what could I have done differently?

The last storm I was in I called dispatch when I drove into Arkansas out of Missouri and pulled into a rest area because roads were icy . I was just told the weather was clear . I could see that but road conditions stay bad long after the weather clears .

 

The only thing you really did wrong was not being forewarned. That happens, sometimes because situations change quickly, sometimes because we make presumptions. Remember, you had to go somewhere and an empty space two and a half truck lengths sounds like a reasonable place to shoot for. Without sitting in the seat and feeling the road under my seat I really can't say you did anything wrong in a technical sense. As a rule of thumb I will go to great lengths to avoid turning the steering wheel in a position like that, even going straight forward until the lane I am in comes to a stop.

This I know for sure. The longer I am on the road the more cautious I feel on ice rather being more comfortable. I would rather try to stand on a bowling ball in my stocking feet. Sounds like you learned a little, injured no one, stood on your own two feet when the time came to take responsibility and became a better more experienced truck driver. Carry on driver.

 

Your right again, may be the best thing would be to listen to the NOAA station, or if you have a laptop with one of those wireless cards you could just take a look at the weather map.. Sometime its just to hard to decide what is right. I guess it all depends on the individual person..

 

Keep your head up !!! weve all been there the best of luck to you. We can all say we would have done it differant but thats not the case no one nose what they could or would of done,you did your very best and thats all you can do . Hopefull your company would have rather fix a little paint than have a rig upside down in the ditch.

 

That's very good news!

 

when there is ice stop!! Dont risk your record you will not make any money driving in bad conditions anyway. Had a driver i used to work with jacknife in icy conditions. He lost his job.

 

Rjones, had a similar thing with the wind. I pulled onto the shoulder, got the truck stopped and the wind blew the trailer wheels off the shoulder. I was thinking about you guys out on the road when I heard about all that bad weather. Winter is unpredictable from year to year.