Scariest Moment

Ummmmm....My money's on the latter...

 

It used to be a log before it was made into a desk. So yes.

 

I can't say: this was 20 years back and I'm off the road now. I hope they're doing better now.

 

One snowy night I was on hwy 70 in california. The road was slick, but chains were not required. A caltrans snow plow was approaching with its blade down. I moved as far the the right as I could. Just as the plow passed, the right steer tire dropped off of the pavement. I steered a little to abruptly to get the tire back on the road. My tractor turned sideways and I was pointed in the direction of the river immidiately behind the opposite edge of the road. It happened fast, but I did manage to keep the truck on the road because I was driving SLOWLY. The pucker factor was 10 out of 10.

 

I read some of the other stories which jogged my mind. Again in Northern Cal on hwy 395 near Alturas. The road was icy. I did not have chains on. I was pulling doubles with 20 tons of flammable paint. I was traveling North at about 45mph. A flatbed driver was approaching Southbound with chains on doing about 25 mph. Behind him, a cabover without chains approaching at about 50 mph. On a two lane road with paved shoulder, we all met at the exact time and place. The chained driver and I moved over as far as we could, and the other %*##%%$# went right down the middle. It was amazing we did not collide.

 

There's several which qualify as frightening... But they're all kinda tied for 'most scary' when I think back.

We were coming out of the Eastbound rest area in Vantage, WA. (I-90) ... The conditions weren't HORRIBLE, but there was a bit of snow and ice... And I'd let my student take the wheel... Well, down the chute, he misses a gear and gets flustered... He misses the next one too... NOW, we're on a steep downgrade with ice, snow.. freewheeling.. with a terrified student who is now heading for the left lane... and 60foot cliff.

. What I SAID was: "Kick the throttle hard and put it into 7th. Now, just ease back into the granny lane."
What I THOUGHT was: "AAAAAAHHHH! HOLY SHOIT WE'RE GONNA DIE, WE'RE GONNA DIE"

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Another time I was headed east out of The People's Republic of California... I don't remember if it was Blythe or Needles, but I ended up running straight into the most severe sandstorm I've ever seen. I mean it went from a clear but blustery day to a wall of sand, high wind, and near 0 visibility. Luckily, I had slowed down to a crawl by the time I entered the sandblaster. The shoulders were already clogged with people stopped to wait it out, so I had no choice but to keep crawling ahead... and dodging fender benders.. Hoping nobody was beside me...

T'wasn't MORTAL fear, but that event was about the most tense and nerve wracking moment I can remember. It actually felt kinda cool when I realized that I'd picked up about 20 4wheelers who chose to 'follow the leader'... and had gotten em through. (stopping in the road in a situation like that is about the most dangerous thing one can do.)

 

I come out of the tunnels on I-77 at the VA/WV line late one night. I had a light load. A microburst hit me from the side and lifted my trailer tandems up on the passenger side about a foot and then it slammed back down.

My underware turned into an instant G-string.

Another scary moment was in DC. Wall to wall traffic on I-95. It was my first year of driving. A little old grey headed lady headed off the exit and at the last second she come across the two white lines in the Y right back in front of me. The bad part was she then panicked and slammed on her brakes. I locked her down and was watching my trailer and her at the same time. I just knew I was going to kill her. As she disappear under my hood, luckily she gassed on it and pulled away.

I pulled over to the shoulder and shook for 30 minutes.

Another incident was on I-74 outside Indy. I hit an overpass that was nothing but black ice. My truck tried to jack knife. My first reaction was to not brake and let off the gas. Wrong answer! The weight of the trailer continued to push me towards a jack knife. I lightly throttled so I wasn't pulling or being pushed and I made it out of it. There was two 4 wheelers in the median on the other side that weren't so lucky.

 

Having my front end taken off by a nascar parking lt super trucker. I was backing into a spot, he gasses on it to get around me, while another truck gasses on it to get by him.. The unlucky one was me, left half of my front end on the parking lot..

Another one is coming down I-25 south, Cheyenne to Ft. Collins, empty.

Driving US 50 between Kinsley and Dodge City, Ks can be an adventure when the winds blowing.

 

I have yet to experience many of the hills and conditions many of you speak of.

I didn't have my head solidly in the game. I was on a US hwy that was very nice with a 70mph limit and I had the truck doing 66 (all it could).

I suddenly realize this Taurus Wagon in front of me is barely moving. I began to brake but there was no way I could slow down in time. The nose of the truck got almost halfway alongside the passenger side before we matched speed (about 40mph).

After we topped the next hill I was gone!

I'm trying to get a dedicated run with one end near home so I don't have to learn ice/snow in a rig!

 

If you know how to drive an old rear wheel drive car in the snow and ice, you won't have any problem keeping your truck under control. It's the same dynamics at work.