Road Trip !!!

[Coby61]

So I am planning a crazy trip with a buddy of mine to retrieve a forklift from a friend. The trip will be from Atlanta GA to New Springfield Ohio. The guy that has the forklift is recommending going up I75 to I71 to I76 , its 800 miles and about 12hrs. Does anyone know if there is a faster/shorter route?

[surveyor13]

Try punching it in to Mapquest and see what it says.

[boatpuller]

That is probably the fastest/shortest route, but not the one I'd take on the empty leg of the trip. It is certainly the route I'd take loaded with a fork truck.

If you are running empty during the day, I'd go over to Charlotte, and then up 77 and 79. It is only 20 more miles according to my mapping program, and will take you through some of the most awe-inspiring parts of the U.S. It might take a little longer as you slow down to admire the views.

Loaded with the fork truck, his route seems best as you are in more flat parts of the U.S.

[Riggodeaux]

I made much of that drive and agree, at least for the empty leg. It was probably the saddest drive I've ever made, Pittsburgh to Atlanta on 9/13/01 in a rental car when the airports remained closed after the 9/11 attack. That said, a beautiful drive on a beautiful late summer day. Very pretty drive across West Virginia on one of several 'Robert Byrd Memorial Highways,' the section of US 19 btwn I-79 and I-77. On the return with that load, you are better off sticking to I-75 south, though you'll have a big climb up the Cumberlands between the TN/KY border [Jellico, TN] and Knoxville. Otherwise, mostly level, rolling hills in Ky and N. GA.