RV Driving In The East -> Tolls, EZ Pass & Low Clearances
Pre Post Note/ THANK YOU for all the lovely comments on my last post! So nice to hear from y’all and read your feedback. It makes this journey of ours aaaaaall the sweeter.
Those of you who follow the blog already know we’re currently parked just outside of New York City, but I haven’t talked about how we got here. Paul actually planned this drive for weeks and the time he put into it really made a difference to how smoothly the trip went. While I was stressing about the cat (I become a basket-case in these situations), he took all the stress out of planning but doing the leg-work to figure out the route and all the various issues that might crop up along the way. Quite a sweet-heart he is.
You see as you go East there’s several things that come into play which us West-Coast RVers don’t worry about most of the time. One is toll roads, which can be both complicated and expensive to figure out. Another is tunnels & low clearance passes which are ALL OVER the place, and can be downright dangerous in an RV if you don’t know where they are before you drive through.
Thankfully we didn’t have to figure it ALL our from scratch. Our friends Technomadia wrote about tolls on their blog some time ago, and we stole their ideas right away. Plus blog readers and other RVers have written good tips about low clearance. What I didn’t find much detail about however, was how and where to get an EZ Pass for an RV, and we actually ended up making some mistakes there. So, for this blog we’re going back a few days in time to talk through it all. Hopefully it’ll help other RVers who end up passing this way for the first time.
Toll Roads & Figuring Toll Pricing
We hit our first toll road the very day we left Michigan. It was the Ohio Turnpike, the main road that would take us through Ohio into PA the next day. This particular toll road is actually pretty easy. If you don’t have an electronic pass (EZ Pass) you just pick-up a paper ticket at the entrance booth and pay at the exit booth, either by credit card or cash. Easy peasy.
Once we got into NJ/NY however things got more complicated. Some of the toll roads are cash only, some are electronic only (they mail you a ticket) plus the toll pricing can vary enormously depending on time of day or even which direction you’re driving.
Of course you CAN work out each of the tolls individually if you use the various official state websites (like THIS one), but they’re so darn complicated & user-unfriendly that you’ll likely feel less pain by hitting your head against a brick wall. A MUCH better alternative is to pay a few $$ for an app that does all the calculating for you. We downloaded two apps both of which calculate tolls for your entire route, anywhere in the country. They also provide up to 3 alternative routes for each trip as well as specific RV support (for an added price):
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The two apps we’ve used Toll Smart – Covers USA & Canada. $3.99 base price (passenger car only, will show up to 3 alternative routes for each trip) PLUS $2.99/mo if you want to add specific RV/truck support. Available on iTunes and Google Play.
- Toll Calculator – Covers US Only. FREE for passenger car, but this will only show you ONE potential route. Add $1.99 (1 year) to show alternative routes, PLUS $3.99 (90 day subscription) for RV/truck support. Available on iTunes.
Both are fairly easy to use, but we’ve personally found Toll Smart to be somewhat more detailed and configurable, including giving you discount info for EZ Pass (if it’s available). Both will work though. Thanks to Chris & Cherie for this tip!
Getting An EZ Pass Transponder
The next step to carefree toll life is getting an EZ Pass.
EZ Pass is a snazzy electronic pass system used across 15 Eastern States (Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia,West Virginia and North Carolina). The way it works is that you get a little electronic transponder that attaches to the inside of your windshield. Then when you travel thru an E-ZPass toll plaza, an antenna reads your transponder and your account is automatically debited for the toll. All the billing is handled online so no cash, credit or anything else is needed.
We decided early on that we wanted one of these, for multiple reasons. First of all it allows you to use ANY lane on the toll entry booths. There’s nothing as stressful as trying to swing your 40-foot RV + tow over to the cash lane when you suddenly realize you’re stuck in the EZ Pass only lane and about to get a ticket for it. Secondly we discovered many of the NJ/NY tolls only accept cash (no credit card) and since we rarely travel with much cash that’s another hassle we didn’t want to go through. Thirdly there are certain toll roads (especially around New York City) that don’t take cash at all. They mail you a bill later, and that’s yet another hassle we didn’t want to deal with.
All that to say that’s it’s waaaaaay easier to get an electronic transponder IF you can actually figure out how to get one.
The short answer on how to get a transponder is that you can get it at any of the 15 participating EZ states either through their website or wherever they sell it locally. The tricky part is that some of the states charge you for it, either an up-front charge and/or a monthly maintenance charge. Plus figuring out which transponder to get, how many you need (do I need a separate one for the RV and the car?) and how long it takes to activate can put a wrench in your well-laid travel plans. Through our process we made some mistakes which you thankfully don’t have to repeat:
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EZ Pass Fees vary a lot by state Buy Your EZ Pass In A State With No Fees – Did you know that if you get your transponder in NJ you have to pay $1/mo maintenance fee whereas if you get your transponder in Delaware or Illinois you pay no maintenance fees at all? We didn’t either until we started looking into it! You can legally buy your transponder in ANY state (and use it in any other state), so unless you’re planning on spending extensive time in a given spot (local transponders typically get you extra discounts on local toll fees) you should try and snag one with minimal or no fees. To see fees in various states check out THIS site.
