Winter Driving

i agree if you need chains then might as well find a place to park,i am not out here to get myself killed or anybody else,no load is worth a life in my book,if i tell dispatch that they dont have a problem with it,iam out here not them,they understand

 

That's cool. It's not anyones place to decide for another what they are/aren't comfortable with. However, Everyone can test themselves to determine whether their choice is TRUELY based on safety rather than based on just not WANTING to do it (lazy). If you come to winter conditions that are questionable, ask yourself, "If I was heading home and was 10 miles from home, would I carry on barefoot, chain up or spend several hours parked waiting for conditions to improve". The answer should be the same whether you are heading home and only 10 miles away or 1000 miles from home heading in the other direction.

 

I have never chained. Nor do I ever intend to. With some judicious trip planning, I've never been in a situation where I needed to, honestly. I tend to run more in the east, anyway, for some reason. When I am in the NW in the winter, I check weather and road reports very carefully when choosing my route. Thus far in my career, this has always worked to keep me rolling down the road without chaining. Just lucky, perhaps.

My main argument against it is having to log the on-duty time and not getting paid for that time. It burns up my 70, not only putting them on, but driving 25mph while they are on. We all know the less time we have available on our 70, the less money making potential we have. If I were paid by the hour, chaining wouldn't bother me. But I'm not, I'm paid by the mile. So I want my 70hr allotment used for driving as much as possible.

And anyone who chooses to think I am lazy is more than welcome to do so. I've already got several people here who think that of me since I prefer hauling a van trailer OTR over hauling a tanker locally.

 

I have no reason to chain.. I am in Southern Ontario we don't get enough snow to use chains... No do we have huge hills to climb.. I also thing it's against the law to use chains in this part of Ontario..

I did however learn how to chain a truck when I went to school for my licence... So if I had to do it I am sure I could remember how to do it... I wouldn't be lazy and not do it.. I'd rather get out, put them on and get going if it is safe. KEYWORD if it is SAFE... This means if it is safe to put them on in the locations given AND if it is even safe to continue even with them on...

We just use aggressive "lug" tires on our trucks because it helps us with the locations we go.. We end up having to deal with snow and mud where we dump material so the lugs help out.. Highway tires are no good for our trucks... They just get stuck to quick..

 

I haven't been in a situation where I have to chain, but this sounds like a good philosophy.

 

I never could understand this mentality.
How fast can you drive with, or without, chains in a bad snow storm??
Maybe 20 or 25 mph...if that??
So in yer 11 hours you MIGHT get 100 or 150 miles counting breaks.
And that's assuming you don't get hung up in a big bad back up along the way.
It makes more sense to wait it out, they plow the roads, and you can move
at a more regular pace.
When they do you will catch up to where you would have been crawling along
in the snow storm in half the time or better.
If it's bad enough to require chains find yerself a nice hole and climb in.

 

whoes to say whos right or wrong,its a matter of choice,enough said