Jackknife!!!

I think the best thing you can do to is to reduce the possibility of a jackknife in the first place. Slow down, obviously. But having brakes on the tractor and trailer all out of whack (having recently adjusted the tractor brakes where they (or some) are very "touchy", while the trailer brakes are "just in spec". Also, a bad proportioning valve can get you in trouble. Beyond that, once you get yourself into a jackknife situation you're on your own. Every situation is different and requires a different manner of dealing with it (if there is a correct way that can be managed in the heat of the moment)

 

That is not a jackknife.

 

After reading all these responses all I have to add is a few simple items. Following distance is the key to controlling a bad situation, it is the only space you truly control. Brakes will not get you out of a jackknife, throttle will.
You always have to check your mirrors when braking hard, when trailer brakes lock up is the time it is going to try to come around, the sooner you release the brakes the faster the trailer will correct, then you can reapply the brakes.

You have to pay attention all the time, and when weather turns bad, you need to keep alert or park. BackKnifes are caused by the drivers lack of attention to developing situations, and not having a place to go, or not knowining what to do about .

Folowing distance is everything. Again it is not now fast you drive, its how you drive that will kill or save you. With 3 million accident free miles I have a general idea of how to keep my truck, cargo and life safe.

Give the other guy a brake the life you save maybe your own.

 

Accelerate, and steer into it the same way the trailer is going; if the trailer is trying to jackknife to the left (drivers side), turn the steer tires to the left, neutralizing the lateral inertia of the trailer. The principal being that you are trying to get back in front of the trailer, and resume pulling it which will bring it back into alignment with the tractor. Steering away from it will make it worse. Visualize the whip-effect.

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Those are just the ones you read about or see the aftermath because they lost total control. You really have to be clueless to jackknife your tractor first or lost it on ice. I've been lucky to recover but can remember 3 partial jackknifes in my green days unfolding and everyone was a light/empty trailer coming around in an hard braking situation. One was the days before ABS and the other two was on wet roads. One was a quick red light that I stopped for and the other was a car turning with no tail lights. Now that one is in the past it was kind of funny. There was a small slanted ditch beside the road and my trailer tires slid right down the grass ditch line. It kind of saved me as it acted like a track. The car finally turned from death and I pulled it out. Though stupid you do learn from that stuff.

That's another thing with the ABS change over there was about 10 years where ABS tractors were pulling around non-ABS trailers which was a dangerous combination in weather.

 

You don't countersteer unless your tractor lost control. Road conditions are piss poor if you get in that situation. Your tractor will break traction on ice and a heavy trailer pushing on you. I had that happen once coming into Indy. The roads were salted and where they stop can surprise you. I was coming down a slight incline and hit an overpass I felt my drives start to come out from under me. I was coasting at the time and quickly realized the trailer pushing me was the cause not to mention the black ice on the overpass and three cars in the median on the other side. The only way I could remedy the situation was a light throttle to where I wasn't pulling the trailer and it wasn't pushing me. Neutral force so to speak. That saved me. That's about the only way a tractor trailer can hold a straight line on ice is if you aren't pulling or being pushed.

There are more than one way to jackknife. The tractor or the trailer breaking traction or both.

 

Throttle will save you more times than not. If your tractor is not sliding do not counter steer, you want to stay in front of your trailer(s) but pulling will straighten out the trailers almost instantly. You do not have to be clueless you just have to not be looking in the correct mirror at the time. I our world (powder doubles) having trailer try to pass you is a normal occurance and you better correct it quick, oversteering a sliding powder train will cause a roll over.

 

That was one situation that always scared me. I was running a dedicated that had a right turn at a T intersection at the bottom of fairly big hill to get to a receiver in PA. The first time I went there in the summer my first thought was what if this is icy? Luckily timing played out that whole winter and the closest I came was four hours behind an ice storm and then it warmed up to 40 something and melted by the time I got there. I usually don't have much of a problem driving in bad weather but that intersection scared me for some reason.