- Buy It Online Ahead of Time – One of the mistakes we made was not buying our EZ Pass ahead of time. Had we done that we could have gotten one from a state with no fees and had it activated and ready to use before we ever even saw a toll road. You’ll need 7-10 days to get an EZ Pass by mail, so plan ahead if that’s what you want to do.
- Specify Your Type of Vehicle & Use – Some states have different transponders for multiple axle vehicles (RV’s) versus passenger cars or they require you to buy and register a separate transponder for each. Make sure you specify what type of vehicle you’re using it on when you buy your pass and check details of your particular chosen state before you buy.
POST-EDIT NOTE – Blog reader Mike pointed out in the comments section that if you buy an EZ Pass from North Carolina (NC Quick Pass) it will work across ALL the EZ Pass states AS WELL AS in Florida (which uses Sun Pass) and Georgia (which uses Peach Pass). So, with a single transponder you can basically access all the eastern states. This is a fabulous tip which I didn’t discover anywhere in my own research, so I wanted to add it into the main post. Thank you Mike for that!!
Buying An Ohio EZ Pass On The OH Turnpike
Given that we messed up buying a transponder ahead of time we decided to buy one at one of the Service Plazas on the Ohio Turnpike on our way East. Not only could we be able to get the pass right away, but 4 of these plazas offer separate RV parking areas with electric hookups for only $20/night. Plus we’d be able to dump & fill water (free), stream a Netflix movie (free WiFi), fill up on gas/diesel and get a Starbucks too. This would allow us to split up the drive into convenient buckets and get everything handled in one place at one time. Super easy & efficient, right?
The overnight parking & purchase went smoothly enough, but we ran into a few details we didn’t expect when we activated the pass:
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Our Ohio Turnpike EZ Pass Transponder $3 to Buy, 48-Hours Activation Time And $0.75/mo Maintenance Fee – We paid $3 for our transponder, registered it online and then realized we had to wait 24-48 hours before we could use it (24 hours for tolls within OH, 48 hours for any tolls out of state). Thankfully not a big deal in our case since we weren’t scheduled to hit the NJ tolls for 2 days, but a little surprise we didn’t expect. Ohio also charges a $0.75/mo maintenance fee, again not a big deal but something we didn’t quite expect either.
- Weight & Axle Limits – The other confusion we ran into was that our transponder showed up as “2 axles, 4 tires, up to 7,000 lbs” when we registered it online despite telling the shop we specifically wanted it for our 33,000 lb RV. A little calling around confirmed that we could still use it as long as our RV only had 2 axles (which is does). Not sure what you do if you have a 3-axle RV?
Our transponder registered as max 4 tires, up to 7,000 lbs but apparently that’s OK even for our RV - Only One Transponder Needed – One of the unexpected upsides about OH EZ Pass is that you can register 2 vehicles on the same transponder online. As long as both vehicles are registered it will automatically count & calculate the toll for both when you are towing. Also, you can move it back & forth between RV & car as needed if you are driving either one individually (we bought a suction cup holder to make that process even easier). Nice bonus!
So far the transponder has worked great. We’ve used on two NJ toll roads in RV (while towing) and twice in NY with the car (not towing) and it’s registered without a problem each time. The only issue being that it takes 2-4 days for any out-of-state tolls to post on the online account. Not a biggie and sooooo worth the hassle-free travel of electronic tolls.
Avoiding Low Clearance Passes & Tunnels
The last little piece of our Eastward travels was figuring out how to avoid low clearance passes & tunnels. This can be a serious problem in an RV and not a situation you don’t EVER want to find yourself in, so it’s a part of the planning that needs to be rock solid.
If you happen to have an RV GPS (such as the Garmin RV760 ) you can enter your RV size into the system and it should automatically route you around any low clearance passes & tunnels. The Garmin has been on our top 5 wishlist for years and is a very decent option, but we’ve just never gotten around to buying one. We use Google Maps for all our road travel, and apart from low clearances (which you cannot specify) it’s worked really well for us.
But going East we needed more. So, we decided to check out other options, both for ourselves and for our blog followers. In the end we found 3 alternatives, each of which had its own upsides and drawbacks:
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It’s a nice general atlas, but not easy to use for low clearances Truckers Road Atlas – Call us old-fashioned but we never travel anywhere without paper maps. They’re useful both for general planning and for finding boondocking spots (especially out West). We have a 6-year old RV road atlas that we’ve used for years, but it was torn and tattered and overdue for an update. So, we decided to spring for the laminated, ring-bound Rand McNally Deluxe Truckers Road Atlas hoping that would add-in low clearance info too. The good news is that it does. The bad news is that it’s not nearly as easy to use as we’d hoped. All the low clearances are listed by state & route in the front, referenced by grid coordinates. So you need to switch back and forth between the map & the front to figure out if your route has any limitations. Why don’t they just color code them directly on the map??? Argh!
