Snow Driving

It can be white nuckles in bad weather...ice makes it worse...It's not easy when the roads are slick and ice and snow make it impossible at times... there are quite a few experienced drivers that shut down if there is snow involved...

 

I hate driving in the snow. While Im not a real road driver, I have to contend with moving around trailers on a warehouse yard for my job. OTR drivers get stuck alot every time there is snow on the ground where I work. They cant plow under the parked trailers and everyone seems to get stuck alot when trying to pull out a trailer esp because of the empties being parked on a crummy unpaved lot. We use snow chains at work, but you still get stuck. On top of getting stuck, the trailer brakes dont release as easily when its real cold out, out of a 100 trailers moved a day, make that 50 with snow on the lot, a few will have water in the brake lines in which the brakes wont release. Pulling doubles or triples on the snow and or ice takes nerves of steal. It was so bad one day last winter, we kept a big tow truck on the yard at a huge cost to free up otr drivers and us as we got stuck. Click on this interesting pic of a CF pusher www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/paul_martino/cf_pusher03b_sml.jpg

 

Welcome to the industry. I hope it is everything you desire it to be.

I too like driving in the snow, for some quirky reason, but I do have a coule of thoughts on the subject.

First of all, it has become a dangerous scenario, especially during peak travel times of the day. I prefer to drive at night, and when it snows, even more so.

It's not my driving that I fear. It's that of others out there that I fear the most. People seem to be in such a hurry these days, and when the weather hinders travel speeds, it seems that people take some rather hefty chances, to run for the pole position. Truckers are no exception to this observation of mine.

In 1994, and in a span of five seconds, I lost $30,000. I had just put a truck into service for it's first trip, just two days after a major southeastern snow storm. A Yellow Freight truck came into my lane, after he hit a patch of ice, temporarily losing control of his truck. I avoided hitting him, was forced into the median, and turned it over. He never stopped, the jerk. I was anxious to try the new truck on a run, and was going to cover it with comprehensive insurance with my agent over the phone on the next day, as I had bought it on a weekend. I assure you that was a VERY expensive lesson I learned the hard way.

You have to understand that driving a truck and driving a car in snow covered roads is far different. In either type vehicle, when you lose traction, it's not going to be good. When you have 80,000# with no traction, you're either going to not go anywhere, in the case of an uphill climb, or you're going to be in all kinds of trouble, in the case of a downhill run. Slow and easy is the rule of the day, in any case, and leaving yourself room in the front and rear is essential. You need time to react. In the last few years, some of the more daring drivers make this real hard to do...hence my reason for driving at night. I have much more space at that time of the day to work with. Even in bad weather, I make pretty good time.

 

I don't really fear my loaded truck in the snow. With about 50k in the tank, gravity tends to plant it fairly solidly and that works for me. But when I am empty, that's when the trailer is ultra light and the wind can just grab it and blow it anywhere it wants to, and the truck can easily break loose and spin the tires. It just takes a delicate touch and some practice to drive one in the snow. One of the best things I ever did for myself was to take a semi out on a wide dirt road all covered with icy snow, and practice with it. I used the trailer brakes, tractor brakes, and just played around until I got a good feel for how the trailer wouild break loose and slide, and recovering it safely. I can't recommend that people use public roads this way, but I was out in the country where no one else was using the road and it worked for me.

Another issue you will have to decide about driving in the snow is how to drive the truck. Some people like to keep the rpm up in winter driving and use the engine brake, and some prefer to lug the engine to prevent potential wheelspin. I tend to follow the lugging theory, but I have heard valid arguments made for both methods. I short shift and lug the truck rather than bring it up to a point where it might spin the tires, and find that works okay for me.

Just remember to take your time in the winter, drive at a safe pace, and leave yourself plenty of time to get where you are going. And if the conditions get bad enough, park the truck in a safe spot and wait for the weather or road conditions to improve. Make sure that your employer knows you have certain conditions that you will stop under, that it is your call as a driver, and make sure you discuss your policy beforehand. Never delegate to a dispatcher the judgement that you need to make from behind the windshield. You know the look of the snowfall, and the feel of the pavement, so it's your judgement call. Any employer that doesn't agree with that, you shouldn't be driving for anyhow.

 

Just a quick story. Last winter, just before Xmas I was running empty into Chicago to pick up a load for a bakery in Kalamazoo Mi. Driving on the Indiana Toll Road can be really tricky. The wind sweeps down off the lake, and leaves the snow cover gone, but a super slick sheen of black ice on the roadway. As I am driving along, the wind caught my empty trailer, and I looked in the mirror to discover my trailer in the other lane! I didn't make an sudden moves or back off the throttle too quickly, and I stayed on the pedal until I was able to pull the trailer back in behind me. It just takes a steady hand some days, much more than others...... And that's why I like full trailers in the winter.

 

Mack, that is so true is it not? And it is usally ther ones in theses expensive carslike bmw,audi,etc with all these traction control safety things that think the are untouchable,or the best is these kids that have these lowerd ground scraping cars with low pro tires on them and then wonder why the can not get any where,

I can only draw on my experince driving firetrucks, and the rule usally is the same SLOW, and lots of room infront of you,
Because even though most of the public has the vision that because it is a emergency vechile it cant get stuck and wont slid all over the place, It can and in My case has on a few occasions.