Is it rare for high wind to blow a truck over?

The problem is their "shutdown" often depends on your intelligence. I've seen guys crawl across light and make it because the wind is a good head/tail wind, then they brag about how the winds weren't that bad. Then the jackwagons get blown over a week later, because they got their peckers up thinking they're smarter than WYDOT and the winds are crosswinds.

 

Yep, like everything in this business, complacency kills.

I looked it up, Wyoming averages 52.7 blow over events a year.

 

(7) Semis got blown over nearly at the same time here in TN last year! Crossing the Tennessee River.

WATCH: At least seven semi-trucks overturn on I-40 due to high winds, officials say | wbir.com

 

I can't count how many 'pro' truckers I have seen blown over or slid off the side in WY.
Not to mention every other part of the country that has bad weather.

By the way...
You fixed nothing.

 

Your kidding right? Stop during high winds or slow down??? ...naw man, unless you want the full force of the wind to completely hit your trailer and knock you over ....the only smart thing to do is to accelerate through the wind...to break up the impact and the force.
If you slow down or stop, your doomed! You see this happening all the time in Fontana between glen Helen and the 210 freeway on the 15 fry in Southern California.
Stopped trucks and slow trucks that are light being pushed over like a controlling girlfriend to her mouse of a man boyfriend.
Hammer down even thru the wind

 

I hope this was being snarky.

Driving at twice the windspeed results in twice the lateral force experienced at standstill.

I know people hate math but this is what gets you.

((density)/2 * (air velocity)^2 )

While you can remember your trig from high school and figure out the Soh Cah Toa component for 45 degrees vs across the trailer, but it doesn't get rid of the fact that the air velocity is squared in that equation which makes driving faster more dangerous.

I get that people hate math but it doesn't lie.

 

Watching a sailboat heel over going to windward is a math free demonstration of this principal.

 

I don't hate math. I've been hated by faster students and teachers for being supernaturally slow at it!!

 

Your citing a mathematical equation from a book compared to real life experienced in truck driving?
So tell me smart guy....why haven't we gone back to the moon yet?
And dont say its because the telemetry was lost from 1969.
Real truck drivers don't live by calculus and trigonometry equations from books.
We live by experience, luck, a wing and a prayer.
You calculated some non-existent air speed but either forgot or refused to calculate and factor in drivers knowledge and know how.
Massive difference from driving in wind and some gusts than driving into a tornado or hurricane.
Smart people can be real dumb sometimes

 

First off, I am sorry you are having a bad day, hopefully it improves or you have some time off soon.

If you do have some free time I hope you take the time to read how the space shuttle ran over budget and almost all funds were redirected to it which ended several programs.

Second, as a commercial driver based out of Wyoming, I do not have the luxury of making decisions based on mythical truck stop stories. I value my life more than the delivery window. But being informed about weather also allows me to set expectations for the customer.

I am sorry that trying to share empirical formulas that are well tested struck a nerve but I was only trying to share information to help others avoid problems.

Please do not drive into either tornados or hurricanes as being in a truck at all in those conditions is extremely dangerous even when you aren't moving.

If you happen to get stuck in my home state because the road is closed, please also remember to say a prayer for the poor drivers who wrecked as that is the only time WYDOT closes the road outside of a lack of visibility.

Best of luck and stay safe.