Our Verdict? This is a nice, general planning map but it’s tedious to use for low clearances. -
Screenshot of our planned route into New Jersey on the low clearances POI map. Hard to tell any detail without zooming in. Low Clearances.com – This is a basic POI database of low clearances all across the USA. It’s comprehensive and for only ~$15 it’s inexpensive too. If you have a compatible GPS device you can load the POI into your GPS and it will automatically alert you as you travel through low clearance areas. Pretty nifty. For those of us without a physical GPS device, however, it’s a little more limited. We loaded the POI into Google Maps which allowed us to plot a route overlay through the “My Maps” function, but there’s no “alert” system this way. So we had to physically zoom in on the map and check if any of the POI points intersected along our proposed route. Do-able, but not ideal.
Our Verdict? It’s not bad and we found it useful as a planning tool, but without a GPS you need to zoom in and eyeball the route manually. -
The CoPilot RV App CoPilot RV USA App – As a last ditch effort we decided to try an app-based GPS that we’d seen reviewed by other RVers on various forums. It costs some $$ ($59.99, free trail available) but it’s also the most complete tool we tried, with a few caveats. What we loved about the tool was that you can input RV height/length/width/weight and it will automatically route you around ANY problematic low passes or clearances. Sweet! We also really liked the “route demo” option which allows you to “drive” the entire route before ever getting on the road. Paul used this to preview the road into downtown Jersey City including every turn and exit, so that he wouldn’t have any surprises along the way. Nifty! Lastly we appreciated the speed limit notification (for roads), the navigation cues while driving (not quite as good as Google, but decent nonetheless), and the fact that you can use it offline. The main thing we found frustrating? Entering addresses and destinations. You need to input city or zip code first BEFORE you can search for a specific address which, if you’re coming from Google Maps, seems rather antiquated. This limits its use as a general planning tool, but doesn’t detract from it’s usefulness as a driving tool. Available on iTunes & Google Play.
Our Verdict? We found it limited as a planning tool, but it’s by far the best active driving tool we tried! If you don’t own a RV-specific GPS this may be the next best thing.
CoPilot RV Screen Shots
POST-EDIT NOTE – SEVERAL blog commentators mentioned the AllStays app as another great (and inexpensive) alternative for planning routes & tracking low clearances. We haven’t tried it ourselves, but thought it noteworthy enough to add it as a tip to the main blog post. For those interested in more check out the comment section below. Thank you everyone who mentioned it!
That ended up being waaay longer than I thought it would be, but hopefully it was helpful. Any good tips I missed? Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments below!
Oh gosh Nina, having been out west since Mar I had forgotten about tolls and low clearances even after the last 21 years in the NY metro area.
You should know that Florida, dear FL, has a different system called Sun Pass but those transponders are avaiabke atat least some of the welcome centers. To make matters even MORE confusing the Orlando area has its own system and at some of the gates there is no person…only an exact change lane or transponder lane.
Even though we have a Garmin and lowclearances.com we still use the Rand McNally truckers atlas nust to be sure.
Thankfully we’ve had some experience with FL Sun Pass since we traveled through there with the RV in 2010 (plus Paul grew up there and his family still lives there), but I have to admit the NE tolls were completely new to me, and soooo much more complicated than I thought they’d be. I “think” we figured it out in the end though!
Oh and I agree that using SEVERAL different methods to check clearances is the absolute best, especially in an RV. Always too risky to rely on only one source.
Nina
Hi Nina, this is an unrelated question but, I am curious. Do you tow a car? Or , do you rent one when needed? I don’t think I have ever seen one with you?
Thanks
We tow a Honda CRV. You can actually see it parked next to the RV in the very first pic on this blog. I’ve got a few blog posts about tows and tow methods too, if you’re interested. They’re from 2011, but we still use the exact same equipment today:
https://www.wheelingit.us/2011/07/08/all-about-towing-toads-dinghy-towing/
https://www.wheelingit.us/2011/07/09/all-about-towing-part-ii-tow-equipment-supplemental-brakes/
Nina
I meant to ask if you got a separate ezpass for the car. We already had one so needed one for the combo but then they suggested another for the RV alone so we have 3!! If one is going to be sightseeing and driving over bridges especially in the TriState area one for the car is a must.
Well be back to visit our older boys and grandkuds in NJ next spring so this has been a good reminder that our driving habits will need to change again.
Whether or not you need a separate pass for RV and car depends on which state you get it in. At least that’s my understanding of how it works.
In OH specifically you can register multiple cars/plates onto a single EZ pass (you register the plates online) so they told us we only needed one. We bought a suction cup holder so we could move our pass between RV and car. So far that method has worked fine. Other States may have other rules.
Nina
When I was in Orlando this spring I used my ezpass on local toll roads and had no problem..
What state is your EZ Pass from?
Nina
We heard last year they were going to accept it but as of last Dec they hadn’t. There are ways to avoid it but usually involve more time and travel.
Have you tried ALLSTAYS camp & RV – That should help you with low clearances, etc. I use that often when traveling.
No haven’t tried that one. I have a lot of friends who use AllStays and love it, but we’ve just never gotten around to buying it. Had no idea it included Low Clearances too. Good tip.
Nina
A solid second for the AllStays App!
We just returned west from our summer east coast mountain biking tour (Nevada to North Carolina then north all the way to Maine and finally back to Colorado. Now in Moab for a short stay. Whew!)
It definitely helped us avoid low clearance areas on several occasions, while good old google managed to route us up and over a dirt pass while traveling through VT. Thankfully we made it over/through without any trouble.
