Advice for winter

Go slower and leave more following distance.

If the back of your rear view mirror is icy, so is the road.

Make all control inputs (brakes, steering) smoothly.

Just take your time and be careful, and you'll be okay. Other members will be along with timely and useful information. At least one will be along with outdated and false fear-mongering. Good luck.

 

Don't crash.

Which category am I?

 

You know.

 

Go extremely slow and don't use your jake brakes on icy downgrades. You'll find yourself off the road.

Get good at installing chains.

 

Grab your tractor find 4 acres of pavement with snow on it.

Leave off your trailer for this.

Drive that tractor in a circle. Then make another circle the other way. Learn to drift that circle all the way around.

Then do figure 8's As long you have a thought exactly where you want that sliding tractor to be back under your control then you have experienced what it is like to try and get your tractor back in snow.

Dont be reckless. If you add too much power, the drives will slide out from under you fast enough then its a game of getting it back under control FAST. It does not take much wheel.

DO not let your boss see you throwing a 150,000 tractor around on a improvised skid pad.

Then start at one end and gain speed fast. Halfway by 15 mph try to stop quick. Harder than you think. You will need that ABS.

When you think you got it, playtime is over. Go forth.

Always fill half tanks of fuel. Fuel = life.

Get familiar with the current storms in the entire USA out to 72 hours. Don't be fat dumb and happy rolling into a 10 foot donner storm like the rest of the herd of darwins. You already know there is a storm on that pass and so on.

Stay familiar with the weather all winter.

If you don't feel safe and or see everyone else filling the truckstop you go in too.

If for some stupid fate sets you with a dumb dispatcher barking at you to get moving now. Tell him or her you decide and only you decide. They can stuff it.

 

See? Told ya......

 

In a snowstorm slide your fifth wheel ahead to put more weight on your steers. This will keep your front end up on the road where it belongs. Don't think twice about DOT or axle weights during the storm. Safety first.. After storm return fifth wheel to normal position.

Stretch out your tandems, this will put more weight on your drive tires, and a longer trailer wheelbase is more stable and easier to control in a Sliding\ panic braking situation. After the storm return to legal position.

Make sure your tires are new or newer. Rubber compounds get heat hardened during summer heat and will not grip nearly as well. (Think penny loafers vs. Sneakers on a basketball court.

Keep your fuel tanks topped off and treated with anti-gell. Keep a bottle of 911 in your side box.

Be sure to dry your brakes out before parking if you have been driving in snow and slush and you expect the temps to drop.

NO JAKES on snow!!

 

@chucomom .....Please don't do this. Playing on a skid pad and actual slick road conditions are two entirely different things. Nobody does this and there are a dozen good reasons for that.
Listen to what drivers like @homeskillet tell you. Learn to chain up. Drive smoothly and never get in a hurry. If your gut is telling you that you're getting into conditions beyond your skill and experience level, listen to your gut. If you park because of bad weather you'll live to tell about it. If you keep pushing in conditions where things endanger you and others you might be the lead story on the local tv news.
Whatever you do, don't go play Slide-a-Truck in an icy parking lot somewhere.