PRIME Drivers... What's your 20? (2)

Service plaza near Walters OK. So, the ice storm shutdown most of central and east Texas yesterday. This morning there are folks still stuck on I35E in Dallas since rush hour (not so much!) yesterday afternoon. My shipper about 50 mi east of Brownwood TX decided to call the game until Monday, so O got me something else. A meat load out of San Angelo... 100 miles west. Here's US67 on that stretch. Mostly ice... the knobby kind that has some traction. Empty trailer and about 30-35 mph did fine.



The roads were gradually improving all the way NW, so when I got north of Ballinger there was one lane that was mostly dry with a little patchy ice... 55 all the way into San Angelo. Sweet! The sun came out too. Now, going the other way one would have had the opposite perspective... full speed ahead running into drastically poorer roads as they reached Ballinger. The color difference between light-colored pavement with a lot of salt on it, and the kind of ice I was running on can be deceptive. Also you need to react to the little hints that reach your butt as the truck starts to loose traction on one tire. This guy wasn't paying attention... about 1/2 mile up the road the pavement was dry, starting to go to two ruts, and conditions were deteriorating rapidly until he was on ice coming around this curve with a slight downgrade...



Your decision on what speed to run under these conditions should be under review constantly. You need to react as things change as much as every 100' you go. So if the road conditions start to go down, you should be adjusting your speed accordingly right then and there. Take the conservative approach in this, and assume bad stuff is always ahead and getting worse. It's easier to add some speed when you get over that next hill, when the road suddenly dried up. If it's the other way around and you're on a sheet of black ice, it's too late.