AllStays was also helpful for locating propane, rest stops, campgrounds, elks lodges and more along our routes.
Definitely helped us find plenty of spots to park throughout the summer with our 40′ + trailer + sprinter chase van.
We have about 10 camp related apps on our devices now. AllStays is definitely one of the most current ones in our quiver and always one we go for first.
Another app that we couldn’t live without on the road is GasBuddy. In case you haven’t seen it, you can look up gas prices to help determine the most economical stops to fill up.
Great info on Allstays. And yes we have and use GasBuddy a lot. It’s a nifty little app. I wrote about that one in my “5 Tips To Manage Gas Costs On The Road” blog:
https://www.wheelingit.us/2015/05/07/5-tips-to-managing-gas-costs-on-the-road/
Nina
Have you seem the Fuel Buddy app? It’s rooted to Gas Buddy but it’s become my favorite for keeping track of expenses.
The Allstays app sounds great and I’ll definitely give it a try! I do however, have a problem getting fuel for our 38′ class A gasser! If you can get in a gas lane, even at major truck stops, you may not be able to get out! At some service areas, if you follow the directions for RV/ trucks you have diesel available but no way to get to the gas lanes! It seems totally unpredictable. Any suggestions?
We use a lot of use trucker stops (e.g. Flying J, Loves, Pilot etc.) which always have wide-open truck lanes big enough for “the beast”. However if we’re going somewhere that doesn’t have a trucker stop and/or we want a closer look we’ll use Google Earth & Google Street View to “check out” the gas station before we schedule a stop. Both options are super easy to use and it’s usually pretty obvious from street view if you have good entry & exit access.
Nina
Great info
We plan a east coast trip next year and this is great for getting into northern NY
Good luck with the cat
So now that you are there,how is the traffic. Make you wish you were back to the west with wide open roads?
Oh traffic is definitely crazy around the city. Not much worse than say Los Angeles (which is horrible), but definitely not the pleasant pace of Astoria and most of the OR backroads. And most definitely no beastly size nature-boondocking out here either. I don’t think I’ll find a match for that in the East.
Nina
Glad to hear you survived your trip to NJ and the metro NY area! Best of luck with the treatments for kitty. Guess I would echo the comments of checking low clearances with multiple sources. Our experience has been that the dedicated and app based GPS can be sketchy in this regard and may not give timely warning, if at all. Best bet is to stick to the major routes. Stay off any road with “Parkway” in its name, with the exception of the Garden State Parkway, but beware even it has some arched bridges with low clearance at the periphery, so stay in the middle lanes. Tried copilot in the past but gave up on it due to its poor routing choices, maybe it’s better now. EZ pass is a must have for travel in the north east. When entering toll roads that have multiple exits make *sure* your tag gets read at entry, if not you could get charged for the max fee when exiting. That happens to us twice when entering the NY Thruway (the entry booth lost power) so we were charged for the entire length to the tune of $180 each time. Our EZ pass was from NH and the issue took months and a lot of hassle to resolve. Now we slow down and stop if need be to make sure we get the green Go light before clearing the entry booth, if not we stop and get a paper ticket. In states that require separate transponders for coach and car, make sure when towing to place the toad transponder in the RF shielded bag or wrap in aluminum foil to avoid getting double billed.
All good tips, especially slowing down at the EZ Pass booths to makes sure your transponder gets read. That’s really important!
CoPilot has decent routing options, but it’s still not as easy as Google Maps. You can bring up alternate routes, and you can route through any particular road you want, but you do need to go into a separate screen to get there. It’s somewhat convoluted. So far, we’ve found CoPilot to be most useful as an active driving aide, once you already have your route somewhat fixed through other means.
Nina
Although I’m sure you guys drive the speed limit beware to that several friends have received speeding tickets for making it from one exit to another too fast.
I certainly remembered our drive there when we got stuck at the turnpike when Betsy overheated coming from I95 N from Connecticut passing through the Bronx in New York to New Jersey. Then we arrived at Liberty Harbor Parking lot 🙂
But New York is worth the stress, thanks to Taggart for bringing you there. I hope all is well with the treatment.
I remember reading your blog about that! What a stressful day, and no-one has much patience on the roads here. People drive like crazy! But it sure is nice once you’re settled into the city and you don’t have to take the car anywhere. It’s a rocking town.
I pick up Taggart today. Can’t wait!!
Nina
Where did you stay in the city
In NYC we stayed at Liberty Harbor RV Park. My review here:
https://www.wheelingit.us/2016/10/14/rv-park-review-liberty-harbor-rv-park-nj/
Nina
About the Garmin RV760, Nina: Diana and I drive separately (car, truck and fifth wheel), and we both have Garmin RV760’s. Even when we set them to the same RV parameters, they will often send us on different routes. We’ve even updated them at the same time to no avail. Very frustrating, indeed.
Oh that IS frustrating! I’ve noticed the Garmin gets somewhat mixed reviews online (as do all the RV GPS’s), so I just guess there’s just no one single perfect solution. I do wish Google Maps would add low clearance/tunnel alerts. If they had that we wouldn’t need much else. Of course Google can send you down some weird roads too sometimes so it’s not perfect either! Alas, no one ideal solution.
