going fast in snow

Correct....
Also what about freezing rain? That's worse than sleet or snow.

 

If the rain is coming down and then starts to accumulate on my truck and mirrors, it becomes very important to slow down. Especially when empty or a light load.

 

Winter time in the state of Oregon isnt fun either, you can run idaho and roads will be mostly clear then hit oregon you swear they dont know what a snow plow is, roads will be snow and ice covered for miles having not been cleared off, I wonder if the state of oregon is so broke they can not afford snow plows?? Some one needs to teach them what a snow plow is and how to use it.

 

They have plows but this last go around the snow hit places where they haven't seen the white $*** for years.

So much for global warming.....

 

One thing I have found is the colder it gets the more traction I have (IE near 0 degrees)

 

Gee don't know about snow but one guy I was teaching to operate a side loader ( ????? check out Steelbro website ) wanted to put it in angel going down the grape vine out of L.A. ( mmmm to save fuel I think ) and got upset when I asked him which Corn Flakes box he got his CDL out off. I wonder, are some of these " Truck'n Universities " responsible for the " graduates " they send out, like " last week I could'nt spell truck driver and wow now I are one " oh be the way I'm an Aussie who taught guys how to operate these sideloaders and some of the horror stories I can tell you about " part time contract drivers " would make your toes curl.

 

today while going north on Hwy 69 thru Ok... going across Eufala... an inch of ice or more, doing about 25 with my flashers on... heard some other truckers laughing because of the truck in front with the flashers on is probably scared... I got on and said Nope not scared, just taking it easy and nothing wrong with going slow... didn't hear another peep... I am just glad that there are two lanes because there is only one person that drives my truck... ME...yeah, sometimes I am scared/nervous but I keep going until I start sliding too much, etc, etc... then I park... and when I don't feel scared or nervous driving on ice/snow.... time for me to turn in my keys..

 

Every driver has a comfort level. Every vehicle handles differently in the snow. I always keep in mind that what ever it is that I am driving, I may have to stop it quickly.

 

The problem is that too many drivers comfort levels for driving in ice and snow are unsafe. I see it almost every day up here in North Dakota. Take yesterday. We had winds in excess of 30 mph with gusts reaching over 50mph causing snow to blow out of the fields and ditchs onto the roads. Well the temp was above 30 so the snow was sticking to the roads. Seen 4 rigs in the ditchs on my return trip back to the north Eastern part of the state from the south central part of the state. I was running under 60 and one of them passed me only for me to pass him an hour or so later when he was plowed into the ditch. I gave a call out to him to see if he was ok and he said the wrecker was on the way so I continued my drive.

 

So you holding yourself accountable to your safety and the safety of those around you is "probably scared"?

I'll lay odds that drivers who think they above the laws of physics and drive through ice and snow like it was another day on the highway, are the first ones in the ditch.


As another driver mentioned, it's the "comfort level" and it's also the conditions in regards to the conditions compounded with the amount of "rolling steel" on that highway with all of us.