Wind? Please take warnings seeriously...

Yeah things get bad out that way, I remember my first trip along I-80 after a real bad blizzard; never seen so many semi's laid down on their side. Saw a few half hanging over ravines, the only thing that stopped a few trucks I saw from skidding into major drop offs were those cable guard rails. But hey, that's life- these guys clearly weren't cut out for it.

Oh and lets all take note, all three of those had to be in the hammer lane prior to their preventable.

 

Yes, lets all pass judgement on whoever was driving these trucks and trying to earn a living.

When I was 16, I had an accident. I was on a bridge and was hit by a car that lost control of their vehicle. The car swung into my lane and hit me head on. My father was mad because had I left the house ten minutes earlier, I would not have been on that bridge at that time.

There is preventable and then there is something called and ACT OF GOD. I hope and pray that those drivers are both uninjured and employed.

 

That is a notorious stretch of road for blow overs. I worked for an outfit that had at least six one winter alone in that area. People just don't have enough respect for what the wind can do. There is a time to S L O W D O W N and there is a time to P A R K for a few hours. . .

 

OK!

That doesn't make much sense, it could have been 10 seconds later.

For all you know they just drove off the road due to incompetence. Doesn't it seem odd that of all the trucks on the ~same section of roadway, God only acted so drastically upon a few?

 

Yes, lets all pass judgement on whoever was driving these trucks and trying to earn a living.

Wooly, let me join you in this. "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone." We can and should avoid passing judgement.

I drove that I-25 last Friday, Denver to Albuquerque. Sure was windy, and I was pulling an empty 53' box. It was interesting, but down just before Raton a couple of gusts hit me that almost cooked me. A driver can run all day in a high wind, focusing, paying attention, and be undone in a couple of seconds. Luck of the draw, Act of God, your turn in the barrel, it just goes to show - driving big rigs is a risky business no matter how good you are, or what your past successes might be. Just sayin'.

 

This should go without saying, older hands already know this formula, I'm sure. But for the benefit of the newer folks.

If we have a wind angle of 90 degrees across the road, and 0 movement of the truck then the force exerted on the truck would be at its maximum. We can represent this as F:

F = .5 * p * v^2 * Cd * A

p = density of the air
Vw = velocity of the wind
Vt = velocity of the truck
Cd = Coefficient of drag
A = area as seen by the wind

Lets modify this basic drag math by applying the forward velocity of the truck

F = .5 * p * (Vw * (1/(Vw+Vt)/Vw))^2 * Cd * A

So there you go. A easy to follow and figure rule of thumb for driving in the wind.

Oh ps. I'm in Montana, parked because of 70 mph wind gust, vs a dry van with less than 10k in the box.

 

i am way to old for that kinda math
if the wind is pushing me around too much i pull over