Engine brakes and windshield wipers

If you are up against traffic in filthy winter or rain that close to where your stage two or four jake wont do the job, then you are driving too fast.

You seem to be a bit light on your time out there. Don't use your jakes in snow, ice especially.

Now... as for me, I'll use it when loaded heavy. But never in ice and depending on snow, not powder.

I also never use jake when empty, back in flatbed times when the deck is bare and against a 12% grade coated in sheet ice straight down two miles... your jake is OFF. You creep down measuring your air loss all the way to the bottom. essentially slow enough to use equal or less than what your compressor is making at walking pace. In powder snow you never stop upgrade especially and downgrade you are never going to use that jake.

Rain comes in when you are on some of the twisty mountain roads, you feel your 5th wheel forcing you into a jackknife sometimes when loaded because there is so much force by gravity going against your 5th wheel when your tractor is at odd angles other than straight. Most people would not be running the hills as I once did. Besides many of those roads have begun to be restricted against trucks for several good reasons.

Finally Ive said before you don't use it in ice. And the same token you don't use too much power on ice either. She'll slip right out from under you.

Your traction comes from rotating tires that are not slipping. Or being stopped by the jake and dragging. Understand? Roll them tires. Maintain power to the drives just enough to keep her moving. So what if's it 5 mph for the next 12 hours. That is where you come in. Settle in it will be a while.

Regarding the excessive management of Equipment by companies disabling this or that if this is used or that is on etc. It's a insult to me. I absolutely never had to deal with that in over half my life and I don't intend to start now.

I'll sit home and laugh and laugh when robot trucks cause carnage in winter preventing whole cities from getting the food on the shelf. See where that gets them. There are certain things machines can do well. But not everything, Humans excel at judgment on certain things. If you are driving a truck that is disabled or neutered by your company don't continue to accept it. Move on find another outfit. Large Mega fleets have a sickness and will do this quite a bit.

You will find many people telling you different versions of the same thing. You will learn. That is good. If not? Then we cannot help you.

 

Listen to this guy, by all means. Heavy knows.

 

5 mph for 12 hours? 60 miles? I'll park for the night lol

 

Sure. Many a night spent fighting winter to get that load there. Because they count on it. If you wont, they fire you. Drivers are a 50 a dozen in the Orientation trailer once upon a time every week.

But if you can park it and invest in 2 hours or so after the plows have had it during your reset... you will have a good workweek ahead of you. We never had resets, we just burned the 70 hours or whatever and when the recaps said 10 hours to drive, off we went.

 

Depends on condition. Don't recommend using on any grade when ICY

 

I've always used the jake in winter... accident, jack-knife, and ditch free for 18yrs (knock on wood). However I almost never have to deal with any grades.

My reasoning is if a wheel breaks traction, I still have three drives turning at road speed. I don't have to worry about getting sideways, The only recovery needed is to get that loose wheel back turning... Clutch, turn off the jake. And now you have been warned of how nice to be on your brake pedal.

I'm tired of pencil pushing safety jerks, taking tools away. In all my years, I've never lost traction in rain... That's just ridiculous to tie the jake to the wipers, I'd be having a fit!

 

I use my jakes at all times too loaded or empty rain or snow. I have yet to meet anyone who has actually wrecked from using engine brake. Hell most people in here will say not to use it only because "they heard" a story

 

I've had jakes momentarily slow the drives rotation speed more than current road speed, more than once and in conditions I thought was relatively safe. Drive it your way but don't get pissed when you're jackknifed in the ditch in a shallow curve and people are honking as they drive by.

 

Snow isn't the problem, I use the Jake all the time in snow. Ice is a different matter. No Jake Brake then. Rain...just depends, but I usually cut it down to just what I need regardless of the conditions. Speed is a major factor...SLOW DOWN.