Driving the big-rigs in snow and ice

Yes.....
Bring a camera with you......you'll fill up a memory card in no time flat driving I-80.....

 

Yup, that's for sure lol

 

When I was stationed in Germany..."Young, dumb and full of" .....uh never mind.....lets' just say I wasn't too bright at times......We'd get a little drunk and take a buddy's Mercedes out on a frozen pond....and play "bumper cars".......
It's wonder I made it out alive from Germany......

 

I use chains to get to a safe haven, I do not use them to just move freight. I have driven in snow and ice many times. Snow doesn't bother me that much but ice is another story.... that is far worse than snow. I have a simple philosophy.... if I cannot maintain 40mph in adverse driving conditions such as snow and ice? Time to stop for a while and let conditions improve. There is NO load worth your safety or the other drivers out there with you.

 

like the guy said in the video, when the road looks wet but no spray or mist coming off the cars tires in front, usualy means ice, or feeling the back of ur mirrior, if its icy, they its icy out...
i agree with everything said here, even learned some new things myself being a newb still, im always taking advise from the ol' timers out here, to they are they best people to get information from.
also, disp will prob tell you to put ur chains on and keep on keepin on, but im sure a call to your saftey department will settle that issue...

 

The most dangerous conditions are from 30* to 0*. Traction improves in sub-zero tempretures and at -30* and colder driving on snow and ice is like driving on pavement. The danger at warmer tempretures is that when pressure is applied to snow or ice it melts (non-believers attach a weight to each end of a wire and drape it over an ice cube and the wire will cut through the ice cube). When driven over in warmer tempretures snow and ice instantly melts and refreezes. That is why blowing snow turns to ice on the road when driven over.

I grew up where we had 10 months of winter and 2 months of poor dog-sledding and chaining up came naturally. Some places I go require hundreds of miles of chained up driving, sometimes including the steer axle. The big difference is in these areas I only have me and the truck to worry about, no worries about getting caught up in someone elses mistake. If everybody believed in not chaining up half this continent would shut down 9 months a year.

As others have said, if you don't feel comfortable doing it, don't do it. You'll have long forgotten the time you sat waiting for conditions to improve while still remembering the time you bent a truck. It's all only temporary.

 

why do I want my tires to sink through the snow? I want to run on top of the snow where there is bite. snow ice are the same, slow and watch your tires. If your on snow, watch the color of your tread, if your tires are totally black, your going to fast, slow down, when your treads are building up a coating of white, your going fast enough and you'll have traction. snow on snow = traction, black on snow = no traction. Ice is no different, just slow down, let the tires run cool. will you still spin out, probably, but your going slow enough that you'll have better luck.

 

the worst on I-80 across Wyo. in the winter are flatlanders, UPS line-haulers, and four wheelers from the east coast or Cali. who think they know it all. Several years ago, I was taking a 20' container from Denver to SLC, middle of the winter. Left Denver # 10pm to make SLC # 8am with a nap in the middle. The stretch from Rawlins to Rock Springs was a mix of ICE and Black Ice, I slowed to the point of where I was doing about 45 mph, hazards on, just cruising, heck I even had a "following" about a dozen trucks behind. Out of the blue, I hear someone on the CB start cussing all the slow moving trucks, and to get out of his way. Lo and behold, here comes a UPS triple heading to Wamsutter, he had 10 miles to go and was in a hurry. Well, needless to say, he was a little late getting to Wamsutter, about 3 miles from the exit, while doing 70 mph, he turned the whole contraption into a giant jigsaw puzzle. One trailer was totally ripped open, boxes everywhere, the cab was pointed N. on the WB shoulder, the last trailer/dolly came loose and land on it's side in median split open, the other two trailers swung around the cab, one landed on it's roof after the dolly tore the pintle from the lead trailer, the lead trailer stayed attached to the cab, but was jacknifed at such an angle the driver had to get out on the passengers side. Other than a clean pair of shorts and uniform pants he was okay.

I-25 from Buffalo to Casper can be amusing in the winter as well. Had an Escalade pass me one night, right after New Years, a family heading from Rapid City back to S.F.. Road was dry/black ice mix, I was doing 60, he passed me doing close to 80, as he came back into the right lane, he lost it. Went off the highway, through a foot of snow in the bar pit, thorugh a farmers fence, finally coming to rest about 30 ft out in the field. I stopped, the truck behind me stopped, I called 911 (it was 4am, the troopers weren't up yet), then went to check on them. The woman in the passengers seat was poundling the crap out of the driver with her fists she was so scared and pissed at him. The two kids in the back were screaming. It took probably 20 mintues for local sheriff and EMS to get there, but the whole time the guy kept saying "the road looked dry".

 

My folks live north of a little town between Salida and Canyon City in Colorado. I talked to my mom just after noon and it had been snowing there for about an hour and they had over an inch on the ground already.

 

Alright.......That means most of the bottom-feeders will be running only S/O I-40........every dark cloud has a silver lining....