Indian River

Lol, yeah, I think the hills in Georgia on I-75 are different than doing the snake dance going through the Gorge on I-40. If they're like them hills in Georgia then it's alright, if they're like the one on I-24 before you get to Chattanooga, it's alright, even if they are like The Gorge on I-40, then they're not that bad, BUT!! If they are like that crazy road ( TN-156 ) that I took one time with my trainer in Tennessee, then F THAT, LMFAO!!!! From what I've heard, the West Coast have big mountains with long down grades and stuff and I've said that already, I'm a Florida boy, I just don't like the mountains.
Off course I'll go through them, I gotta do it eventually.

 

New record, 629 miles, I had 35 minutes left, could've gone further but what's the point lol.

 

Just leave way more room in front. On snow and ice you want to come to a complete stop 2 or 3 car lengths from the car in front of the stop line at a light. When you are sure you are stopped and the surge won't make you slide then you can ease forward.

 

Those long downgrades are well marked and have lower truck speed limits. It's not like you are going to get suddenly surprised by them. Just take it slow, throw on the flashers and ignore the hard chargers that come flying past you.

I'm from Florida also and that has nothing to do with driving trucks in the mountains. Even those born and raised on the highest mountains still had their first day driving down one in a truck, just like you and me. They weren't born with any special knowledge or skills just because of where they live.

 

How much is your truck limited to?. We can run 72mph on cruise control, 70 in the pedal.

 

Take it from a west coast guy who’s hauled logs to hazmat and everything in between. Any grade you find on the interstate won’t be anything to worry about. We do have some 10-12% grades when you get off the big road. Have hauled logs off of a 20% grade before. That was a fun one to back down in the dark. It just takes time to get used to things. Don’t stress it.

 

Yeah, it's just that I've lived in flat Florida for 13 years before going out of state and that was driving a truck with my trainer so you can see how my dislike for the mountains is justify lol, 72mph is nice, my truck do 71mph both cruise control and petal.

 

Yeah, but 20% is crazy... I'd do both number 1 and 2 on me on there.

 

I’m a lifelong FL resident, I spent 2 years in western PA, initially those hills scared the crap out of me but you eventually get used to them. It would seem the long steep grades out west are actually more friendly than the quick up, down and around of the hills in western PA, eastern OH, and WV. Heck Ive been in some grades in north GA TN and northern AL that aren’t anything to squawk at, quit selling yourself short, be confident in your abilities, there’s a difference between confidence and ####y, one gets you home safely, one “might”.

 

@nextgentrucker

watch some of these to see how the mountain passes out west are, the ones you’ll most likely go over regularly