Superior Carriers

Well, I had quite the thrill ride on Friday the 13th. I left Burlington, CO around noon headed for the other side of the Rockies. I checked weather & road conditions before I left and on the way to the front range, roads were clear with no restrictions but there was heavy traffic going over I-70. I had over 6 hours to get up and over and it wasn't enough. Traffic was really bad going up the east side and the weather was turning but nothing but a few flurries, roads were clear and wet all the way to the Eisenhower Tunnel. I went through the tunnel and emerged into a winter wonderland, heavy snow beginning to cover the roads, I-70 eastbound was a sh*tshow of cars & trucks stuck & blocking the lanes of travel, it was closed. Westbound was still moving so I hit the traction control & eased her down the road. When you come out of the tunnel going west, you go downhill dropping from over 11000' to under 9000' and I thought I was out of the woods, roads improved, snowfall lightened up, I could see the lanes again, but then, it climbs again to over 10000' I was really nervous & the snow was worse now. I was only moving about 15-18 mph and could no longer see lanes or lines, just snow covering the road and nowhere to pull over or stop. The snow was deep on the sides of the road so I just stayed the course, slow & steady. I was praying out loud & watching my trailer hoping it would pull true and not start sliding with the slight bank of the turns. Everything held man, that truck never lost traction going up or downhill & that trailer never slid an inch. I was creeping along at about 20ish and I saw the plows come behind me so I eased over to the right enough to let them pass single file & then they spread out once they were clear of me. I stayed behind them the rest of the way down. My 11 and 14 ran out completely but I kept on truckin' until I was off that mountain and could find a safe place to stop which ended up being Parachute, CO. To leave the roadway was to almost guarantee getting stuck in the deeper snow. There's no truck stops, no rest areas that I found that could accommodate a truck, and every town I pulled into had no overnight parking signs and/or no idling signs. I ended up on the side of the road across from a convenience store off I-70, not a patch of snow to be found. Slept good and hit the road around 8am & now I'm soaking up some layover time in Price, UT until Monday morning. I deliver at 0900 & will hopefully be headed home with a fresh 70. I know one thing for sure, I'm taking the southern route home! I don't care to see the Rockies again until summertime.

 

I’m 2 hours from my terminal & it’s no problem. The distance will just limit you to system driving. If they need drivers as bad as everyone says, they’ll hire you. I would definitely go in person to Pasadena, it’s such a busy terminal, everyone in that office was on the phone when I was there, another call just gets in their way.

 

I definitely never want to be in that situation again! I checked road and weather conditions before heading over but things can change quickly in the high mountains so there’s no guarantees. It is law that all trucks must carry chains from October through April in Colorado. I do not have chains in my truck. Chains were not required at the time I went over the Rockies but when I came through the Eisenhower Tunnel the chain light was flashing. I was carrying a really non-hazardous load of mineral oil, probably at least 76000 lbs which probably helped me with traction. It was a bad decision all around & a large fine would be the least of my problems if things went bad. I could’ve been stuck at over 10k feet for days. I had plenty of fuel and food, water, blankets & warm clothes but I did not care to be stuck on top of the mountains. I won’t chain up, next time, I’ll just go around or post up until the storm moves on. It wasn’t forecast to snow until Saturday but it sure was snowing!