Driving in the rain tips?

drive as slow as you want to feel safe. dont worry about other trucks. speed is the main reason for many incidents/accidents

 

No set "rules". Lot depends on your rubber. Any gross weight above about 65k pounds makes your footing much more reliable, but standing water and oil-slicked spots can happen anywhere, especially in areas that haven't seen rain in a long time and it's possible to lose traction on wet roads, even when heavy.

Better to be safe than sorry, as you're doing, you will become more comfortable and get a better feel for how your rig handles with different weighs over time. And the same basically holds true for snow covered roads. But every snow accumulation at different temps is different in terms of "grip-ability", and again, start slow and easy until you build your confidence.

Confidence and trust in your skill and your rig is good, but over-confidence is bad.

 

Stopped reading at Michigan...for a moment. Then I stopped reading at Carhauler, 72mph. 12 over on the bigroad. I personally wouldnt give a flying fluck what everyone else is doing. A 12 over driving award will hurt bad. If you're a rookie, I think you actually did a decent job. Steady as she goes, cap'n.

 

Take her slow.

When you are really heavy, you can be pretty sure of your footing. HOWEVER. Particularly off your steers up front, if you start spraying water, Immediately come off your fuel pedal all the way allowing her speed to drop off. You are giving everything to traction, stay off the brakes because you are now in the early stage of hydroplaning once the rooster tail spray comes off your steers.

If your drives wrap in spray looking like they are wrapping themselves in rolls of water inside your mirrors, do the same thing, back off your fuel all the way, put both hands on the wheel until you slow enough to unwrap the drives some. Your trailer isnt going to bother you too much unless you are on a curve with some really crappy trailer tires. She might slide outwards and try to pull you around to face the other direction you had been coming from or come completely off the pavement.

If a curve is posted say 45, come in at 35 stay off your horsies until at least halfway through you might slow to 32 or so hold her until out.

DO NOT care about the other trucks. If they are going to go by too fast, it's THEIR PROBLEM. Always back off away from them in case they do wreck, you want to stay clear of them in case they do.

It goes without saying, GREASE YOUR 5th wheel. ALWAYS. Rain will be the first to tell you aint got enough grease on that 5th wheel. She will fail to steer correctly, usually understeer with that horrible grinding or grumbling from your steers which you can damage really easily. Over steer is rare.

That's all I have for now. Keep both hands on the wheel.

IF she DOES SLIDE this way or that keep both hands on the wheel, NO FUEL and ESPECIALLY NO BRAKES. FIRMLY ADD a smidgen of wheel back to your lane and WAIT a minute. Just a smidgen this way back to your lane with a emphasis on smidgen.

DO NOT whatever you do HORSE your wheel wildly this way or that. She aint gonna follow. And when and if she does with that wheel all the way over, you just bought yourself a vicious jackknife that will probably get you hurt, killed or at least one someone else the same if not a whole family.

 

The first 5 minutes of rain is the worst. Takes a bit of time to wash oils of the road surface.

Use rainex on outside of windows when you can. Read bottle.

Make sure wipers are the good kind beam style. If not and your are crap go to wally mart, and buy some. Company should reimburse.

 

One more thought. In heavy water situations have your RPM's in a gear with fat torque. Call it 1400. No more than that. Actually 1250 would be better. Don't lug it though. Just above lug but below your torque RPM. It's hard to describe in words.

So if you floored it you are at torque and going to pull through that water, instead of being at cruise RPM or at high horse RPM which causes too much horsies to slap into your drives and cause all of them, or at least one of them to spin out from under you. She will be a fat lady that just slipped on a marble inside a antique shop. You wont like what will happen pretty quickly when that big fat tractor loses her footing under you in that water.

You want to be at torque. So if she DOES spin at least one wheel, it's going to do it relatively controlled and slow. You will get it back before the true power and RPMs come up. But you have to come off that fuel in case of a true hydroplaning.

This is a thought more towards the experienced driver who can understand what I am driving at. It's not really for newbies so much. But at some point in the future you are going to be adding this little idea to your bag of tricks.

 

No cruise in heavy rain is recommended.

 

Drive your own drive.
Never let ANYONE dictate how you roll.
My rule of thumb has always been if you feel uncomfortable in any weather condition, just back out of it a bit.

 

Actually 'only' 7 over. MI bumped most of the highways up to 65 a bit over a year ago. There are some congested areas like Detroit that still have 55 MPH highways, but most of the state is 65 now/.

As for the op. First I would never tell anyone to drive faster than you are comfortable with, but if you are doing 45 and getting passed at 60-65 by everyone you need to get off the road. You are the hazard, not everyone.

Now, if everyone else was doing 45-50 also, well car haulers are crazy...