Chaining..... uggh!

I should add that I’m talking about being in the mountains and getting up and over a pass. If I’m on flatland and I need chains to keep going I’m going to park unless I’m doing something off pavement.

 

The only thing worse than chaining is the walk back and fourth hoping I don't slip and fall. I've done it and was put out of commission for a couple weeks heeling up. Chaining just isn't worth it in my opinion.

 

I'm very grateful to all the companies and drivers who don't chain. It makes it just that much less crowded for those of us who chain up and go on.

 

So long as they don’t loiter all day in the chain up areas

 

That too. They think they can get a jump on the big mess that happens when CalTrans opens the highway again and everybody heads out..
Just for the record I hate chaining...after fifty years of chaining up my fingertips get numb when I even look at a set of chains... but I hate the kamikaze truck traffic more.

 

I usually throw chains once a day in the winter season. Usually takes me 5 minutes to throw a set of triples and 3 minutes to get them off. Customer pays an extra 1/2 hour at $180/hour so the faster I do it the more I get paid!

 

Those of you who don't understand guys who sit it out have to realize something. Here on the west coast, we don't get days with a high temperature just above zero. We only have to chain when going over a mountain pass if we stay on the west coast. Most of California north to south on the I-5 is chain free except for the grapevine in the south and near Mt. Shasta in the north. The rest of the time it's above freezing. Same goes for Oregon and Washington if you stay on the 5. Just mountain passes and the rest of the time it's just raining. Leaving northern California heading east, we've got the I-80 over Donner summit, and when chains are required there it's a mad house. If you decide to proceed and chain up, the drive over the summit can take many hours to go just 40 miles because of the sheer volume of vehicles.

This week we've got some clear weather in the west and I booked a great paying load to SLC and have already booked another great paying back haul. It pays to watch the weather.

 

That's true, if you run I-5 in California there isn't a huge amount of chaining.
But if you run California Hwy 36, 395, 32, 44, 46, 299, 70 east of Quincy, 49, 20 east of Grass Valley --just about any of the Sierra Nevada highways actually., you can wind up doing a lot of chaining.
If you're in Chester, or Susanville, or Burney or Grass Valley waiting for the chain restrictions to come down you might have a long wait.

 

Pretty much everything west of 5.

That ocean sure helps to keep things warm.

I would imagine it's the same with 95

 

There are times Ive hid out near Cheyenne to wait out some of the really bad blows in winter up there.

When I do get going the dozen or so ruined big rigs in both shoulders and medians confirm my waiting.

I try not to be where there is weather enough to need chain in states that require them. That's one of the joys of running east, no one gives a ####.