Nina
Great info! When we use Google maps, we select “Route options” and select “no tolls”. That keeps us off toll routes. All Stays app shows overpass heights.
This is a blog I will definitely save. I have been hesitant going east because of the traffic, bridges and tolls so this helped. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain things. We also full-time in a 40′ and I’ve been reading your blog for years and enjoying your travels. AND we have two cats that go everywhere with us and one also has thyroid issues so good luck with yours.
Oh goodness, so many similarities. I pick up Taggart from the thyroid clinic today so I’m very excited. I’ll definitely report back on how it all went.
Nina
Enjoy your blog. We met you once in Oregon at the lighthouse. We also travel full time in a 40 foot RV. We have found Allstays Camp and RV to be a very good tool for finding things. It is a mobile app I think it cost $5.00 from Google Play Store and Itunes. They have listing for Campgrounds free and paid, RV services and Low Clearance roads. It is GPS based and shows symbols for things on the map. I think they offer a free trial.
Good tips. Several folks mentioned AllStays so I’ve added a post-edit note to the blog post to add this in as another good option. Thanks!
Nina
Nina,
Great Post as always…
Made me think – If I remember right you are headed south towards Florida after this.
Georgia has the Peach Pass and it does not have any monthly fee or charge for the units.
They now have interchangeability with Florida and North Carolina.
Here in Georgia we do not have that many toll roads, but there are plenty to deal with in Florida so we thought it was important to get one for Florida (We are headed south this winter)
Have Safe travels….
GREAT to know the 3 southern states now offer interoperability. That’s new (I think) since we were last there in 2010. Certainly simplifies how many passes you need. Cheers for that tip!
Nina
Excellent tips, Nina – and thanks for the shout out.
Both of the toll calculator apps have been so valuable to us this summer. We’ve actually been able to pretty much avoid tolls all together using them (we never got the EZ-Pass as a result), and only using toll roads when it’s absolutely the most efficient route. I believe our entire summer of tolls is way less than a $100 in total.
We had been dreading RVing in the northeast in general. But challenged ourselves to do it all summer long. And you know what? It’s not nearly as bad as the fears where, and the rewards of the beauty up here have been endless!
This is actually the topic of our next live video cast, where we’ll share what all our fears where (high tolls, low clearances, high costs, etc) and what the reality has been after now having spent time in all of the states up here in the northeast this summer.
Haven’t decided when we’ll broadcast (probably sometime in the next week… unless you wanted to team up and co-present when we get together soon) – but we’ll announce it here: http://www.technomadia.com/video
Great topic for your next webcast. I’m sure plenty of folks are going to be looking forward to that.
Nina
The timing of your post is perfect for me. I’ll be arriving at Liberty Harbor on the 13th and staying for a week to visit with my daughter who goes to school in NYC. I did drive over the GW bridge while heading north earlier this summer … I think it was $45 so thank goodness I had cash. I do have a picture of my Lab sitting on the dash while going over the bridge with the NYC skyline in the distance so at least that made me smile. I’m in Maine right now and plotting my course. Hoping I time it right as far as traffic once I arrive in JC and head to LibHarb. Do you have any tips regarding the actual approach or is it pretty straightforward? Happy reunion with Taggart. PS: Another vote for the AllStays app!
Interestingly enough the George Washington bridge toll is one of the strange ones that depends on which way you’re traveling. If you’re taking it towards New York it can cost you anywhere from $10.50 to $68 depending on time of day and number of axles, whereas if you’re taking it into New Jersey no tolls are collected at all (it’s free!). It’s a huge difference.
For Liberty Harbor RV I suggest following the directions on their website. Google Maps wanted to take us off another exit, but we just ignored it and followed the park directions. They did not steer us wrong: http://www.libertyharborrv.com/directions
Nina
I like free! Thanks for the link with directions … I apparently missed that info on their website. Now I just have to get motivated to actually get on the road … Maine is beautiful, and I’m not quite ready to leave.
It isn’t that is free it is that you only pay one way.(for both)..for the bridge as well as for the Holland Tunnel
I meant to say it is the same deal for the Holland Tunnel paying one way only…
Whew–the only way I would ever get the cowboy to NY in a 40 foot motorhome is if I drugged him, stuffed him in a sack and I drove–not happening! You guys are brave–hope all goes well with the kitty!
I hate toll roads. I avoid them whenever possible. Both Google Maps and Bing Maps have an option to “Avoid Tolls”. We went to Liberty RV park in NY twice last year (once in the spring from the south and once in the fall from the north) and I don’t believe we had to pay any tolls. Skipping tolls also sent us on more scenic routes, too. An added bonus. 8^)
This is not to say I *never* pay tolls. Sometimes you just can’t get around it.
I meant “NJ” not “NY”. Liberty RV park is a great way to visit NYC, but it’s in NJ, not NY. 8^)
Correct. The RV Park is in Jersey City, right across the waterway from NYC (Manhattan). We drove on the NJ turnpike to get in here so we did pay a small toll on the way in.
Nina
There’s no doubt you can minimize tolls by taking a scenic route and a little extra time. I think Google Maps has an option to avoid tolls. I know CoPilot RV does too.
