I'm stuck in this bad weather in Colorado. How do you decide when to drive or not?

I'm stuck in Cortez CO at a truck stop. I have plenty of fuel, food, and I'm warm. When the roads are closed the decision not to drive is made for me. I'm headed to SLC and it looks like the roads are open again but there are a ton of wrecks on the roads. When do you drive in freezing rain and snow if you do?

 

really there is a lot of variables, feel/experience, temperature, type of snow or weather, reputation of the road, where im going, when im sposed to get there, how much weight i got, what is the commodity and is it going to shut down production at the delivery? where am i now, can it be rescheduled? what do the conditions look like now? will they improve or worsen? is it 2 lane or interstate? how long is it going to take me to get out of this storm? etc etc these are all variables at play with many more to list.. if conditions are going to improve as i move closer to my delivery, then depending on all the other variables above, we may leave...sometimes it is better to take a 2 lane detour that may have worse roads, but less traffic= less opportunities for it being shut down for a wreck even if it is way out of route... so with all that said the answer it depends...

a couple years ago i stopped short on i80 in fort bridger wyoming because of an approaching snow storm. i shut down early, fearing that if i continued on i80 eastbound i would get trapped in this snow storm for a week... and i was right.. i woke up the next morning with i80 shutdown from fort bridger to cheyenne for almost 6 days straight. i asked for help from @Cattleman84 to help route me around the storm since he has alot of experience on that road.. it ended up being a near 600 mile detour and i have to reschedule the delivery on my load for another day, but it was better than being a week late..

cortez to slc should be a pretty straightforward route. what part of the road they have shutdown? it should clear up, north of montecello. if you can squeak thru bad conditions there in cortez, you should be out of the clear until the canyon just south of provo where it might get a little worse.. just depends on what the weather looks like into the future to give you some better help

 

Walk across the parking lot.
Jog across it.

Run full steam.

If any of following happens, or while getting out of truck it’s to bad.

 

I would NOT drive in freezing rain. I drove that area 2020 to almost 2022. Customers and companies in that area are sympathetic to waiting out bad weather. Nobody but you are seeing the conditions where you are at. You are in charge. If you drive stay several truck lengths from anyone in front of you and drive like you have no brakes, just slow by lifting off the throttle and "coasting" in gear. If you aren't sure, slow down. Check the state's DOT web page or 511 page.

 

Just stay where you are until the road conditions improve.

 

And I would not leave right now, to close to dark out there if not already, it’s dark here, And after morning rush day 0830-0900 if it’s bad, freezing rain best to stay parked.

 

Get the Windy app and pay attention to the wind gust speeds.

 

Great advice!

 

Wrecker man says break out the electronic fun stuff and STAY PUT !!

 

And, buy a pair of Spare Spikes for $26.95, off AZN. These things will keep you from busting your ###, when it’s slick. They’re brilliant.

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