Probably a stupid rookie question.

Snow and ice you either have it off or on a low setting, though if it's slippery enough to break loose from the Jake you might want to wait a bit.

 

No need to be worried of someone making fun of you this is a good question especially if your a little green. From what I know this is what a forum is all about. In my opinion alot of things come in to factor. Weight being a huge one if your empty or hauling light your chance of skidding out increases. A manual or automatic also plays a factor. These new school so called engine brakes compared to real engine brakes that would throw you through a windshield that also plays a factor. There is alot that can change the equation in my opinion. The best advice I can give with my experience is feel the truck your truck will tell you everything. My father which was very old school driver always said to drive by the seat of your pants you can feel vibrations, which way trucks skidding, you can even feel a tire going bad. Feel and sound is the best tools you will ever have over advice. You will know when to use a engine brake and when not to. I personally don't feel someone can tell you when to or not because the circumstances will always change. Load, weight, top heavy, rain, snow, ice, grade, gearing ect. It will never be the same. Your judgement and feel for your rig will always be the best advice

 

It's not a stupid question. The only Stupid question is one that's not asked.
Whether or not you use the engine retarder depends on the circumstances. How heavy you are makes all the difference in the world. If you are in really slick conditions I would keep that puppy turned off. But you could be in the middle of the winter time and you're going down a mountain and the road is dry and there's a little bit of sand as long as I am fairly heavy I'll use it.

You just have to recognize when you're wheels stall out due to using the engine brake and being prepared to interrupt that stall immediately. I tend to stay off the phone and keep the radio down if not off when running in potentially slick conditions so that I can listen 4 my wheels starting to spin and respond correctly and promptly.

You mentioned something about brakes locking up or wheels locking up. I'm pretty sure that all equipment out here has ABS anymore providing that it is working correctly.
I drive a auto transport so I'm usually loaded to gross and if I have to go down a mountain pass especially if I can't use the engine brake I have a tendency to go down much slower, say 20 or 25 depending on the grade.

I have too many stories to tell you from my earliest days of trucking where I left clouds of brake smoke because nobody taught me that you don't have to go down the mountain pass the same speed as everyone else. Those drivers on your butt might be running lighter than you and they can go around.

If I can use the engine brake I go down at a speed that will allow the engine brake to regulate my speed providing that I'm not going over the speed limit.

Everything is auto adjust now but when I started it was manual adjusters and you had to carry a hammer and a 9/16 wrench with you to check your brakes from time to time. And most of the trucks out here didn't even have engine brakes.

Trucking 38 years

 

Well said welcome aboard.

 

Thank you Vic firth nice to meet ya and I hope I can bring something to table

 

Nice to meet you as well! That's a nice truck in your avatar.

 

I think the op asked a great question. I've been in cdl school 3 weeks come Tuesday, I take my road test Wednesday. Not one time has Jake brake, retarders, driving up or down steep grades or driving in inclement weather been mentioned. I guess I'm supposed to experience and learn this when I start with my trainer over the road?

 

I'll leave them on stage 3 in the rain usually. I'm never driving so fast where I couldn't correct a little slipping. I find my front end tends to float more than the drives slipping. I'm way more concerned with that.

On ice I drive like a grandma since I'm yanking tanks. Deep snow is another story. You gotta give er a little with that to keep your momentum up.

It all just takes practice and just take your time. It's not cool being the fastest truck and the first getting pulled out of the ditch.

If you ever feel in over your head shut it down. I've done it a few times driving at night through the plains. High winds blowing snow on glare ice is horrible. I'll just park it during those times.

 

That's PRECISELY why I started the thread about descending slick downgrades, the thread referenced earlier in this thread. These concepts aren't taught in school. I was a trainer at Swift for a year. Nobody was taught how to use a Jake or how to deal with snow, ice, or heavy rain.

One thing I want to say about rain, especially heavy rain: watch out for puddles in the road. This applies especially if the road has ruts. That's the time I make a choice whether to straddle the fog line or the zipper, to keep my wheels on the high ground. At times this can make steering more challenging, because you are trying to ride on top of ridges between continuous channels of standing water. Concentrate on staying on that high ground.

If you have no choice but to go into the channel, then slow it down nice and easy. No sudden braking or yanking the steering wheel. Coast into it. Coasting is your friend.

One last word of advice:

Rain-X

 

I don't know what they teach in CDL schools and I've heard lots of negative reviews so it sound like they are only their to collect your money. I would think that they would cover this in basic CDL training. It is important to know, Trucking has gone down hill ever since the big companies started the corporate push; processing as many drivers through training and into the drivers seat as quickly as possible. They accounted for the lack of driver trainers by lowering the qualifications for driver trainers which translates into the blind leading the blind.