In our case since we had to take our cat to treatment and I knew I needed to drive several times through NYC to get there, I just decided to take the fastest route, tolls and all. EZ Pass has definitely made that part of our stay here much easier.
Nina
To avoid staying in or paying for developed camp grounds – Boondocking.
To avoid driving on or paying tolls for turnpikes – Shunpiking.
There’s even a book written titled something like Boondocking and Shunpiking for RVers. Reading your blog post and the comments reminded me of this. Kinda funny. 🙂
Keep up the good times!
As usual – tons of great info. Yet, would suggest you get that Garmin. That along with WAZE and we are good to go.
WAZE is a nice, little driving tool. It’s very similar to Google Maps (neither have any low clearance stuff), but it’s great for avoiding traffic. I’ve used both WAZE & Google Maps in our tow car.
Nina
Great post. Thanks. We have had EZ Pass for 10 years, being headquartered in Mass.
harleyhawk43.wordpress.com
Have you tried Allstays for clearances? It is our go to tool.
Great input on easy pass. Thanks!
we called the help line on easy pass to get our 3 axle diesel registered correctly. Without that they would have charged us commercial rates. Very expensive!
Ah, yes commercial rates. I guess that’s why the guy on the OH EZ pass helpline kept asking if we had 2 or 3 axles on our rig. 2 axles automatically qualifies it a “passenger” vehicle I guess, while 3 axles makes things more complicated. Good to know there’s a way to get the pass correctly registered. You do not want to be paying commercial rates..nonono.
Nina
Thanks for all the great information. Just wanted to let folks know that if you buy the North Carolina version of EZ Pass (NCQuickPass) it will work in Florida (SunPass) and Georgia (PeachPass). If time permits, you can order NCQuickPass online and have it sent to you before you hit the toll states.
Nice to know those 3 states have interoperability. Excellent tip, thanks!
Nina
Sorry, I should have been clearer. If you get the EZ Pass from North Carolina (NCQuickPass) you get all of the EZ Pass states, plus Georgia and Florida. That covers pretty much the entire East Coast with one device. Safe travels!
Awesome info! That did not show up anywhere in my research so cheers for that.
Nina
P.S. This is such a good tip that I added a post-edit note to the blog post to add it in. I’m sure many folks will find this super useful!
Thanks for the review. Very helpful as always
What a wealth of great information. Thank you , it takes lots of time to blog
and share.
Have been following your blog for sometime and have learned so much.
We have had our motor home for a year and still a learning curve.
I’m a newer RV’er and follower of your blog from the Ann Arbor area, so it was neat to read you posts from Michigan. I wish I would have seen ANY post about low clearances before heading out East this past Labor Day. We were driving past NYC toward Maine and just following google maps not realizing low clearances were an issue on a 4 lane divided highway. Just outside Greenwich, CT a fellow motorist saved our brand new 2017 camper and our vacation when he got next to us and waved furiously for us to get off the highway. We got within a half mile of driving a 11’6″ camper under a 9’6″ bridge on the Merritt Parkway. Then not knowing what to do next in busy traffic, we got back on the parkway. Fortunately we got off the parkway at the next exit before getting to the next bridge that was lower still, but that meant we were driving our rig down some curvy roads through some wealthy neighborhoods in Greenwich, CT.
Then as we got closer to New Haven, CT, google maps must have been trying to route us around New Haven and sent us right toward another highway with low bridges, when the highway spit into two different highways, I barely noticed a tiny white sign about 8′ clearances. We then had to back up our 37′ camper about 1/8 of a mile on a freeway to take a different route. The next time we travel East, we’ll spend some time checking the route.
Wow…what a story!! And how kind of that motorist to warn you. That would have totally ruined your camper, and no doubt your entire trip East. Scary near hit. Glad nothing happened!
Nina
My fiance and I are truck drivers and we have a Rand McNally trucker GPS. It is supposed to route us around roads that can’t hold our weight and low clearance areas but we’ve had trouble with it both times we had to go in the New York City area. First was to the Bronx and the second time was to Oceanside. The best advice I can give is to know your rv height by heart and watch the signs very carefully. Next is to know how much your rig weighs and ,again, watch the signs. Lastly, is have the phone number to the police station handy because they are obligated to help if you get into a tricky situation, like we did. We got stuck on a parkway, a no no for semi’s in NYC, and the police were very nice in coming to redirect trafic and get us on the right path. Even though we’ve had issues both times going into the city, we would love to go back. The moral of this story is educate yourself and don’t 100% trust a GPS!!!
How frustrating! The RV/Trucker GPS’s do get somewhat mixed reviews online and I can see why. Crazy that your two units sometimes don’t agree on route, even with all the same specifications loaded into the unit.
And yes I agree with the advice to never rely 100% on one thing, especially a GPS unit. We’ve learned that from experience ourselves!
