lanes. Don't want to do that again, too stressful in the dark, although I learned my TomTom GPS and truckers are my friends for knowing when to merge left because the lane will exit. I caravanned with some semis and survived.
Second, when I got close to home in the Bay Area, I took the regular route on 580 I've taken many times in a passenger car. Traffic was light mid-day, so wasn't a problem. The problem is that I don't drive my car in the right lane. At or below the hauling speed limit of 55mph, I drove over a peaked, A-shaped repair/sink in the far right lane around an S curve. It was NOT something I could have steered around: not enough time to see it and avoid it. It sent both the truck and trailer airborne. If I'd loaded a horse, it would have been down and severely injured. I was stunned. It looked like the macadam had subsided after where it connected to a concrete culvert or other element.
I talked to a couple of people afterwards and learned I should detoured both problem areas. How do I figure the smoothest, safest route for each trip? Is there a GPS device for smoothest truck routes? A website? Help, please.
Posted 2011-08-27 3:06 PM (#137047 - in reply to #137045) Subject: RE: How do you find the best route when you haul?
Regular
Posts: 95 Location: Seattle "pshaw, its not raining hardly at all!" WA
it would be awesome for the GPS companies to come up with a "pick a route that is trailer friendly" ie avoiding toll roads, wierd turns, on ramps on the top of off ramps, etc.
up here in the PacNW, we tend to rely on word of mouth and experience. for example, the route south through Seattle is much more trailer friendly if you avoid I5 just south of the city. the road is HORRIBLY bumpy. we've come up with another way using lesser hiways (and I notice lots of big rigs do the same :))
I grew up in the bay area and know the freeways you describe well. Timing is critical (time your leaving so that you avoid not only your own rush hour but the rush hours in other cities that you'll move through), and avoid Friday after work and Sunday afternoons if at all possible.
Posted 2011-08-28 10:54 AM (#137058 - in reply to #137045) Subject: RE: How do you find the best route when you haul?
Veteran
Posts: 147 Location: santa clara, ca
if you go on Google maps you can also select traffic (current is default) and you can change the parameters to specific days/times so you can get an avg readout of the conditions
Posted 2011-08-28 4:08 PM (#137066 - in reply to #137045) Subject: RE: How do you find the best route when you haul?
Expert
Posts: 2953 Location: North Carolina
Don't depend on a GPS. You need to know the route you're traveling. People have died because the GPS lead them on to roads that were impassable. Europe has a huge problem with GPS sending sending truckers into one way truck traps or trucks smashing buildings too close to the road.
I use this one and it does do extremely well. I program my truck and trailer weight, height, and width, length....I set it up to avoid u-turns, gravel roads, etc. I also look it up on Google Earth and eyeball it, and keep a truckers atlas and 2 trucker atlas that have the mountain passes and grades that are invaluable!
I use this one and it does do extremely well. I program my truck and trailer weight, height, and width, length....I set it up to avoid u-turns, gravel roads, etc. I also look it up on Google Earth and eyeball it, and keep a truckers atlas and 2 trucker atlas that have the mountain passes and grades that are invaluable!
Posted 2011-08-29 3:43 PM (#137105 - in reply to #137045) Subject: RE: How do you find the best route when you haul?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 373 Location: Texas
The problem is, what you deal with in CA, many who haul horses have not ever experienced. And, you are sharing the road with drivers in little cars who are clueless to your needs of merging, braking etc. worse than some more rural areas, where at least a few drivers know you need more room to merge, stop etc. and give you the room you need.
In CA, the truck lanes will be the roughest, and most bumpy. You are restricted to the two right lanes in CA, along with that 55 mph speed limit. Other states have different restrictions. It can be very hard on the horse on sections of some of the most used highways like I-5 that has so many trucks, they can't fix the rough road fast enough.
I usually used the truck by pass type lanes at interchanges in CA and dealt with the trucks, because they place you on to the next highway where you do not have to do multiple lane changes to get back over to the right two lanes you are restricted to. But, it can be very unnerving having a large group of 18 wheelers there, and you feel like a tiny flea against them with a truck and trailer.
So there is no one way to find the best route. There often are no good routes from one point to the other in CA that is an easy drive with or without a trailer. As mentioned, use GPS as guidance. Put the settings on "truck", but mostly, watch well, well ahead for those up coming interchanges and merge as needed early. I travel with head lights on when trailering, to give that extra visibility to others on the road. I also will often look at an on line map ahead of time to see the over all route, and see if I can find other options to avoid the worse traffic.
The more you haul, the easier it gets. And if you can haul through rush our in So. CA, you can haul anywhere. ;-)
Posted 2011-08-29 5:14 PM (#137111 - in reply to #137045) Subject: RE: How do you find the best route when you haul?
Veteran
Posts: 229
Ono, I, like you, had a bit of a rough experience in CA. I traveled from Oregon to Gilroy, CA to pick up a trailer. The route, head east north of Sacramento, then head south on 680, down past San Jose, was just awful. It was both very rough and way too much traffic for a hick like me. Upon my arrival in Gilroy, the first thing that I did was pull out my trusty road map and find the best route headed east out of town. I headed east and then headed north on old 99. The road surfaces weren't the best, comparable to 680, but the hauling was really pleasant. I pretty much try to stick to the highways and forget the freeways unless I'm in a scarcely populated area, like Montana or Wyoming. It takes a bit longer, but the pleasant driving is worth it.
How do you find the best route when you haul?
