Stupid question but could be a factor...

You could get no chain ups for the year or chaining a few times a day, chaining becomes fast after a few thousand times while always hating it. Just never can tell.

 

there is also the option of auto socks, you can look them up on utube. if your company doesnt pay for them then you can decide if they are worth the investment for you and your situation

 

Go work for a company that doesnt make you chain. Chain laws go up my truck gets parked.

 

I have them on my truck but have never used them. Company policy is that if the roads are bad enough to need chains then its not safe to continue driving. Twice this year I hit the truckstop when chain restrictions were in place. As soon as they were lifted I rolled out again.

 

Know how to install that bling no matter what, them storms pop up anywhere quick, then at least you can get to a safe spot.

 

I've been driving for 13 years and have never used or even carried tire chains. As a company driver I drove through blizzards in Michigan and ice storms in Houston but since being an owner operator I now go by the philosophy of if there is snow or ice on the road I'm not on the road. But with where I live and the area I run it generally only means staying home a few days a year. As to whether or not you have to deal with tire chains all depends on where you run .... and your luck of course.

 

Not necessarily to 4 tires. Worse case scenario is 4 outside drives on the tractor and one aft outside (Usually right) on trailer. That makes 5. Plus a number of spares. The main thing is physically installing them, uninstalling them etc so that they fit TIGHT. Too much slop or floppies break em in time.

Nothing is a stupid question in trucking. You might get smiles or laughed at but nothing is a stupid question.

I carried chain, but I don't recall a time I needed to put them on because dispatchers pay attention to weather (As I did) and we tried to either race in, grab and go get clear before a storm arrived at the pass or we did a marathon to get out when a major pacific system developed and exploded over the NW. I remember taking a convoy from Cabbage into the high desert one day of about 50+ including a few newbies all of us wanting out. As far as everyone doing what they were supposed to in that storm barefoot and kept moving, I consider that one a excellent day because we essentially escaped into WY before it really got bad. (I-84 in Dalles east of Portland is really a ice rink, you cannot believe how bad it can ice over being lower and colder by the river)

I occasionally waited a day or two for state highways to assault the mountain and clear it. Sometimes a snow got too much, say more than 2 feet and I'll find a hole somewhere safe and wait. As Kenny Rogers said, you gotta know when to hold em and when to run.

I do carry ice chains from Austria for my vehicle even though it's a 4x4 I do not go out onto ice if I can help it. Ive had too much of that too long. We wait for sunshine a while here in the south and it goes away in time. The risk of other drivers sliding and wrecking you is just too great.

 

This job isn’t for you friend.

 

Ditto. In my career I only chained up so I could find a place to park. Prudence demands you know how to use chains and carry them in places where their use and having them with you is required. However if you can, park before hand.