Nina
We just started full timing in June 2016 and I am enjoying reading your posts. We also have 12 paws, 40 feet and flat towing a crossover. Are you going to stay in the east for winter? I suppose you’ve been at it so long, you’re not afraid of traveling in the snow states in winter. We have been working our way south from Maine and were in Florida, NY (Florida the city not the state) a few days ago. We took the train into Grand Central for our city fix for a few days. Will you stay in the northeast or mid Atlantic for winter? We feel like we needed to start getting serious about going south. Fall is a great time to be anyplace, but we don’t want to get stuck in winter…yet. We bought our EZ Pass when we arrived in Chicago in May. Wow!!! It seriously is the way to go and route planning is a must to avoid a lot of problems. We are also west coast people, but lived 13 years in Hawaii before deciding to travel full time in an RV to see this beautiful country. I look forward to following your blog. We have one also, but low cell coverage often keeps us from having enough to upload. We’re working on it. Thanks so much for the RV Park reviews!! That will be most helpful! I also like your map!
We’re staying East for winter, but heading south into FL. No way we could handle a NE winter in this thing (I’m a wimp about cold weather anyway, despite my Nordic roots), so FL it is. We should land there right around mid-Nov or so. We have reservations for everything too.
FL bookings are nuts in winter, and we know from past experience that we have to book months in advance to get in close to where we want to be. So that’s something we’ve planned ahead for (we started booking last Dec).Hopefully the weather will cooperate and not get toooo cold before we manage to get down there.
Nina
After 5 years on the road and trying many trip planning programs we recently found the RV Trip Wizard … hands down the best travel planning program out there in my opinion. Safe Travels.
Cheers for the tip. I’ve never used it so I’ll look it up.
Nina
Great post with LOTS of great information. Thanks for your efforts in putting this info together. We will refer to it next spring (or sooner) when we head north in the spring from FL along the east coast. Planning stop in DC for cherry blossoms in April before return to MI
This may be the most informative post ever! Planning a trip east next summer, so perfect time! Thanks a bunch.
Being an east coast RVer, I thought I’d add a couple of things not mentioned. EZ-Pass makes the toll process so much easier. Setting a proper funding level is also key to making it work so you won’t have to be calling the service center to add money. Driving from OH to NY can cost $30+ in tolls. Same is true with driving from Boston to Washington DC. And the auto replenishment can take 3 days to get into all the state systems. I had set an initial balance of $25 but quickly bumped it to $50. But even that wasn’t enough to cover a long weekend trip to Washington, DC. So, I set it at $100 and now just forget about running out of money. The second thing is the roads around NY City that don’t allow RV’s. Pretty much all the parkway roads (Cross, Hutchinson, Taconic, Saw Mill, Palisades) don’t allow RV’s. Also, the upper part of the Garden State Parkway doesn’t allow RV’s. With all the restrictions, tolls, low bridges, and heavy traffic the NY city area is a challenging place to drive an RV.
Good tip. We’ve kept our EZPass replenishment level at $25 and so far that has worked fine. It seems to replenish pretty instantaneously when tolls are posted. But so far we haven’t gone past $25 in tolls (in a single drive) either, so that may be why we haven’t encountered any issues. If we see a length of road that will cost us more than $25 (using the Toll Apps) I will definitely use your tip to increase the level.
Nina
WOW thanks a million! We have talked about going East one of these years, we lived out in Arlington Va back in 75-77 when I was stationed with The Old Guard. I thought it would be nice to head out that way once again, just for old times sake, and to spend more time in those wonderful Great Smoky Mountains and West Va. Back in the day, when we came home for a visit, it seems we were able to pay the toll’s with quarters. I guess all things have increased in price. I see you put plenty of work into this post, and wanted to say a special thanks for the work, it will prove very valuable should we make a trip back to our old home. “Carry me back to old Verginy”
Great. Glad the post was helpful 🙂
Nina
Thank you for sharing your experience and information! It will save us so much time and frustration.
Welcome to the good old east coast! When we traveled to Maine from Va last year it was definitely a challenge. Thanks for all the tips you offered up. Some of them will definitely come in handy for us.
If you are a Good Sam Club member, goodsamclub.com has trip planning software (works like Google Maps) on their website that has low bridges, propane regulations, and other restrictions built in. It will warn you if your route plan has a low bridge by placing a caution sign on the route where the problem exists. You can then drag the route around the low bridge. I always use this in advance and print out the safe route. We also have a Garmin trucker/RV GPS built-in to our Tiffin which will not choose a route with a bridge too low for our rig. However, it doesn’t always (and sometimes never) agrees with the Good Sam software. We’ve found smartphone apps like Google Maps, iPhone Maps, Waves, etc. routinely reroute on the fastest route which in many cases on the east coast is inappropriate for big RVs.
A note on toll booths in the north east. Some states and some toll roads have high speed lanes which can scan the EZ Pass as you pass under at cruising speed. RVs are allowed in these lanes. However, be careful about using toll booth lanes in the middle of the toll booth array. Many (especially in NJ) are extremely narrow and Class A motor homes barely fit. We have friends who have lost their mirrors in these lanes. Watch for signs that indicate where the “wide load” lane is and use that if you are in a Class A if there are no high-speed lanes or if you are paying cash.
Nina, if you want some advice on routes from New England to Florida, let me know.
Hi Herb – Is your Tiffin 40′ or less? RV Trip Wizard indicates that the maximum length motorhome allowed in NJ is 40′. Are these limits strictly enforced or do you get a “pass” if you’re passing through the state?
