Ice Road Truckers.....

Winsfield, BC

 

There used to be one that worked for CR England that I would see here in Denver. She did a dedicated run delivering to one of the sporting goods store wharehouses. She was a former model, 3rd place Miss Utah, and had acting exp. Very very good looking blonde, she drove team with her boyfriend, after about 6 months we stopped seeing her and asked what happened, she had gotten a modelling gig in Vegas.

 

That's a big 10-4, jake.
I-80 in PA is no joke...I think it's one of the most (if not THE most) dangerous interstates in the country...even in non-winter months.
2 lanes all the way...tight twists & turns...ridiculous for an interstate.
Those curves on the downstroke before you make your way up Clearfield...what the hell were they smoking when they designed that?
Nearly every day there's a wreck of some kind on that road.
I just bid off of 80....I'll be running I-76 to Harrisburg, PA.
Still rough in the winter...but better than 80.

Here's a 50-vehicle pileup from last winter (watch the video):
http://www.wjactv.com/news/22534778/detail.html

 

What is considered "big bucks"? They don't look their getting rich

 

I-80 across PA.in the 80's was pure hell especially for flatbeds.It is 100% better now.

 

Used to work at the terminal only a few miles from where that happened. The Pa Pike gets dicey but nothing like 80 IMO - they do a much better job with snow removal and salting on the Pike. Just beware if you have to run the happy trail around the Somerset tunnel - the Pike might be just wet but Pa 31 will be real snotty and it has some huge grades. It sucks..lol..

 

Even 8-9 years ago it was terrible from the 155 to the 165 going down the hill. Our old timers say the entire road was like that if not worse - they were running spring ride day cab COE's too..lol.. I hated that stretch of road with a flat and I had air-ride equipment - that must have been hell when the entire road was that way with spring ride all the way around. I80 is definitely smooth now from the Ohio line out to the 380 JCT where it gets a little rough but nothing like Snow Shoe before it was fixed.

 

Chains or snow tires are required on certain routes during snow emergencies in PA

 

Thanks for the heads-up, man.
I heard an old-timer talking about that once...said he got stuck out there.

You ever run that bypass around Clearfield on 80?
Get off at the 123 or 120 exit and take 322 west up to Penfield (exit 110)?
Man, that's a nasty grade going up there!

 

Ran all those roads for years in the city at 2 terminals. Pa 153 takes you off I80 at the highest point on I80 East of the Mississippi..haha.. If you go North it takes you to Pennfield and Pa 255 - if keep going on 153 it takes you up and down another stupid mountain dropping you onto US 219. If you go South off of exit 111 it takes you down a big grade into the town of Clearfield - think it's a 7% 3 mile grade. The one going into Pennfield is worse because of the curves. A few years ago I knew where every pothole was on all those roads - my P&D route was from DuBois to Clearfield mainly North of I80 with my main area being St Marys which is about 30 miles North of 80 off Pa 255. Believe it or not, my least favorite of all those roads in the winter was Pa 28 North which is exit 81. It's curvy as hell and although the hills are short they're steep. 28 runs into 219 which I would run up to Pa 948 and cut across to Pa 255. Last year I worked at our terminal off the 123 exit - I'm now well South and East of there after a COO thank God..lol..

What a book I just wrote right..haha.. All kidding aside, I've been stuck no less than a dozen times on the road and Pa 31 around the tunnel was the quickest I knew I was done and I had good loads - like an 18 with a 9.

Here's a picture I took a few years ago when I ran P&D. This is on Pa 255 about 10 miles North of Pennfield almost at the top of the big pull. I think it's a 3 mile 6% grade. That's not snow - that's all sleet and freezing rain on the ground. The wiper is just something with the phone camera - it's not really curved.



I thought I had it made after the COO that took me to the Harrisburg area but here's a pic from February of this year during the snowpacolypse..lol.. I took this on I95 at the 161 MM in Woodbridge, Va - it's a Virginia DOT loader pulling me up the hill. I got stuck there on the ice-pack. What you cannot see is the Virginia State Police behind me closing the road because some moron pulling a set of Con-way Freight doubles got stuck..lol.. By the way, this was on Super Sunday - the only Sunday I've ever worked and it sucked bad..lol..



Getting stuck in the middle of a road is just part of pulling doubles.. It happens and that's all there is to it.. BTW, this is way more treacherous than Ice Road Truckers..