Newbies!!! It's almost winter!!! Here's some tips.

but what will become of all the faceless twitters that take selfies at the wrecks and post them on you tube,..?????

 

Maybe they will be on the next faces of death episode???? Or Darwin award winner....

 

And it's threads like these that make me want to smack those people complaining of 100+ temps during the Summer months back in CA and AZ.
After three years of dealing with the ice and other nastiness of Winter, I'm jumping at any chance to get myself permanently out of it.

Just because one knows how to weather the storm, doesn't mean they embrace it.
They're just doing what they have to in order to not be done in by it!!

 

Not to mention that it is better to lose your job, than lose your life or kill somebody else by driving when good sense tells you not to.

 

And even if you survive the crash, you'll end up losing your job and not get hired anywhere else as an insult to injury.
So might as well just take the "soft firing" and still be able to find work elsewhere after.

 

Amen....

 

Outstanding advice on this thread BTW from some of the more seasoned drivers.

 

All good words of advice. My first winter was 2013. Got snowed in in Carlisle, PA for a day. Then next day was clear. Ran to Indianapolis. Bout out of hours. Pulled into the Peelot at 96 on 70. Went to bed. Woke up next morning to 25 inches of snow and -55 degree windchills. They said on radio that it was colder in Indy that day then it was in Alaska. Was there for 5 days. Trucks parked everywhere including the exit ramps. The Peelot was out of fuel in about 6 hours. They were running out of food by the 4th day. Highway Patrol kept coming in because guys were abandoning their trucks on the exit rakps and interstate and walking there. Or they drove there and kept getting stuck in the entrances and exits which prevent employees from getting out. My truck has idle shutoff after 5 mins, but also had opti idle. Was advised by old Canadian driver who just happened to be there too to put cardborad in my grill and warm truck up to 210 degrees let it idle for a while and then shut down and go back inside truck stop as too dangerously cold to be outside. Was the craziest thing I ever saw.

 

Don't forget to check the hoses at the fuel pump.
Those things crack just like the hoses under the hood.

Pilot bought me a new jacket one winter....lookin at you Troy Illinois -.-

 

I'm more of a local/"extremely regional" guy that gets home every day.
But with the conditions I've seen up in the TX panhandle these past winters, I typically stay mindful of the motel locations on my route.
Those 8-9 hour trips in the daycab could easily turn into an over-nighter if the roads get trashed enough by that evil, white stuff.