~ Pete
Pete – Our Tiffin is under 40 feet. I didn’t realize that there was a 40′ restriction on the NJ Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway but it is clearly stated in the Turnpike Authority regulations. Motorhomes towing are limited to 62 feet combined length.
There is a lot of different information on various RV forums regarding motorhome restrictions on the Garden State Parkway. Some of that information is out of date. I’ve always avoided the GSP. The most current Turnpike Authority regulations (Title 19:9, 1.9, (b) 3) state that any vehicle over 10,000 GVWR or GCWR is prohibited north of ext 105 with the exception of maintenance and state police vehicles.
Maybe someone who lives in NJ can comment on whether these are strictly enforced?
Herb
Hopefully you stopped at Hershey’s Chocolate World when travelling east.
Anyways about this topic, Rand McNally has a RV tablet that includes this information as well . I know that some people wrote bad reviews on it, but I’ve seen bad reviews on just about any RV product including sewer hose connections.
Here is some toll information for you since I did this particular topic BEFORE this topic was brought up here months ago:
number of toll roads
1. Texas 26
2. Florida 24
3. California 11
4. Oklahoma 10
5. Virginia 9
number of toll bridges
1. New York 27
2. New Jersey 26
3. Pennsylvania 15
4. Florida 11
5. California 8
Interesting. Not the exact order I expected, so that’s interesting info. I’ve yet to take a toll road in the West, although I’ve done a few toll bridges. We’ve taken lots of toll roads in the East and in Florida too.
Nina
Cross state travel in an RV is simply awesome! Just wondering what type of insurance is needed (for the RV and Family) whenever we are traveling? Was considering to talk to these guys http://gebhardtinsurancegroup.com/about/ about it but would like to ask based on your experience what is really need it and what we can do without (budget considerations). Thanks 🙂
You’ll need insurance for your RV, your car plus you (personal health). If you have a larger rig I also recommend a separate tow package that specializes in big rig towing -> Coach Net and Good Sam’s are the two most commonly used by RVers.
For RV insurance read more here:
https://www.wheelingit.us/2011/11/27/fulltime-rv-insurance-whats-the-difference/
For Health Insurance read here:
https://www.wheelingit.us/category/health-care-2/
Nina
Awesome! Thanks Nina!
We (along with RV-Dreams Howard Payne) recommend Miller Insurance as an agent for all your RV/Toad Insurance needs. We’ve also heard (via Nick Russel of the Gypsy Journal Fame) that C&C RV Insurance is an excellent agent for RVers.
Miller is one of the guys I recommend in my post. Personally we have Geico.
Nina
I did the bottle deposit states and cities before doing the toll bridges and roads. One time we went to a state, paid the bottle deposit, but when we got back to Michigan the stores wouldn’t accept the bottles. So now we avoid the bottle deposits if possible.
The family often used Ohio 2 to avoid the Ohio turnpike a tad when fully going out east. We did this when we went to Cedar Point in Sandusky as well. It took us the same amount of time to go that distance to pick up the turnpike there.
Just tried both of the toll programs. At least on the iPad Toll Smart only works in a vertical orientation. Toll Calc works in either orientation.
Interesting little tip that I hadn’t noticed myself (I always use both apps in the vertical orientation). Cheers for that.
Nina
We just travelled the east coast from Maine to Florida. We got an EZ pass from NC and it covered all the way. Was easy to order even though we do not live in NC and
You can add and load money.
We are looking at traveling from KS to ME this summer. Apparently, lowclearances.com has increased their price.. $45. Thank you for this blog though. It has such valuable information for newbie RV’ers!
Thanks for the update!
Nina
I read this blog at the right time. We are planning a summer road trip to the New England states from Los Angeles and though I actually had thought about getting the EZ pass ahead of time ( it didn’t occur to me that I could get it online), I forgot about (really) low clearances out in the east! We only have a travel trailer so it isn’t “beastly”, but still something to be aware of. Thank you for the post. And best wishes on your new adventure in Europe!
We just decided we wanted to get an E-Z Pass since we are visiting New England this summer. We tow a 5th wheel. We tow a 5th Wheel, any lessons learned if any state is better to purchase a pass? Also did you need an E-Z Pass to park overnight in the Ohio rest areas?
Thanks,
Bill
A blog reader made the comment (see above) that if you purchase the pass from North Carolina (NC Quick Pass) it will work across ALL the EZ Pass states AS WELL AS in Florida (which uses Sun Pass) and Georgia (which uses Peach Pass). So, with a single transponder you can basically access all the eastern states. So if your plans eventually include the southern states, I might recommend that. Otherwise just buy it from a state with no maintenance fees.
As for staying overnight in OH rest areas. No we did not need an EZ pass for that. The rest areas on the OH Turnpike do charge a small fee to stay overnight in your RV, but that’s completely separate from EZ pass. Also some of the OH roads do charge a toll, but we simply paid that the old-fashioned way (with cash) while we waited for our our OH EZ pass to activate (we bought ours on the OH Turnpike).
Nina
At truckstop school, do you park in between the trucks or across car spaces?
Always between the trucks for us. We never take up multiple car parking spaces unless there is no other choice.
Nina