Driving in the snow

I wish I had the option of pulling over and waiting out bad weather. Luckily though a lot of my driving is off-road where I can crawl if I need to. My advice, only go as fast as you are comfortable with and if you don't feel safe then stop. Chains are good so put them on if you have any doubt. Make smooth, deliberate control movements (don't break the egg). Keep your windows and mirrors clean.

 

That's always been my philosophy.

 

Hey seen you worked on Georgia Pacific account out of Atlanta. Can you give me in put on it such as home time pay also did you drive mostly in the region or all over. I was reading another thread where driver was saying mainly same route every week

 

Chains can make you GO, but will not help you STOP! I will not get hurt by not being able to GO, but I will get hurt if I can't STOP.

 

dont let some know it all say its not that bad,and other trucks think he knows what he is doing so they start to follow him and then some other trucks fall in also,next thing you know you are in a multi truck crash. all because some other driver told you it was not that bad,the moral to this story is dont bunch up when road conditions are bad. when you are going down a mountain grade slow is good however keep a eye on your tach,dont let your rpms get so low you kill the motor,that will be number 10 for you. if you see a driver with chains that shine you can bet he gets home more than you in winter if you are running west,because he is using them. be safe out there

 

Great info. Thank you for starting this thread. Looks like I'll be going from the frying pan STRAIGHT to the fire after I graduate Roadmaster in 2 weeks. Directly from FL to TN. This is gonna be an interesting ride folks.

 

Kinda nervous myself concerning the coming winter. I run North/South on 31 & 65 all week. Lot's of issues on these roads last winter before I started driving. Hit some of the lake effect stuff this past week in MI and north Indiana. Handled it fine but it's just the tip of the iceberg lol.

Allthebest.

 

One thing I like to do while training new drivers is to find a wide open parking lot with snow and ice on it, then let them feel how the truck reacts when you goose it a little bit in low range. Also try low speed hard braking to feel the way it will skid.

This is also a good idea for experienced drivers if you are in a new truck, as each truck will handle slick conditions differently. Currently I'm driving a KW T-680 going into this winter season and am very pleased with how stable it is compared to Freightliner Cascadias. Far less tendency to jackknife.

Growing up in the Seattle area and doing a lot of skiing it was mandatory to learn how to drive a car in the snow. Even when first learning to drive a car as a teenager my older brother's would take me to abandoned parking lots when it snowed to let me do donuts and really learn how to steer into a skid. While you need to be a tad more cautious in a truck doing this, especially with a trailer attached (don't want to tear up the fairings crunching into a jackknife) I think it should be a requirement for all drivers to learn how their rig reacts in the snow and ice.

Once you KNOW how it feels when the tires lose grip and know how to EASE off the throttle or get OFF the brakes in a skid to correct a yaw, it will give you greater confidence and a much bigger margin of safety when it happens out on the road. New drivers tend to have such a big pucker factor when it comes to driving in slick conditions I like to run them through a parking lot whenever possible to get them OVER the fear factor so they can take yaws and skids in stride without panicking.

 

Im kinda worried as well about this winter, but hopefully all goes well.

 

Remember not too panic brake ,and steer into the skid