Last month was the busiest time of the year for Boston’s Moving Companies. Accordingly, GBH News reached out to us to ask a few questions about how to avoid “Storrowing.” Storrowing, for those that don’t know, is a well-known local phenomenon of hitting an overpass with a rental truck. Most commonly known on Storrow Drive along the Charles River, trucks can also get in trouble on any road in the Boston area ending with “Drive” or “Parkway.”
That means Memorial Drive, VFW Parkway, and all routes with similar endings are no-go roads for rental trucks. So if you’re moving, don’t move on those roads! (This rule applies all year long, not just in September.)
Of course, the stereotype most of us have of a culprit of “Storrowing” is an out-of-town parent bringing a college kid to Boston. Dad rents a U-Haul. Then he pops the dorm address into the same phone he uses in his car. Unfortunately, by the time he realizes he’s on a restricted road, it’s already too late. SLAM! Hope you got the fancy rental insurance.
Storrowing: Fiction vs. Reality
But Chris Amaral, the founder and owner of Safe Responsible Movers, says that’s not really how it happens. From the WGBH article:
Chris Amaral, founder of Safe Responsible Movers in Allston, wrote in an email that his company has never had a truck hit a bridge on Storrow Drive. He thinks many incidents of “Storrowing” are the fault of professional drivers from outside of Boston who aren’t familiar with local truck limitations, not just college students moving to the city.
– “How to avoid getting ‘Storrowed’ on move-in day” by Haley Lerner
The article also has some interesting information on GPS applications developed in New England, focused on avoiding the height restrictions so common around here. You can read the whole thing here. Or you can avoid the hassle altogether! Just have us do the whole move for you. We won’t take any restricted roads. We promise.
