How much wind is too much?

I drove local in Utah and Wyoming for a while and I'd say 50 mph is a good time to shut er down if you're running a box. I was flatbed with daycab so wind usually wasn't an issue. 4 years or so ago they had some freak 100+mph winds on I-15, North of SLC... dozens of trucks laid over. My pickup truck was squealing tires trying to hold straight!

 

My Safety guy said 55 mph wind is enough to blow over a 53 foot dry van. I just can't remember if that was empty or max gross.

Just remember the wind forecast or gusts are estimates or reported AFTER the fact. It might be gusting to 45 mph, coming right across the road, and the next gust could be 60mph.

 

Well done, and that would have been my call in your shoes. Cajon Pass and just south of that in San Bernardino are the real wind funnels. You should be fine on your next routing.

If your outbound load is heavy, go ahead and run up and across I-40. If it is light consider heading east on I-10 and work your way up to I-40 via I-44.

Download the MyRadar app. Turn on the wind layer and warnings layer. It gives you a great visual of the dynamics of wind versus storms and audible alerts in case of flood, tornadoes, or other weather hazards. It tracks where you are so the alerts are never for somewhere you aren't.

 

One other thing. Whenever you are loaded light pulling a trailer, move your tandems back as far as legally possible if you get into potential broadside wind. Whenever I pulled a light van across Wyoming I set the tandems all the way back. That way it reduces the tendency for the wind to push hard BEHIND the tandems and start the trailer tandems and back of the trailer twisting over.

Look at blow over videos and you will see that almost always it starts by twisting the back of the trailer over first. I can't recall whether I have ever seen a video of a trailer getting blown over with the tandems all the way back.

 

All depends on which direction too. If it's a head or tail wind with a light trailer I usually don't worry. If I'm gonna be smacked with violent cross wind gusts for a sustained amount of time, that's a whole other story

 

Ask this guy

 

I've seen a number of wind flipped trucks over the years and 95% of them were running trailer skirts

 

Two years ago, had some 50 mph gusts
bend my cab extenders on my tractor. It was a non preventable, but still had to sign paperwork that I had accident. I won't let that happen again.

 

Wind bent your cab extenders?...... what were they made out of? paper mache..?