Newbie Advice

I like going down steep hills a bit slower than I feel comfortable with. Feel free to use the jake as much as you want. Push the brake as you speed up and release once your slowed down. Called stab braking like you learned in school. Keeps your brakes from overheating and not working right. Called brake fade.

As far as driving and turning in rain and fog with wet mirrors, just be extra careful. All you can do. But always remember it is better to pull your fourways and stop that truck and get out and look rather than drag your trailer into a ditch, over a traffic light, over a car etc. If you aren't totally comfortable in a tight turn go as slow as you need to or even stop. Anything is preferable to a wreck. Then you're stopped there anyway.

 

You use the brakes to get down the hill. Then add the Jake brakes if you want to go faster !. I was trained the light steady pressure way. 10 PSI or less of applied air brake pressure and you can ride the brakes all day and they won't over heat or fade out. This is because the drum can dissipate heat. So the secret is knowing how much heat or brake pressure they can take or dissipate. That's 10psi or less. Your truck needs and Applied brake pressure gauge.

If you want to faster! You turn on the engine brake and then still do 10psi or less. You can go faster because now your using both at the same time.

 

Heated mirrors work as well in rain and fog as they do in snow and ice.

 

Nice & slow no rush get in the right gear according the weight you are hauling. Use the jack all time going on downgrades. Don't burn your brakes riding them to long. Don't be in a rush going around curves. As far as visibility you have to take it slow if you can't see. If you need to get out & check things do it as much as needed. All the best to you.

 

Mount Eagle would be the one where curves matter.

Today's trucks you can just set stage three and come down loaded somewhere in high range without using your cold brakes unless you have a enormous need of them in a emergency.

Spotted wolf would be another, as is Cabbage etc. Those have signs all over the place. Less than 30 on Black coming down. Even Donner Pass tells you whats needed for a given stretch, even a section where you just let gravity do it's thing at about 30 or so give or take 8. Its a chance to cool brakes that you might have been using.

You seek a balance. The imaginary coffee cup on the floor. Don't spill it. Find a balance in a particular gear for the downgrade with jacobs on full and then make sure that the trailer will stay in the lane on the curve back there and not fall inwards by gravity going to slow or on ice etc.

A perfectly balanced 18 wheeler will go down any grade without touching brakes. Always go down slow. This is not the time to show ego, mad skillz or any of that stupid darwin BS. You would just kill yourself when you fall off the mountain.

 

Two things.

Your trainer sleeping in pax seat is verboten. I can understand his position but he should have been in the sleeper. Which means you probably were not ready for storm night conditions just yet. (You would have to learn sometime, best learned on roads you met before)

Im assuming either PA turnpike or I-80. There are grades in particular locations on those two roads that you can absolutely lose it all. Allegheny is one and Milesburg the other.

If you had to brake on a downgrade in wet or icing conditions or even snow.. I generally reach for the trolley which is the trailer brake applicator under your steering wheel or worse on the dash way over there. (Stupid engineers) add about 4 pounds application by gauge and keep a eye on that trailer.

What you are doing is "Stretching" by adding pressure to your 5th wheel just a smidge. Sometimes she settles in nicely downgrade for a while.

If she wont settle and behave then add service braking (Foot) on the whole thing just enough to gently bring the speed down and take another gear down and hold it her there until she quits dancing so much. A little dancing is good. But something that borders on getting away is not.

Your trainer is not prepared to hit the sleeper and thats unfortunate. You are running roads that you might not be familiar with just yet. Its really easy to get into that kind of mountain trouble. Add winter weather and it's just not good.

Thats why some companies ban trainee driving at night until they reach a certain amount of confidence.

 

Actually, that's called snub braking.

Stab braking is where you brake until the tire skids, then release, then repeat.

 

And I blessed the Bendix Gods that took a moment to bestow the blessed ABS onto the rigs. That thing has gotten me out of some tight spots with a 18 wheeler a time or two. If I did not have that onboard, I don't think I would be here.