I’m a new driver and I’m startled by the mountains

Welcome aboard, and my advice, is don't avoid ANY states. Only one way to get rid of the rookie status, jump right in. Like with anything, common sense is the rule. Mountains are nothing to be afraid of, IF, one respects them. A young man several years ago found out the hard way when you don't. The rule always was, go up a hill in the same gear as you go down, meaning, easy does it. Your biggest concern, is not to overheat the brakes. Jakes work as an assist, but brakes are your and others lifeline. Some prefer a gentle ride the brakes, others, the stab and slow considerably method. A low gear and jake and light brakes is the best. Should you see any smoke from the back, STOP IMMEDIATELY,,,let the brakes cool. DON'T try and "ride it out", usually with dire consequences. Above all, don't be shy, as a truck driver, you'll encounter hills sooner or later. You'll be fine, just don't look down,,,

 

The way I started on hills is go at a speed that I feel safe.DONT LET ANYBODY RUSH YOU DOWN.I learned my weight speed and Jake ratio as I went along and got braver.
It’s always my thinking before I start my decent is it’s between me and this hill.Schedules and time no longer matter until I get to the bottom. Make it work,and don’t kill anybody!!

 

Make sure that you have control of your truck before you start down the grade. Do not let anyone else influence how you drive your truck. Remember - You can go down a mountain too slow 1,000 times. You can only go too fast once!

 

Agree with the others. I'm sure your Jakes are better than my old ones, but I start most steep downgrades at 30ish, and my jakes hold me without touching the brakes.

Came down Wolf Creek Pass though last week with 80k. Started at 18 mph and was hitting my brakes before I hit the ski resort. Glad I didn't start that one at 30

 

As a relative newbie with a year OTR, I agree with all of the above...don't be afraid of any mountain in this country. I was lucky enough to have a trainer who made sure he took me through places like Colorado, Monteagle, Donner etc. Though I still haven't gone down the infamous Cabbage.

Go in slow, use your engine brake, stay to the right like you normally would, and don't stand on your service brakes...just touch them when you need to. Your concerns will melt away before long.

 

I don't think you are missing out on big money by staying out of the Western states. 1st 80% of the population of the USA lives EAST of the line Dallas to Minneapolis (I-35). So what is produced out West is roughly only 20% of the GDP, except large commercial aircraft and no truck is delivering those anyway. There are sporadic high-paying loads to/from the West, but they are not going unclaimed and available for solo truck companies in most cases. Lots of the good paying loads are leave CA and go somewhere esle. CA is a medium-to-large pain in the rear-end. The little bit of extra pay, IMO, doesn't justify the no parking, aggressive enforcement, terrible traffic, high crime that also comes from working in CA.

I went out West for 2 plus years just because it was the one area I had very little experience. I routinely drove the big mountains, except those West of Denver on i-70. It was an experience I was very glad to get on their roads and in their weather mostly just to know I had what it took to operate safely out there in addition to the 38 states experience I had before going West. I love driving in the West, but their big cities are just as terrible as any big cities in the rest of the country. While people in rural areas of the West are nice, sometimes friendly, and almost always very helpful they are reserved, unlike The South where we try to be polite even if we are planning to set you on fire, LOL. The scenery is awesome and it is better than a birthday to be able to drive with beautiful scenery in an area with so few cars.

The mountains are a professional challenge of your skills more than they are the fence around some big pile of money. I would not drive out West to make more money. It's no more likely out West than any other place. Freight is generated and moved from where there is industry, agriculture to where manufacturers makes things. Most of that will be in the eastern 2/3rds of the USA. It is nice to have 75 to 85 speed limits on those big hills and open spaces. You need to carry tire chains for half of the year to be legal. Those cost money and are heavy deadweight when you don't use them, You need to carry more winter clothes and be smart about what you are equipped to do and what to wear. It's very windy most of the day out West. There are wildfires and forest fires. I would say the wind and the fires were the thing that surprised me the most when I first started working out there. But the people that are natives to the region have ways to cope so once you learn those thigns you can cope also.

 

Compared to other hills/mountains Cabbage Hill is easier. It is long and it winds down the hill a lot, but it has speed signs based on your gross weight that will easily get you safely down the hill. I was up or down Cabbage maybe 200 times with an automatic KW with a good Jake for a few months and then with a 13 speed manual with great Jake. Drop your gears and use your jake so you don't need to touch your brakes and you will easily get "Survive Cabbage Hill" as the t-shirts available from the Arrowhead Tarvel Center I-84 x216. It's a great truck stop with souvenirs, McDs, lots of parking, nearby casino and "I survived Cabbage Hill t-shirts."

I would say Parley Summit outside Salt Lake City is more of a test for a truck than Cabbage Hill. There is a westbound scalehouse on top of Cabbage, when they are open you won't start down the hill at 70MPH because you will start from a walking speed as you cross the scale. It's not a monster waiting to eat anyone but the reckless driver trying hard to make a mess.

 

My rule of thumb was if my jakes don’t slow me down going downhill when I let off on the throttle then I was in the wrong gear. With that self imposed rule 6% downhill would have me in 7th with about 35k load.

 

Mountains are east and west. Spring thru Fall is a good time to run them to learn. Start down with a slow speed, try 25mph. Many have signs to advise you about speed. Many have lower truck speed limits. Go slow and learn how gravity pulls your truck.
Until you learn your truck and what it can handle, You will get passed a lot. That's ok, just stay the course and learn. No need to race down the mountain. The winner of the race is the tortoise not the hare.
Good luck.