Magnum ltd - fargo, nd

You're all out of bubble gum?

 

Na, been running so hard and kicking so many, my legs are tired.

 

Zesto’s is across the street from the truck stop they have truck parking as well but only when they are open at 0600. My daughter loves to eat there.

 

For the first time in my short career mother nature is holding me back. I'm on I-80 west bound in Wyoming. Its too windy.

This is my first experience like this, so for anyone new to trucking who wonder about stopping for weather, ill explain as best i can why I'm deciding to stop the truck.

It has been pretty windy the past 2 days. Its a tad sketchy, but not enough to make me pull over.

I started seeing lighted signs that say "I-80 closed to light, high profile vehicles at Laramie, WY." I am 68,000 lbs. Is that light? I consider it to not be "light". The WY traffic website says there is not a specific number for what they consider "light". So it sounds like they're not gonna tell me I have to stop, but they're leaving it to my judgement. There are even more lighted signs that say "wind gusts up to 60 mph". I've passed 4 lighted signs with these warnings that are warning me of what is up ahead.

I am hauling hazmat. Rolling over without hazmat would be very bad. Rolling over WITH hazmat would be worse. I may not consider myself to be "light"... but I really don't want a hazmat incident.

The wind is already feeling sketchy where im at right now. At times i had to slow down because the wind was slightly rocking the truck. And the road is not "closed" where im at right now. If it already feels sketchy and they don't have a warning for this spot, it must be REALLY bad (worse) up ahead.

At this last exit, the exit ramp is full of trucks getting off the road. Makes me feel good I'm not the only one. There are a few truck stops here.

There is cb chatter about the wind. I checked the Wyoming traffic website and there is an "extreme high wind warning." For this area until 2pm. They're also talking about that on the cb.

I am ahead of schedule. I can afford to wait until 2pm to see what it's like then and decide if I should keep driving or not. That wouldn't make me late for delivery. I could even turn this into a 10 hour break if it comes to it and still deliver on time. As soon as I know I've been waiting too long and still can't continue driving, then I would call and let dispatch know what's up. I'll probably give them a call at 2pm if the extreme high wind warning is still in effect.

The biggest thing I've learned from this is that it's not a big mysterious cloud about whether I should pull over or not. There are plenty of warning signs telling me its best to pull over.


Edit: 2pm had come and gone and the warnings are still up. Chatter on the cb says there are 3 overturned trucks!

 

Was speaking with a co-worker who is headed across WY w/44k lbs, and it was such a headwind, his truck wouldn't hit the governor, and we have some good pulling trucks. He said he saw several trucks laying down on their sides taking a wind nap...when in doubt, pull over. A load can be rescheduled, a rolled load can't.

And I did run thru WY a few times when I was there picking up the load going to the oil patch in ND...folding the tails seemed to help some (unless a snitch driver turns you in for not having your wings deployed)

 

If you think folding your wings is necessary to prevent a rollover or getting pushed out of your lane, its time to shut it down till conditions improve.

 

Saw that but opted for Awful Waffle. I was just glad to get a spot and was hoping the early risers would move out as I came in. It worked... this time.

 

Ummm...where did Nick go in all of this?

 

Sounds like you made a good choice zata. Better safe than sorry. Winter, rain, wind... its all up to the driver to make the call.

 

Word is he moved to logistics.