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My husband and I are renting a truck to move from FL to NY. We're also going to tow our Miata on a car carrier. We are renting a 16 foot through Budget. The trip will be about 1150 miles straight but we are planning on making a few stops on the way. We are only trying to make this a 2 day trip- staying in a hotel half way overnight. Any recommendations? Where should we stay if we are driving half way? Somewhere safe and won't have to worry about anything happening to our belongings. We don't want to get too off track so we are trying to stay just a few miles away from the exits.
How hard is it to drive one of these trucks while towing our car? We've both never drove a truck before so should we be cautious about anything? Any pointers or tips?
Also, what day & time of the week would be it be smart to leave? Any ideas of which highways to go on to make this a smooth trip?
Dillon, SC was the most popular place to stop for people driving from NYC to Orlando, FL (Disney). It's as close to half way between the two cities as you can get, and the popular "South of the Border" tourist spot is located there. It's really going to depend where at in Florida you are, vs where at in NY you're going to - but somewhere between South Carolina, and North Carolina would be a decent place to find a hotel.
Driving the Truck isn't the hard part. It'll be remembering that you're towing a trailer on top of this that may come back to bite you. When you're pulling into a truck stop/hotel/gas station, you're going to want to find a place you can pull in and pull out of with ease. Avoid backing up when possible. Those who aren't used to hauling a trailer can get easily frustrated with backing up.
As far as recommendations for which highways to take, I-95 is a straight shot, and is going to be the most driver friendly with you towing the vehicle behind your truck. finding places to pull in and out of will be fairly easy with this route.
The stop and go for tolls is a huge pain,not sure about weigh stations.
I got my EZPass transponder several years ago which made it a breeze.
Going north fill up before you hit NC border and then fill up again just north of Richmond VA at exit 104.
Anything after that, take out your gold bars and just hand them over to the gas companies. NJ still has gas attendents. NJ is not the cheapest in prices anymore since they raise the gas tax up I think 35 cents a gallon.
I travel the Charleston SC from I26 to I95 all the way up to I hit the NYS Thruway. On the pike stay in the car/truck lanes from Brunswick (I think). I use these lanes all the time because the lanes have less traffic although you have to deal with truck traffic.
I use gas buddy on the app. It really helps with the prices.
The stop and go for tolls is a huge pain,not sure about weigh stations.
I got my EZPass transponder several years ago which made it a breeze.
EZPass is the best! Just make sure you set up the account online prior to departure and make sure that you put in all the vehicle info in so that you won't get fined later. The app has different categories for the way you travel too. Vehicle, Vehicle pulling, motorcycle, etc.
My husband and I are renting a truck to move from FL to NY. We're also going to tow our Miata on a car carrier. We are renting a 16 foot through Budget. The trip will be about 1150 miles straight but we are planning on making a few stops on the way. We are only trying to make this a 2 day trip- staying in a hotel half way overnight. Any recommendations? Where should we stay if we are driving half way? Somewhere safe and won't have to worry about anything happening to our belongings. We don't want to get too off track so we are trying to stay just a few miles away from the exits.
How hard is it to drive one of these trucks while towing our car? We've both never drove a truck before so should we be cautious about anything? Any pointers or tips?
Also, what day & time of the week would be it be smart to leave? Any ideas of which highways to go on to make this a smooth trip?
Thanks
That would depend on where in FL you are leaving from and where in NY you are going
Driving a rig like this can be a problem if you dont take extra space to turn as although the front of the truck will clear a corner or parked car the backend will have a tendency to snag poles/cars/sidewalks.
Not sure where in FL or NY you are traveling. We did the Upstate to FL Keys and back again every year. To avoid the $$$ tolls (we were driving a motorhome and towing) you might look at the Route 95 > 26 > 77 > 81 > 84 > 87. For us it added about 1 hour to the trip but saved on tolls and congestion and was a much nicer trip.
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No toll trip
