Accident due to wind!

For those of you with smart phones, get an aviation weather app. Most reporting airports update ground conditions at least hourly. I realize most generic weather apps will have wind info, but I have a little more trust in the feed from an airport.

The National Weather Service has some great tools too, but a little less user friendly. I used the charts in the link extensively when that last hurricane came in as one of my trucks was in and out of NOLA just ahead of the storm by about 12 hours.

 

That first picture is incredible...Many local airports will have up to the minute wind reports...You can go to airnav.com pick your state, your city, click on an airport, find the number to call(it'll be on the first page) and wallah!....Great suggestion Red!

 

I like the weatherbug app.

it tells me EVERYTHING going on by my gps location. no need to pick city and state.

 

Darn, Girl! You scared the heck out of me with that title! I thought you meant YOU had been in a crash. Glad to see that was not the case!

Will you quit trying to give a heart attack to an Old Fart?

Also, your PM box is full. . .

 

That's good, and for what it's worth, most of those apps do get their feed from NWS. Walstib makes a good point, most airports have a phone number with recorded ground conditions updated hourly, right from their own weather equipment in case you're driving and can't read a phone app. I use AeroWeather on the iPhone and it will find local airports for you based on gps position as well. The WX ASOS (automated surface observing system) phone number is linked in these apps. Two taps and you're hearing robo weather.

What's really awesome about the wind charts on the NWS link I posted is the forecast. You can scan ahead in 6 hour increments and get a pretty good picture of wind speed and direction across your route. In the case of the hurricane scenario I mentioned, it was very useful for choosing the shortest "get to safety" route and the latest sensible time to make that decision to move there.

 

the first pics looks like somethin with a giant blower had fun with the whole line along the road.... definately a great paying day for the tow boys

 

So if and when your truck is blown over from the wind, do you get a ticket for a preventable accident of some sort? Does it go in the files with your company and DAC?

 

My guess is that if you were rolling at the time, you could get a ticket for "Too Fast For Conditions," and get dinged for a preventable. Even if you are just doing 15. I think it would depend on the individual cop, and of course it would be up to your company whether or not you got nailed for the preventable. OTOH, if you were stopped completely, you might get nailed for Impeding Traffic, if you were in a traffic lane.

One winter when I was with Knight, we lost four trucks to high wind in about a two week period on I-25 between Cheyenne and Ft. Collins. Don't have any idea what happened with the drivers of those trucks.

 

What a bummer...

 

First truck (and only) I saw laid over was a bullrack on I-90 at MM 160.

It got a lot better by thursday afternoon, but again, by that time, I had made it from Rapid City to Minot back to Fargo and then across MN.

Let's just say I was less than happy with a shipper earlier in the week who just decided not to care about holding up getting us loaded until late Tuesday.