New York City?!?!?! Get a rope... (For those who didn't catch that reference, watch this:
This Stuff's Made In New York City!!! Pace Thick & Chunky - YouTube )
We don't have stores in NYC, so I don't have that problem. As for 'east coast,' I don't care for the actual coastal areas. Give me the hills and hollers of Wild, Wonderful Worst Virginia any day. That said, if I get a run to the north or to the coast, I run it. I may not like it, but I'll do it. I know that dispatch will make up for it somewhere somehow. The dispatcher I have now may pull some stupid stunts, but she's never lied to me. Neither have the previous ones I've had. When it comes to who gets what load, sometimes it's bad luck and sometimes it's good luck.
This reminds me of a run I was supposed to do several years ago. (Mind you, I run on a dedicated account based in South Boston, VA, as did my friend) I was pre-assigned a two-stop load to Middlesex, NC and Sneads Ferry, NC. It paid around $300 and one could do most of that run in a day. Don, on the other hand, had a 3- or 4-stop load that only went to Lynchburg and Madison Heights, which only paid $150ish, but would take 6 less hours to do. Since Don liked to spin the odometer more than me (and I knew my way around Lynchburg, as I was raised 10 miles away), he called and fussed at our former dispatcher, who switched our trips. I thought nothing more of it until I returned to the yard. I checked my phone, and there was a message. I called Don back and he sounded a bit irritated. He said "You'll never guess what I found in my trailer today." I said, "Ok, gimme three guesses. Either A) manure (which had been found in a tote by the ladies at the Vansant, VA store some years back), B) a snake (which had been found in a rolltainer at the Buena Vista, VA store, and in a rolltainer at the Wakefield, VA store) or C) a stowaway (which none of us have found, to my knowledge)." He said, "Well, you got one right." My prophetic response? "Oh crap..."
Warning: Those with weak stomachs and Pringles addictions should quit reading now.
Somebody did their business in one end of a case of Pringles (which are open on each end) and threw the strikin' paper in the other end. I'm sure our dispatcher heard more four-letter words in their phone conversation that I've heard all year. To my knowledge, the person who did that was not caught or punished. When I was on the phone with Don, he said "I reckon that's what I get for griping about a [figuratively] crappy load."