Videos for New Drivers

I know it isn't practicle but, this is something every driver should experience during school. My baptism occured on I-80 about 50 miles west of Cheyenne. It was a dark, cold, stormy night... how else did you want me to start this?... I had about 100 hours of seat time, still about as green as they come. My trainer was sleeping. He could do that because my curfew had been lifted and we were running as a team. I had proven to be a user of common sense, so he was comfortable with me.

As we came through Rock Springs, Wyoming the snow began to fall, heavily. There was a truck and trailer on its side on the east side of Rock Springs and the road was snow packed. I kept a steady pace of about 45 MPH and didn't make any sudden changes. Much the same way I would drive a four wheeler on the same kind of road. The snow plows and sand trucks were not out yet so every driver was proceeding with caution. Several miles up the road was another rig on its side.

Proceeding east the road conditions changed from snow packed to wet but the snow continued to fall. It was about three in the morning, while negotiating a banked curve on the interstate, when my drives gave way and began to spin. I backed out of the throttle enough to stop the spinning but not so much that the drives would slow too quick and yelled for my trainer, explaining as calmly as possible the negative aspects of applying plentiful quantities of warm yellow fluid on the interior of a W900.

I moved the truck onto the shoulder and continued to drive slowly another 1000 yards or so to the nearest exit where I parked on the on ramp until the sun came up. Within 15 minutes we were joined by several additional trucks. The CB reported four cars off the road and one flipped over. I stepped out of the truck after we parked and found that ice skates would have been the footwear of choice. If it was horizontal, it was covered with ice.

My point is, it would be beneficial to experience this under controlled conditions. Even though I am an experienced (4 wheeler) driver on icy roads, I really didn't know what to expect in a rig pulling a 35K pound load. What was the trailer likely to do? What is the best way to keep this thing under control so I can stay out of other drivers way? What is the best way to test the road surface without loosing control? Can I tap the brakes and see if things slip without loosing control? And probably the most important question, who is gonna clean up the mess I just made in this seat?

 

It was a low mileage repo that had been well cared for. When we got it, it still looked and drove like brand new.

 

Thanks Everett,
I don't script or plan these things. I take whatever happens and put it to video. In number three, I lash out at dispatchers. I wish I had more time to spend thinking about what to film and when to film but, the job comes first and the video is many times an after-thought. Post production has to wait till we are idle and content is usually driven by current activities. We had an excellent opportunity to do a toll booth. Unfortunately, I was too busy to grab the phone and shoot the situation.

Anyway, thanks for the input. I have taken notes for future volumes.

 

Volume 3 is now available on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bci46VdKkII