Icy road slide correction (turn into slide?)

Hit some ice today near Fargo, ND. Slid a tad bit but nothing serious as my MPH were low. Got me thinking, though: does the "turn into your slide" (in the direction rear of vehicle is sliding) technique w/ a 4-wheeler apply w/ tractor trailer as well? Obvious difference being the trailer component.

 

On ice? If you're sliding, the mistake has already been made. Turning the wheel isn't really going to do anything, IMO. Hold on and enjoy the ride.

 

A certain amount of dancing is acceptable as long you have everything herded in one general direction, preferably down your lane that way forward.

Once you slide you are a sled. Hold on and pray, get your thumbs out of that inside of steering wheel and the hell away from the spokes, snap your belt tension-er off and sit back in your captains chair with both feet on the cab floor if you are sure that she's coming off the pavement.

Gravity, highway slope, bridges etc will make you slide down that slope. Nothing you can do about it except to attempt the crossing at dead idle, crawling across accepting that your trailer will begin to slide sideways down slope on a bridge. Make sure whatever possible by imposing your weight, bulk and physical domination to downslope you frighten stupid 4 wheelers away from there before you put a wheel on that bridge.

I spent a ice storm night in a full gale force winds gusting higher on ice. Everytime that wind shrieked my whole unit slid (Empty) about two inches sideways. The ditch was about 5 feet that way and 3 deep. I sent a text message saying that come morning we will get loaded at the shipper below the hill I was on (Which was a 4 way stop intersection...) or I will be toppled over into that ditch and maybe hurt. So the night dispatch paid attention to my satellite connectivity the whole night.

Traction is everything in ice. If you have a little bit, you slow down even more to buy more of it. You still aint never going to get the traction you really want but slowing down trades time for traction. It's really simple.

Heavy's School of Ice... decision time in the morning. Do I go or stay?

Get out of truck in your best boots. Start walking to your truckstop eating room.

If you slip and fall down on your ### in that ice that truck will have to stay right where it is until....

Mr Drip shows up in melting ice sooner or later.

End of Heavy's Ice school.

If Dispatcher abuses you verbally tell him or her to stuff it and save it. If they want that truck moving, they can #### well fly out here and drive the #### thing. YOU are the agent of the company and responsible for safety of the load FIRST Equiptment SECOND and your own ### Last.

 

Yes, it's done the same way. The key is to steer with your fingers, not your arms. With the fingers, you will only be able to make small adjustments. The trailer will become involved mainly around curves or when you hit the brakes.

 

Yes. You turn opposite direction of slide. Just like in a car.

If you turn same direction. You risk doing a 360.

The idea is to hopefully straighten back out. Not spin a circle.

 

Turn in the direction that you need to straighten out, let off the gas slightly, if that doesn't get traction right away then lightly feather the gas. There is such thing as going too slow on ice. I was on Highway 95 in Oregon 2 years ago and the vehicle in front of me was doing 15 miles per hour which means I was doing about 12. We came to a right corner with a slight incline to the outside. I was chained up but still lost traction on my drives which caused them to go out from underneath the trailer and put me into a jackknife. How the trailer did not lose traction yet I'll never know but I was able to pull out of the jackknife and straighten myself out using the method that I put above.

 

Don’t over steer. If it does catch traction it is going to come back quick and you’ll go into the opposite ditch or jack knife.
Smooth and slow are the keys.

 

Another BIG trick is to steer SMALL. AND WAIT A #### MINUTE with it. Espeically if your rig needs a moment to sort out conflicting physics in a few heart beats. Whatever you do, be smooth and SLOW. Don't you whatever you do JERK that chain. She's going to lose it right quick and that's that.

I got a picture somewhere in my files, one of my favorites. I was on split ice in the left 30 miles from Sheridan WY northbound at 15 in interlock on ice. And a rocky double tanker was in his right shoulder also on split ice at about 12. Took me plenty of time to get by but we for that time were the only ones moving and in touch on the radio. That was a pretty good day. However. The next picture shows a 4 wheeler coming up on us at 70 after tanker and I settled down 10 miles from Sheridan. That thing came zipping, Had camera all ready. Sure enough it hit a patch, spun across my bumper and down into 10 foot drifts that buried it We did not stop because the ice situation in that bowl did not support being able to restart again and also there is no chance a human can reach them that far off the pavement in that 10 feet drifting with god only knows whats under there. (Snow fencing, culvert pipes etc) My choice was to get into Sheridan and let someone know about that. That would take a while.

Notice the damage to the ice from previous chain users in big trucks. You have to be really careful with this kind of washboard. It can literally set your rig to dancing to harmonic at a certain speed (I think it was 18 or so) and it will not be good for you as your suspension becomes overwhelmed before you really start sliding or a shimmy rather which isnt good.

Also in the second picture you see ahead where the valley upgrade has a white covering that hammer lane. That's drift snow from the winds left to right. You do NOT want to be on that snow if at all possible. It would not be good traction. If it's powder, maybe. But that is so easy to break traction on. So you apply horsies ever so lightly.

 

Very good advice.

I use the mantra that "Coasting is your friend". By coasting I DON'T mean letting completely off the throttle, just EASE off it to have nuetral power to the drive tires. Letting completely off the throttle will apply some braking action from engine compression, even without Jakes.

Usually coasting will correct a tendency to start yawing as you turn slightly into the yaw. If that doesn't work, then as you said, apply slight throttle.

 

As others have said... Steer in very small amounts... If you over steer amd all of a sudden your steers regain traction it can cause you to jack-knife very rapidly and violently.