Ice Roads in Canada? Fuhgeddaboudit! Try Trucking into Lower Manhattan

Gary Morgan believes the Ice Road Truckers ain’t got nothing on him and his father-in-law when it comes to tough driving conditions.

“You think the ice roads of remote Alaska and Canada are stressful? Try making 25 stops each day delivering high-end furniture to hotels and small showrooms in downtown New York City and in the Hamptons on the east end of Long Island,” Gary said. For more than two decades, Gary and his father-in-law, Kenneth Jarrell, have worked as truck drivers delivering furniture for various trucking companies.

“For years, we both worked for Shelba D. Johnson Trucking hauling high-end furniture from a factory in North Carolina to mom and pop stores and hotels in Lower Manhattan and in the Hamptons,” he said. “If you think ice roads are dangerous, try parking a 68-foot rig, delivering a very expensive sofa into a tall building in Lower Manhattan using a handtruck and then get back on the road and navigate New York City streets to your next stop.”

Gary recently nominated his 75-year-old father-in-law for recognition of his 51 years of safe driving service to the trucking industry in Drivewyze’s National Truck Driver Appreciation Week Contest. For more details, see last week’s blog entry “Drivewyze Website Visitors Choose Great Grandfather-to-be as Contest Winner.”

While Gary and Kenneth still move furniture for North Carolina factories and warehouses, which is also called stick hauling, Gary now works for another trucking company that doesn’t make as many trips into New York City. Gary, who drives a 1987 Peterbilt Model 362 cabover, prefers to stay out of the Big Apple. And Kenneth, who drives a 2006 Freightliner Columbia for Kenneth, can only accept loads he doesn’t have to touch.

“Making deliveries into New York City has changed dramatically over the past 20 years,” Gary said. “It can be quite a bit more challenging to get in and out of the city.”

Drivewyze weigh station bypass, which Gary has loaded on to his smartphone, has made a huge difference in helping him stay on schedule when he does have to go into New York and other dense urban areas. Gary began using Drivewyze weigh station bypass about a year ago. “With Drivewyze, I can avoid the traffic and delays in and around weigh stations and inspection sites. And that can make it easier to time my trips so that I can get in and out of metro areas before the evening commutes begin.”

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