New Drivers...Winter Tip

if your on the brakes in icy or wet conditions, check your mirrors, make sure the trailer is behind you where it should be and not jack knifing, if it starts to slide release your brakes until the trailer is back behind you, leave yourself plenty of room so you can safely do this.................. got me out of trouble a few times.

 

A hammer can also crack drums and linings.

When the temps are going below freezing it is best to never set the trailer brakes.
The tractor brakes are much easier to free when they are frozen. A tug forward and back a few times usually does it.

And it might not hurt to pull and release both sets a couple times once you have stopped for the night, after 15 minutes or so.
As well, actually moving the truck a few inches forward and back within the first hour of shutting down to insure everything is moving freely.

 

My trailer brakes will deploy when the air pressure gets below 55 psi. This happened a few nights ago on a very cold night, between start ups to keep the engine warm. I generally have been idling to bring engine temp above 120ºF, then shut off for a few hours and run the bunk heater. May need to rethink this in severe cold and just run the engine the entire time.

 

Well, I landed myself in hot water already on "winter driving". I fought with a guard rail, and while I won, it did not go well at home base. Check weather EVERY MORNING BEFORE YOU EVEN START THE TRUCK. A day old weather report got me off guard when a new front moved through and rain turned to sleet and ice everywhere. Thankfully, the company is letting me pay for the damage and keep my job. I have made it a point to tell everyone I know what I have learned. These trucks, heavy as they are, do NOT handle well in icy conditions.

When I left out that morning, 34 degrees and dry. No water anywhere! Less than an hour down the road, 28 degrees and freezing rain. No ticket, as there where 18 accidents on that stretch in less than 30 mins. Thankfully, I did not injure anyone and kept it to my side of the highway "glancing" off a guard rail. I make sure to call weather first thing in the morning and call for weather updates at every stop. Slow as I was, the condition on that stretch of highway was more than a match for me and my truck. As I set out the safety reflectors I almost died numerous times at the hand of other truckers who were obviously as unaware of conditions as I was. I watched their trailers swing towards me as I jumped to the other side of the guardrail I had destroyed. A four wheeler hit the same guardrail and bounced into the zipper between lanes of traffic. I had to push her off the road in the traffic or she would likely be dead.

do not accept surprises.. If you do it right, as I learned from my little experience, there just shouldn't be any.

 

if you have any doubt, stay parked. ​

 

You can try heating up the trailer brakes to boil off the water before leaving the road.

 

If you have the room in front, accelerating will help as well....

 

Ok. I am currently in training with my first driving job ever. I am driving a Step Deck. My trainer has pushed me to drive through winters and icy roads over and over again and as most of you know this winter has been rough. He knows his stuff and has been through this a few times. Best advice he gave me is to slow the hell down and leave plenty of space. The driving is not the problem. We have been in sub zero temperatures for about 8 days straight and have broken 5 air lines. 3 service 2 emergency. What can I do to prevent this so I am not buying replacement air lines from the T/S every other day?