Need some I-80 west help....:

I went down Donner Pass quite a few times when I drove for Stevens. I took it easy and followed those witty signs they have posted on the way down. I bore a lot of BS on the radio from my fellow drivers who felt the need to comment on my driving at a safe speed down the hill. Keep in mind, back then Stevens didn't use jake brakes on their trucks. Every so often another driver would stick up for me and tell the other drivers to pay attention to their own driving. Almost every time, one of those "supertruckers" would find themselves stopped on the side of the road, either at the hands of the CHP or with smoking brakes because they blew the circuit for the jake brakes and they shut down.

Just be safe and descend the mountain as if you had NO jake brake, that way if God forbid the circuit dies, you can still descend the mountain safely. Too many drivers push the limits of their equipment going downhill and they risk winding up like that truck in the YouTube video.

 

I am a southern girl by choice. I don't plan to go there until may or June at the earliest.

 

I drove through a blizzard east of Laramie, WY in May one year.

 

Another reason not to have the CB!

I love KARMA and it is so sweet when I pass by someone who blew my doors off pulled over by a friendly LEO!

 

One of them was a Swift truck. Since back then Swift governed at 57 mph, going down a hill was one of the only times they got to pass anyone.

 

No wonder we can pass them. I have only passed 3 trucks since I've had Cassie...all of them Swift. Must be why they like to hang out in the west. Mountains to help them feel their need for speed.

 

oh you are a baaddddd girl...lol

 

That and driving in California. That's the only time I get passed by the mega fleets. I set the cruise at 58 and take it easy. But once I cross the state lines going west, I bump it back up to 73 and start quoting Dr. King.

 

So when I get to CA you'll let me pass you too! WooHoo!!! I'm getting excited now!

 

LOL. Just don't let the Chippies see you, they hate to see trucks in any lane other than the right lane!