CHAINING...are you ready?

It was just a matter of time till the "I don't chain for any reason" crowd started to bleat....

 

I ain't afraid to throw iron to keep moving but the only time I'll ever be sitting out a chain law is if I have to cross Donner while CALTRANS has the maximum chain law in effect.

For one, I refuse to carry three-rail chains that only make me compliant in one state and two, if somebody thinks I need that many chains when 4 out of 8 tires on a tandem drive axle tractor is sufficient, I'll and wait for the chain law to be reduced.

 

You know what you don't see chained up in a snow storm?

Motorhomes, bicycles, and various other 50 mph RV's. I welcome winter out here in the west, especially when I spend alot of time running the northern Cal coast.

 

Wow, so you mean to tell me California finally got smart and either done away with or is in the process of getting away from requiring tandem drive axle tractors to have 6 drive tires chained? Well, slap me silly and call me charley!.... I'll be ######. It's about time. I never understood that logic. Interstate 70 through Colorado is just as bad as Donner, maybe even a little more and CDOT don't require that many chains.

Well, hearing this certainly makes me feel better about ditching the 3-railers I had last year that I never used.

Pardon me, bad choice of words.

I didn't mean it like California required three rail chains, I just simply meant that California was the only reason why England wants us to carry them so that when they have the maximum requirement
in effect, we can be compliant and have the required amount of tires chained with two doubles and two singles on the drives and the other set of singles on the trailer.

It never crossed my mind to put two pairs of singles on one axle. I can see doing it that way and having it easier to get them tight and keep them tight.

 

I'm ready. My chains are underneath my trailer in sufficient quantity as to not receive a ticket. That is what chain season means to me, although I did almost take one out of the bag a few years back trying to get out of my parking spot at the Ft Bridger TA.

 

That is not what I said, now was it?

I will chain if I really need to. But if conditions are bad enough for chains, they are bad enough not to take the chance.

I just love these people that are so 'devoted' to getting there on time, that they will risk both their own lives and the lives of others to prove - what?

That it can be done, if only you throw caution and prudence to the wind?

I'll tell you what.
No load is so important that it has to get there, no matter the cost.

 

Maybe black KW had other intentions but I don't think that's exactly what he was getting at.

If you wish not to chain and be parked while the roads are bad then good for you. Not saying you are unskilled at driving icy roads but your lack of interest to drive on them tells me that you aren't comfortable with it and if that's the case, uncomfortable people don't need to be on the highways when they are icy.

I think the point being made here was in reference to the supertruckers that drive without them when they probly should have them installed.

 

Thanks for this post! I'm deliberately choosing to get my CDL and start in the winter so that I have a trainer next to me during the worst possible season to show me the "safe" (as if) way to handle winter roads. I'm trying to read everything I can on the classroom side of it beforehand so that my trainer can focus on the hands-on experience and trying to keep us alive.