Sent home from SWIFT school

Chains are to be used to do your job. If you're not smart enough to check weather and road conditions when you know chains will be required, you need to park so the professionals can get their jobs done.

There are times Snoqualmie requires chains all the way across. Might have to chain up in Wenatchee to get food and supplies to Chelan or Omak. If the road is open and I have a load going through a snow area, I will check the weather, sigh, shake my head and put chains on my tires if they're required. I might run 70 miles into the mountains, but people up there need to eat too.

Maybe that's why I'm getting $1,300/week while you're getting about half that.

 

Nice assumption.

You have a bad habbit of twisting everything I say.

 

I would like for you to explain exactly how I "twisted" this.

You're explicitly stating chains are to get you somewhere to park...that is, stop. My job is to move freight. I'm not doing that if I'm parked or stopped...that is, not moving.

My specific niche of the industry may require me to drive longer than a "short distance" to "safe parking" on chains. Professionals do their jobs.

You're a one-year, one-winter wonder. You've seen all four seasons a single time and think you know everything. I don't care if your knickers get all knotted up because you are proven wrong almost every time.

When you run a few winters in the Northwest, you might find out there are times nothing gets moved unless it's done on chains. Lots of times, that means driving through a chain requirement until you get to your destination. If you can't do that, you better stay out of the western states during winter months. It would certainly make me feel safer.

 

I swear Injun, he's wrong so much I think he's trying to be wrong!

 

You go "Cowgirl"! (where's that "roll eyes, while barfing, with a chainsaw stuck in my ear" emoticon).

Your statement that you make $1,300.00 per week, while the rest of us makes half is laughable at best there Betty. Next you'll be telling me you have driven more miles in reverse (in your whopping 4 years), than I have in every gear. Stop it.

 

If the shoe doesn't fit you, stop trying it on. That post with the dollar amount was aimed at a first year CRE driver who keeps trying to tell the rest of us how to truck.

As for the rest of it, I stand by it.

 

Injun, you are correct, nothing moves when drivers can't deal with Mother Nature on Snoqualmie(I-90 North Bend to Ellensburg, 70 miles), up there last week to sea-tac) showed Holly (wife) the chain up area. This will be her 1st winter in da truc with pop. Asked, " do you know what that sign means?" she laughed and said, I know one thing, your the one going out and chaining up! But if you must go for a while on chains, stop and check them at least once. The other option is follow the plow/salt shaker... and take your time without chainsss.... Timing is important, plan your trip and account for delays in the Pacific Northwest.

 

I'm not trying to tell everyone how to truck. Stop trying to turn this into a flamewar.

 

I've been driving for more than a year. It's not my fault that you can't comprehend the fact I drove for more companies than just CRE.

I know there are instances when you'll need to drive longer, christ; I'm not trying to tell you how to do your job. I said that because I never had to chain a vehicle. I'm not a IRT. Just a FYI, but this is also what trainer companies tell student drivers. Use chains to get to a parking haven, or to climb a mountain, etc, not to drive a full shift. When you clear the ice remove the chains. And just because there's snow or ice on the ground doesn't conclude you need chains. Chains are a last resort. When the chains are no longer needed, they come off and you continue driving.

I have never in my lifetime seen a highway that remained open if you needed chains to drive a leg of it that wasn't on a mountain. If you opt to drive in those conditions, then you're a fool in my opinion. It's better to get there late than not get there at all. You told me to let the 'professionals' do their job, but maybe you can tell me why is it that every winter the majority of trucks I see wrecked out on I-80 and I-70 are O/O's and L/O's? I'll tell you why. Because they don't know when is a good time to stop. They don't know when is a good time to slow down. Yet they come on this forum and bash us company drivers for stopping early and being late.

Go ahead and continue risking your life for $1300/wk. I'd rather go home every other weekend to see my family than risk not going home at all for a couple hundred extra dollars.