Winter driving

well i was gonna say, take a trip up to that ski resort up there from los angels, if they have a pond and do ice fishing , and can drive a car on the pond , go for it, get out there away from everyboby, and just use your car, and just start doing doughnuts and other braking problems you might encounter on the real world, although not the same, it does give the you the real experance you can feel, i'm suprized swift didnt sit you down at that strange looking machine with a steering wheel and movie screen and throwed snowstorms at you with black ice, thats a fun storm too ride out in

 

Passinthru made a good point! Very important to keep your fifth wheel good and greased always in the winter! Also help to carry extra airlines for your glad hands. The road salt and winter really corrode and make those plastic lines brittle. If you keep extra ones you won't be "stuck like chuck"! Just throw the extra one on and you're ready to roll again. Also those hauling reefer keep some anti-gel on board. The reefer tank has no source of heat to keep the fuel warm and will usually gel before your main truck tanks.

 

although i dont know about now , with the drugs the way they are, i used too carry couple cans of ether too get that reffer going and one those blow torch, a thermoking tech showed me how too unfreeze a line with it and how too use the ether, far as air lines, easy fix if your company let you, but mine did , i swicthed out for rubber lines, since i keep breaking the ends off, and was dropping a hooking so many times a day, also keep a bottle alchole in your side box, i use the medicine kind , and just poured in the airlines too get a stuck trl going thats been dropped,yes winter can be fun

 

Come to canada...winter is always fun...lol.

Clyde

 

Just came across I80 this morning. 40MPH wind, very little snow but enough to make a ten mile stretch of ice pack. Already several jackknife incidents and a ten mile long parking lot going West bound.

 

Sure do miss those days ukdon! Course my wife and I weren't big fans of it but the dog sure as hell loved the snow!

 

I love the snow. I drive pretty regular on it.. Like electricity, you don't have to be scared of it, but do respect it.. I think everyone runs different. I use my jakes, which most would scream at me for, but I'm use to it. I keep a distance far enough to roll to a stop.. Mostly I run night hours to keep away from the traffic and accidents and get around road closures.. Fresh snow is great to drive on..

The most Important thing, keep a steady pace with as much distance as possible..
CB Radio ? How else are you going to know that down the hill around the curve is 2 buses of military guys blocking the road..
DON'T PANIC, Dont lock up you brakes and panic.. Always give yourself a way out.
I generally in parking lot will test my trailer brakes to see which side my trl will jack on.. If it breaks to left I use hammer lane. this prevents collateral damage to anyone beside me if I do something stupid, like following to close...

Just don't panic, It's ok to drive in the medium if you keep it upright and not jerk the wheel and brake.. It better to hit something with control than without.

Practice, hit an mt parking lot /Truck stop. Wind her up hit the brakes, pop a valve, play with it. Get to know how the truck operates in snow an ice..

Bottom line, patience, common sense, practice and not embarrassed to say learning from your mistakes and close calls... When in doubt, park it, tell dispatch to stick it..

 

Little bit of snow running through Gallup today.....