Driving on Ice and snow

i hope all that ice is gone....I'll be going through Indy tomorrow morning



American Trucker

 

You don't really drive on ice.
You can slide on it though.

I was told you can drive on ice as long as at least half your wheels have traction. If you have traction you can still maintain control. Once you lose traction, you lose control.

 

It's really not that big of a deal, I've been running from KCK to Edmonton Alberta for almost 3 years, coming back empty every week. Doesn't matter if it's stupid cold or snowy we go pretty much as long as the road is open snow, wind, blizzard conditions, ice fog whatever... now freezing rain and glaze ice are a different story. I'd say that I easily run through 500 to 1,000 miles of snow pretty much every week during the winter.

3 years ago if someone told me what I'd be doing, I would have told them that they were smoking crack.

All it takes is common sense, equipment that you take care of and a light touch... really just don't do any sudden inputs while driving and stay out of the boost when it's really slick, it's also knowing when to finally shut down or not to even try something.

We have so much information at our fingertips now, check the weather and road conditions ahead....there is absolutely no reason for not knowing what you're driving into....there were miles of trucks sitting on the Interstate in Tulsa during the blizzard this week. Then when I watched the news they blamed the state for not clearing the roads instead of realizing that they were a ####### for driving right into a 30 hour blizzard WARNING. The path that I made through a 3 foot drift disappeared in less than an hour, how was the state supposed to keep the road open?

In Canada when it gets good and cold you can drive 70 mph on ice as long as you don't do anything stupid, hell pretty much every week I'll set my cruise on 62 mph when I know there's ice.

The other thing that many people seem not to know about is momentum, esp in their cars. If you're poking along at 15 mph scared to death you're just asking to hit a bad spot and not be able to pull through it, I got caught behind quite a few of them in my car and almost got stuck more than once b/c of someone in front of me going too slow or slowing down at the wrong time.
If you're only driving 15 mph esp on a highway....you're an incompetent traffic hazard just waiting to cause an accident and don't belong on the road period probably OR the conditions are so bad that no one should be on the road at all.

I've been driving for over 25 years and the first time I've ever chained my truck up was this week to get out of my subdivision after the blizzard this week in Tulsa... then I bobtailed up to KC on snow and ice. If it's bad enough for chains, I don't need to be out there anyway.

 

If you are scared of the road conditions, then you are a hazard if you try to drive on it. Driving on ice is an aggravation. You have to slow down quite a bit to be safe. Snow is just a minor nuisance.

 

Paul 1052...using the cruise control on icy roads is not a very good idea.

I just spent the last month hauling at 100 feet long on roads that were either hard snow pack or iced up from rain in the Slave Lake and Fort MacKay, Alberta areas.

 

guys lets not make light of this there are a lot of rookies on here and you guys up north were born on this those of us a little more haven;t had that much experience. I watched a driver here in OK yesterday on just a slick street hard packed snow put one in the ditch! real scary poor kid was really freaked! so lets make sure we put the disclaimer if you don;t feel comfortable don't drive! his DM pushed him now he's payin for it.

 

The key is to just stay in YOUR comfort zone, some days I pass a lot of traffic some days I get passed a lot, everyones comfort zone on the same road can be very different.

Prairie Boy, I know it's not usually a good idea and don't do it all the time, I didn't know how many different types of snow and ice there are until I started going to Edmonton.

Some can be very slick and I'll watch empty bullracks do 70 mph on another kind of ice.

 

+ 1. Very well said

 

This is one of my worries about becoming a truck driver; I am from Northern California and consequently can count the number of times I've driven in the snow on one hand. From what I've heard all you can do is consider your steering and brakes pretty much useless and hope for the best.

 

I grew up in MA and Northern VT. So i've spent TONS of time driving and racing (SCCA & SCCV) in the snow/ice and even I slowed WAYYY down my first few times in it in a Big truck. So your lack of experiance shouldnt be a big deal, just go slow and take your time until you learn how your truck/trailer handle in the snow/ice. And dont worry about the guys that blow by you at 80 in the snow lol You'll see then later in the ditch



American Trucker