You do have the right NOT to drive in harsh weather!

The hard part is when you've really connected with your dispatcher and they've done several favors for you, you feel like you owe them by taking more risks than you normally would to make the customer happy.

I'll at least try to push through nasty stuff, but if I have a "awww hell nahhhh" moment, then I'll gladly make the phone call "sorry, tried, I don't feel safe nor do I have the experience for this situation"

 

I think it's righteous that the truck driver in the OP got justice. No driver should be punished for making the right decision for safety, especially safety of civilians.

I also think that all drivers need to be able to handle bad conditions. It's an essential skill. For new drivers I will tell you that it isn't a matter of IF, but WHEN you are going to find yourself in the ####. The snowstorm that comes up unexpectedly or the high winds that suddenly create blizzard conditions...it's GOING to happen. You NEED to be able to safely handle it until you find a safe place to park.

If you develop a skill set and a taste for the conditions, you make yourself more valuable. Yes, there are conditions where you need to park it. But sometimes the next available parking may be an hour away, like traveling a two lane in west Texas when a blizzard rolls in. There's no shoulder and no pull offs for the next 30-50 miles. You MUST be able to get through that. Parking in the middle of the road isn't safe.

Bear in mind that the "impossible" conditions WILL end. If you have the Myradar app running you can see in real time wind directions and speeds, precipitation, freezing rain, tornadoes, etc. Download it.

An example of when that app helped me was running from Pueble to western Nebraska a few years ago. A blizzard was in full swing. I decided to pull into the first Love's on I-76. There was a foot of fresh snow on the ground and parking was overflowing onto the street. I consulted Myradar and saw that the blizzard ended about 10 miles east! Sweet! I got back eastbound and within a few miles the sky was clear and stars were out. I found a rest stop with a couple dozen parking spots and only one other truck in the lot.

Be smart about it. Learn how and when to use your power divider aka the Interaxle Differential Lock. Find a wide open parking lot in slick conditions and practice. Turn some Brodies bobtail. Practice with and without the power divider. Learn the limitations of your equipment and yourself.

Once you get a taste for it, those slick conditions can be...fun. And profitable. I am DEFINITELY NOT the fastest driver on the road when conditions are bad. Slow and steady as she goes. I am not the SLOWEST driver, either. White knuckled drivers going 25 mph on the freeway are a hazard. Don't be a hazard.

 

Thank you! I will definitely check out myradar app !!

That's all I want to get to where I am going without being too slow or too fast and slide off the road. I just want to earn myself and my company some money without being stupid.

I would definitely take a truck out and do some "donuts" in a safe area if I could, but it's company equipment. So... you know.

When I was younger I did take my car out when I was 16 in SLC and learning. I went to the high school and did just what you said. Drove all over the parking lot slamming brakes, jerking the wheel, just trying to get to where I could predict exactly what was going to happen. It was fun. I thought a cop would shut me down, but it never happened. They just drove past and left me alone.

 

It's much to blanket of a statement to say that all drivers should say no to driving in a blizzard, or they can refuse to get out in a blizzard and do their job. For some yes, I agree park it...but for many it doesn't matter what the weather is doing, WE MUST GET IT DONE!

 

Does Canada find fault in the driver if another vehicle crashes into them during inclement weather? The U.S. sure does, stating that if the driver had not driven then he would have never been at the location for the person to crash into them.

 

Then I know it's pretty bad.

Ive done that a time or two. But more likely would find me in a nice truckstop somewhere waiting for conditions to improve it might be a few hours or a day or two.

About 98 all I did was ice this ice that ice something else once they discovered I don't complain about it. My last run from Mississippi to Memphis and into Arkansas in ice was one of my most difficult ever. But we made it happen.

Smart? Heh. Stupid? Certainly.

We are actually trying to round up everything today making ready for storm conditions monday. The only thing I would need is greybeards over the fo'c'sle.

 

Here the big money is made in winter.
And the worse the storm gets, the better the money is.
I enjoy a good blizzard, and when it snows 7 feet in 72 hours I am in heaven. Trucks making emergency pay when they start up, and 1.5 times emergency pay after 8 hours. Come back to the yard after 12 hours, refuel them, swap drivers, and send them back out at double emergency pay. I hate it when it stops snowing, and my drivers love every minute of it to.