Going from Phoenix, AZ to NYC

[PatrickCampbell]

At the end of August I am going from Phoenix to NYC via Albequerque, Amarillo, OK City, St Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus and others in between.



Although this is probably unrealistic, It'd be great if someone bought a GN flat bed or car hauler in my area and I would haul it back for FREE if you let me put my Jetta and 6x12 U-haul trailer on it.



Otherwise I will be pulling the 6x12 behind my truck and girlfriend will be driving the Jetta... and I will probably have some extra room in the bed of my truck or in the trailer if anyone is buying anything in my area or along the way that they'd like hauled at a TDR members price (throw me a couple bucks for fuel).



Here's my route roughly, unless anyone has suggestions for a better route? This is what most of the map programs are suggesting.

http://xj.cdevco.net/goinghome.gif



Should be fun this is the first time my "new" truck will have any load behind it with me driving. Last truck was an 03 auto 4x4 that had 100K miles of at 15k-20k GCWR within 9 months of owning it. Moved to PHX and it got stolen. The "new" 01 has 176K miles with a few upgrades, gets 20 MPG in the city. Still needs a few thousand dumped into it though

 

[JRD]

I actually have a way that will save you about 1 hour travel time and is a few less miles for you. I took this route when I was going through Albequerque, Amarillo, OK City, on up to Minnesota. Anyway its the samne route I was going to take until a trucker showed me this route. And it was much faster. If you dont mind a non divided highway for a little bit this is the route to go. From your area get on the 101 to the 202 EAST. Get off at Country Club Dr. (state route 87) and hang a left. Take route 87 all the way to Payson. Hook up with route 260 through SHow Low. After Show Low, hook up onto route 77 to Holbrook. From there you can hit I-40 and go on your normal path. Its very easy route and like I said, it saves you about an hour drive time. Get yourself a map so you can better see the route Im explaining but here are 2 maps to give you the general idea of where Im talking about. Oh and another thing the trucker told me was, if you ever get feeling tired. Buy a bag of plain old Tootsie Roll Pops and keep them near you. You get tired just pop one in you mouth a suck on it, I dont know how it works... but it does, perked me right up. Good Luck.

 

[JRD]

Well I cant post the pics of the maps, files are too large and if I make them small enought to fit, you cant tell what im trying to show you.

 

[AKAMAC]

You might PM member Tx Gooseneck. (I'm sure it's spelled different) He sells and hauls trailers across the country. He might have something going that way and you could help each other out. Good luck and have a safe trip. Mike

 

[NIsaacs]

Dang, it's too bad your girlfriend has to drive the car. Is it your own u-haul or a rental? Is it enclosed or open top? I am assuming that you need the trailer to haul personal items. Can you get a bigger trailer and haul the car and every thing else. How about making some cheap side boards out of 4x8 plywood for your truck and haul personals in the truck, then haul car on the trailer?





"NICK"

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Yeah it will be our stuff in the u-haul. We got a decent rate on the u-haul though - $150 1 way for 9 days. Enclosed 6x12. I would love to get a bigger trailer but I can't justify buying a trailer just so she doesn't have to drive. We got a pair of GMRS radios so we can talk I'm actually interested in getting into car hauling and might buy a 2 car hauler at some point down the road but don't think I'm ready just yet so now would not be the time.

 

[Buffalo]

Patrick Campbell,



Try and plan your fuel fill-up so that you need a complete fill-up in Okla. City or Edmond, OK.



The Flying J's auto diesel prices as of 7/31/'05 were $2. 13/9 per gal. The price in Phoenix (Flying J) is $2. 50/9 per gal. It's ridiculous!!! Winslow, AZ was $2. 27/9 per gal.



If you get on Flying J.com & go to their "gasoline" pricing schedule then look under auto-diesel, you will find their pricing all across the country. Generally, the "J" is quite reasonable.



Also, before you get to Albuquerque, NM, there is a truck stop/casino on the reservation (southside of I-40). Their pricing is generally reasonable, also. I would print out the "J's" pricing across the country and do "comparison shopping" on your trip.



Are you planning on coming back to AZ or, is this just a vacation?



By the way, if you punch in the "diesel pricing" on the J's website, you will get the "big truck" prices which, in many cases are different than what the auto diesel prices are.



Have a safe & enjoyable trip.



PS: If you are taking I-70 across the country & are going to be in Terra Haute, IN the 27-28th of August, Scheid's Diesel Extravaganza will be at the Fairgrounds. It's a great diesel event. We have nothing like it, here in AZ. It's a "serious" event with drag racing, tractor and truck pulling, dyno's, and a lot of vendors. People come from all over the country for this event. I was there a couple of years ago, and had a ball! If you like diesel trucks, it's well worth the time. It's better than Disneyland.



Joe F. (Buffalo)

 

[PatrickCampbell]

10-4 on the Flying J. They seem to be the cheapest in any given area. Also they have "pay at the pump" which knocks 5% off the price for me via my fuel credit card. I think we will just miss the diesel fest unfortunately... We'll be leaving AZ on the 27th morning.



We are in fact going home for good. Been out here just over a year. AZ was sort of a Check it out, see how it goes and get away for a little to get rid of my debt and get my act together.

 

[NWest]

PatrickCampbell-



What credit card do you have that gives you 5% back? I've got a Chase PerfectCard that used to pay 6% for a few months, now does 3%.

 

[PatrickCampbell]

It is a Chase Shell card that got grandfathered in somehow and is now called Chase Freedom.



I should double check actually to make sure I'm still getting 5% because you never what they will change on you. They send me a thing the other month that said my max savings per month is $100 which would be $2000 worth of fuel or about 800 gallons. Sounds reasonable to me. Now chase just did this whole renovation with Bank1 so I'll have to double check again.



There is a AAA Visa, but it has some terms and conditions. You get 5% cash back BUT that 5% can't be more than 2% of your total balance that month. So you can't use it as a "fuel only" card like I do with my Chase card.



"The Gas Rebate will be calculated at a rate of 5% multiplied by your total eligible gas volume (merchant category code 5542 transactions) for that billing cycle and limited to 2% of your total net retail purchase transactions (excluding returns) for that billing cycle. "