High wind, light load, how long should I wait it out?

Question, if you do rollover and it’s 110% the wind, is this still considered a preventable? I would imagine it is. Funny how companies pressure us to drive in severe weather and winds, but will say, “ oh my that’s preventable you should’ve shut down due to weather“. if anything happens.

You’re the captain, if for ANY reason you feel unsafe, shut it down! They’ll get over it.

it only takes 40mph sustainable in the right condition at the right angle to flip an empty 53 ft trailer. Keep that in mind. With 35,000 pounds or more it would take around 65 mph hitting it just right.

 

I have driven for 2 Companies in my "5 1/2 year career." Lol. Swift and Danny Herman. Both companies have a policy NOT TO DRIVE in those conditions. Swift had a Chaining Class i took. The instructor told us. "I am going to teach you something we never want you to do!"

 

Yep!! Swiftie here and the number one reason (there are others too) I still drive for them is because I'm not pressured to drive in conditions I don't feel safe in. When my gut says, nope, it's nice that I can park it without flak from the dispatchers. That means alot to me!!!!

 

One reason I liked O.O.'s with small fleets.

Weather OWNERS Didn't Travel In, Neither Did WE.

Missed Appts were Rescheduled.

 

Rain, snow, ice, fog, hail, dark of night, I'm good with all of it, wind, I'll stay home, I've had a blow over from a sudden wind gust with an empty. From Oct. to April, any time I have to go north or west via Wyoming I'm checking the weather constantly, my boss hates it, but I'll refuse a load before Wyo. puts up the warnings sometimes.

 

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/g-C9T3Z8Z_w?feature=share

Any questions? We are no match for Mother Nature

 

I like wunderground.com severe weather map. Shows all advisories and warnings by county for the whole US map. Gives you an idea what you’re fixing to get into that day.

Try pulling a 36 ft travel trailer with no anti-sway or load distribution with a 1 ton DRW if want to know fear. I don’t ever remember a 53ft van trying to drive the truck off the road quite like that setup wants to! 30-35 mph wind gusts, you can do it as long as the pavement is dry and you’re paying attention. If it’s wet and blowing like that you want to slow way down. If it’s icing up and blowing hard, time to exit stage-right and head for safety immediately.

 

A few years ago someone wanted an empty connex hauled south from Prudhoe.It was blowing 45.Nobody wanted to haul it.One of our guys decided to haul it,made it about 20 miles and totalled a brand new Western Star.

 

Personally, because we run light ALL the time, I wouldn’t risk it with 60 mph gusts. An old trucker once told us when we first started truckin… if you are under 60,000 gross, you have no business running in high winds. We’ve always used that as a guideline. It’s driver discretion. But as a California DOT once told us when we were pulled over for high winds..” It’s a good thing you pulled over because if your truck blows over, it’s on you”.
Remember, the load CAN wait, your Saftey can’t.