I just landed a job haulin pick-up caps from Ohio to Nevada are there any suggestions for a new driver before heading out west?? I. E. the mountains are bigger in the west than they are in the east that sort of pre-warning

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Its better to be hated for who you are... Than be loved for who your not!!

Be ready for more wind.

From the sounds of this forum, expect better truck parking out here.

I was told that the average load would be around 25000... See I hauled logs/lumber for the past five months I was lucky to be under 80. but with kids and a mortgage to think about and sawmills down for maintenance I needed something different.

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Its better to be hated for who you are... Than be loved for who your not!!

Hope it works out for ya. We're from Ohio and my hubby would travel west all the time if they'd give it to him! He loves it out there!

You'll love it if you like wide open spaces.

If I had thought there'd be money in what you're doing..I would do it too.

I call Nevada home, Tahoe actually.
I foolishly left there for more work in my profession & now find myself in Ohio.
I want to be here only marginally more than I want to die trying to escape here.

I don't know where you're going in NV.
If it's across 80 into Reno bring a good camera.
There's many things to stop & see along the way.

A good start of things to bring:

Start with an understanding that you will be in mountains.
Not only that but a long gradual climb in elevation to those mountains.

The air will be getting thinner & over such a gradual climb, you'll never notice it until it puts you to sleep. You won't even think you're in the mountains yet when this occurs.

It's likely to happen on your first few runs out there.

To combat this, keep gum, candies or snacks on hand. Keep your jaw moving & keep breathing. I don't know why having your jaw moving helps keep you awake, I just know it works.

The route from Ohio to Nv can be as treacherous as it is gorgeous in winter & summer. It gets very hot & dry in the summer months & very cold & dry in the winter.

As you progress west, there's fewer & fewer places to get repairs & help in close proximity.
Waiting for help can take hours.

Make sure you have a full compliment of belts / hoses / anti-freeze-coolant / windshield wash & the tools to install same.

Keep more than one spare tire for the truck & trailer. Check tire pressures regularly especially in the heat of summer.

Never really trust the weatherman.
Clothing to match the climate is a must.

In the winter this means a blanket or two or a well insulated sleeping bag as well as a heavy jacket. Recall that mountains & the High Desert see snow & ice at the 5000 & 6000 ft levels regularly. It might still be 40-50 degrees on a valley floor just 1500-2000 ft below you.

If you breakdown in these places, you'll be thanking me once nightfall hits even if the day saw 80 degrees. It gets cold in them thar hills at night. That's the nature of the desert. 80 during the day, 40-50 at night.

Chains & a shovel for winter & spring.
The winter is self evident but spring can surprise you when the snow melts. The mud is like ice until about noon, then it becomes silt & if you get off road for any reason, you're stuck.

Water. It's very dry across 80. Never go without several gallons of water especially in summer. If you break down & need to sit for any length of time, the high heat & minimal humidity will sweat out your water quickly & unoticeably. Stay hydrated even while driving. Your air-conditioner is a de-hydrator too & just adds to the problem of dehydration.

In the same vain, bring food & snacks. It can be a long wait for help to arrive & long stretches between TS's & rest areas. Your trips out west might see road closures due to snow & ice. You might get stopped by the hiway patrol with nowhere to turn around. At that point, get comfy & hope you have enough food & drink on-board.

Entertainment is good to have. A tv/dvd player/satellite radio etc. Whether it's a planned stop or one of emergency status, you'll be bored out of your mind waiting to be picked up or repaired. These also allow you to relax enough to actually fall asleep. Not only that, it keeps you out of the TS's where they get money from your wallet almost by osmosis.

On the more physical side, you're going to meet winds. It might just be a small PIA headwind that sucks up your fuel or it could be something like in WY where you pass thru Cheyenne. There's a bridge thru there that passes along a sheer mountain face. When you see the signs above the roadway warning of a gusting 150 mph crosswind...believe it & think about what you're doing.

In other places, that wind could be carrying snow & ice crystals or even sand.

That's all for now, best of luck, wish I could be going with you.
bc

I've lived here for 12 yrs and don't know of any thing like this on any of the state or interstate routes.
Unless this was before 1995.

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It's been awhile since I've gone across 80.

A such I had to doubt my memory as to where these road signs I saw actually were.

I did a search on WY's winds & hopefully the link I post will clarify & vindicate my earlier statement.

Ok, the machine won't let me post a link because I don't have enough posts in.

I rewrote the story that I couldn't make a link to.

From 2-16-2007 USA Today

Winds gusting to 100 mph slashed through foothills canyons in Colorado and across the high plains of Wyoming on Friday, prompting travel warnings and closing at least two major roads.

A gust of 101 mph was recorded in Boulder, Colo., about 30 miles northwest of Denver at about 2:30 a.m.

"It's like a river running through the mountains. It moves faster in the narrow areas," National Weather Service technician Carl Burroughs said. "The wind does the same thing through the canyons here."

In southern Wyoming, parts of Interstate 80 were closed between Cheyenne and Laramie.

In Colorado, warnings were issued to motorists in high-profile vehicles. Heavily traveled Colorado 93, which parallels the foothills south of Boulder, was shut down because of the wind but reopened later.

High winds were also forecast for Colorado's Eastern Plains and western Nebraska.

Burroughs said the position of the high-altitude jet stream combined with a high pressure system spilling into a low-pressure area was producing the strong winds.

Such blasts are not unusual for this time of year along the Rockies.

Colorado's highest recorded wind gust came in at 201 mph atop 14,259-foot Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. In 1971, the city of Boulder recorded a wind gust at 147 mph.