I need a confidence boost!

My advice? Stay home till Spring. Seriously I HATE Winter,and if I had my own Truck and it was paid for I WOULD sit it out. (No false machismo here)

Stay in your comfort zone and remember there are no "do-overs." What I mean by that is if you put the rig in the ditch or kill someone-you cannot take it back. I do not know who you work for;but you may be told it is a "hot load" gotta get there,etc.etc. Most dispatchers do not give a #### about you,but if anything happens it will be your ###....

I am a company driver and have always looked at it this way. They own the Truck,but when I am on the road it is MY responsibility. Therefore I WILL run it as safely and efficiently as I can. If not good enough they can tell me of course when I get back to clean my stuff out;but I would rather do that than live with the fact I killed innocent people or to a lesser extent have unnecessary points on my license cause I listened to a dispatcher/broker.

Similarly it is ridiculous to park when one sees just a few snowflakes. Here is where common sense comes in and if you have been blessed with that you will be fine.

Oh yeah.You wanted a confidence boost.Hmm....Maybe it will be a mild Winter as last year.

 

Bumpy makes good points (WTH have I been drinking to make me say THAT??)...but I digress....

As the temperatures drop, my CB gets used more, or at least monitored more. Over time, I've also (mostly) committed to memory the best local commercial radio stations to tune to for the proverbial "traffic and weather together on the such-and-such". But the CB, even turned on in the background, can be a source of comfort. I know that may sound odd, but it's true in many cases. You don't feel so alone somehow, even if you never reply to anything that anyone says. But it's still good for info on bad roads and weather.

I wish you a safe winter driving season. Stay in your comfort zone, and "listen" to your rig.

 

You can do this. As already said, stay in your comfort zone, and if you feel like you should, park it. As Dirty Harry said in a Clint Eastwood movie, " A GOOD MAN HAS TO KNOW HIS LIMITATIONS". You are smart enough to realize you are currently limited in experience, so deliver the load accordingly. You will be fine.

Always remember, circumstances dictate procedure.

 

Didn't he say that right after Robert Vaughn basically blew himself up in that car? Perhaps not an appropriate example!

(but still an excellent point in concept!)

 

When the vehicle in front of you quits kicking up spray on your windshield, the road just froze. Slow down early, and if you feel any little jerking or skidding motions in your butt - that means that one of your tires is breaking loose. Slow down more! Don't use your cruise control, jake brakes sparingly and only when you're sure the surface isn't slick, and whatever you do be careful on less-traveled portions of the road like exit ramps.

 

I moved up here from Florida last August and had never dealt with ice at all, one thing I learned, and this might just be me, but I could see the ice on the shoulders of the bridges, and even if the road was being heavily traveled I still took great caution, don't tense up too much, be steady with your throttle, and of course don't follow too closely. 9 times out of 10 the road was probably slush and I was traveling a little more cautiously than most, but I made dang sure I wasn't going to end up in the median, or up against the barrier.

 

The members have already said it but here it is one more time. Common sense is your best tool. If you have any doubt about the road conditions, slow down (stop if you think it is necessary). You will annoy the four wheelers and the super truckers behind you by slowing down. Dont worry about 'em, they will pass you.Always at the worst time and place(corners, oncoming traffic, etc) but that is their choice and lack of common sense. You will get there safely.


My observation and opinion here.
People are sheep, if one passes you, they all go, no matter the road or traffic condition.The flock follows the first like they are coupled together in a train

 

Often times the bridges will ice and you will undoubtedly see cars (and trucks) in the ditch right after. They feel a slight loss of traction, turn the wheel, and then slingshot the direction the wheel is pointed when they cross the bridge and get to the dry pavement. Just keep the wheel straight and the truck will keep going straight.

I grew up in Texas and had never been further north than Tulsa Oklahoma in my entire life. Then I started driving, in January of 2001, and my first solo load went to Green Bay Wisconsin. I'd never seen or felt cold like that before in my life but I made it. I can't stand the cold weather and coming home to Texas sure feels good on a warm winter day.

They really take care of the roads up north in the nasty weather. Some states more so than others and I've noticed in Ohio when the bad storms come through they wait until it let's up to start plowing the snow but they get it shortly after. Virginia on the hand, you don't even need to watch the weather, their salt trucks are waiting on standby beside the road for the first snow flake to fall.

 

Right after I got turned loose after training, I ran through Oklahoma City just as a heavy thunderstorm came through in February. It was 32 as the storm started, and by the time I got out west of town it was dropping through 28 degrees. So, I slowed right down into the mid 30's and further along even slower. Got passed by a couple of supertruckers doing 60+... maybe 70. Got a load thrown my way on the CB...

Some 20 miles further on, one of them was upside-down in the median, and a few miles further on the second guy was jack-knifed across the highway. Don't let anyone goad you into driving faster than you feel comfortable driving at.