Driving Truck in the Wind! Need help!

45 mph gusts can push a truck over I stop or change routes if it's blowing that much.I would park it or find a different route if they were saying 50 mph winds.I was driving a 2017 Cascadia with the setback front axle,it was worthless in any wind and you took a beating all the time.I went to a different company with some older Freightliners and a new Peterbilt 379 and Kw t680,none of these trucks are effected by wind very much.The model of truck you're driving has a lot to do with how it acts in the wind.

 

My rule of thumb with wind… if I’m empty, any wind over 35 mph and all shut down. If I’m loaded like total weight 70,000+, 50 mph or more and all shut down. I have parked next to a trailer. A brand new trailer at a receiver in upstate New York that blew over two spaces over for me in about a 32 mph wind storm. It doesn’t take much to blow those trailers over. If the angle is right.

bottom line is your captain of the ship and if you’re not comfortable shut that ship down. Legally there is absolutely nothing dispatch can say to you. And if they try to? I’m not even gonna go there.

 

I drove my flatbed thru 55+ mph sustained winds and up to 80mph gusts. Not for the faint of heart even with a midroof truck and flatbed. Driving straight down the road with the wheel turned a quarter turn in 1 direction. Crazy as hell. I wont ever do that again. Dont worry about the other guys speeding past you. They do the same thing in snow storms and there is no end game to being the fastest guy on the road in less than optimal conditions. Go a speed ur comfortable with but can still keep up with the general flow of traffic. Dont be afraid to park it and wait it out. No shame in being safe , dont matter what any super trucker tells you.

Always remeber that when ur a truck driver, you make your entire living based on having a clean record. If you wreck, you no longer have a clean record. Its hard to wreck your truck with the breaks pulled in a parking spot waiting out a storm. But very easy to wreck with a light load and a box trailer in 45mph winds.

 

I also will add , never let a dispatcher make you second guess your decision or guilt trip you into running in conditions you dont feel safe. I do agree swift is good about letting the drivers decide, but if you get on a hot load that needs to go, they will push and pry at you. Trust me. Never give in to that nonsense. Tell them to shove it. And if they pushback, tell them ur gonna talk to safety. Its amazing how fast they change their tune after you say that.

 

I drive very light trailers, usually doubles.

Wind makes me tense just like you, but that's because WOW do I get pushed around the road. About every hour I practically paralyze myself doing chiropractic neck adjustments.

People pass me all day long. I don't worry about it. He's driving his truck, and must know how it's loaded and what it can do. Have at it. I'll be back here gripping the wheel. Lol

But overall my best advice would be to stop comparing yourself to other drivers. That inferiority complex could get you to push harder than you should on the perfect wrong day.

Just get there in one piece, and go home to your family. That's victory.

 

Six, don't feel guilty or inadequate.
As most know, I shut down for wind and snow and very heavy rain. I'm a coward, but safe and alive.

11 years out here and I am exactly like you, wondering how those drivers can deal with the wind so much better than me.
Then I see some of them in the ditch and realize that they are not better at driving in the wind, they are just stupid enough to tempt fate.

The wind is a fickle witch (which should begin with a 'b', but that would be censored on this site).
The truck in front of you may not be subject to that heavy gust you just experienced, and that may have blown you over into the ditch.


And yes.
Driving for Swift has the advantage of not being penalized for shutting down when I feel the need to do so.
They would rather I deliver a bit late, but in an undamaged truck - with an intact load and living driver.

Never second guess yourself based on what other drivers do.