Snow and bridges?

I did not bring up power dividers in the case of black ice because on black ice the coefficient of traction is almost zero. Once on a solid sheet of ice your vehicle is about momentum and gravity, you might be able to get some control for steering and power. However it's going to be limited and if you panic forgetaboutit! The tires might as well be slides. PDs can be useful in slush and snow, but they are useless on a solid sheet of ice under these circumstances.. If the ice is just a patch here and there that's a bit different.

 

Full Lockers on the other hand would only be useful for getting underway from a stop. After making the first shift I disengage them. You can't make a turn with them engaged. I use the power divider frequently in snow, ice, mud, and loose gravel.

 

Yeah I coast over bridges. Especially when Icing. Snow is really no big deal as long as above about 30 degrees or so if roads are fairly busy since the road is warmer. Start dipping into the 20’s need true precaution

 

Erm... ha.. let's think about that a little bit.

Every time I see someone speak of the joys of either Lockers, Interlock or whatever form of lashup of semi tractor drive wheels to pull through mud, ice, gravel etc... there is a batch of bad memories in my head where...

it's a dab of ice on the dock apron, nice and flat and trying to back against Nestle or some major outfit to dock and cannot get it in there because that tractor just sits there and spins all of her drives useless. It's disgusting. All that fancy computer crap, buttons, gearing etc and a mighty 18 wheeler is worse than my old ford on ice. Useless.

//semi rant.

I think also back to the pre computer trucks, the air breathing ones on air start and not a speck of electronic crap anywhere and monster flip switches to lock the axles (Even walking beam for crawling on rock of all things...) and get into and out of places without a fuss.

God I wish I can go back in time.

I must confront engineers involved in building modern big trucks and ask them bluntly what have they allowed to lose something castrating those nice rigs over the years. WHY? Are they that stupid?

 

I've thinking about your post all day. You've made one of THE most important points so far in this thread.

Countless times in blizzard conditions or icy roads I see half a dozen trucks or more all within a split second following distance, trying to be the competitive pack animal and be the winner. More than just a few times I've witnessed this idiocy result in near misses and unfortunate phone calls to Safety.

You have NO IDEA whether the trucker you are tailgating or trying to pass in close quarters is on his/her "A game". They might have difficulty seeing their own lane in the blizzard created by half a dozen trucks. They may simply SUCK at lane control. They may be unwrapping a cheeseburger, or trying to change stations on XM radio. You don't know.

The best course of action if you are "reeling in" a slower moving group of idiots is to HANG BACK AND WAIT. Wait until the multiple multi mile passes get sorted out. WAIT until impatient 4 wheelers without a clue get through the cluster ####.

Wait until you have a wide open opportunity to EXPEDITIOUSLY pass the slowest truck in the bunch, then knock off the rest of the knuckleheads one by one.

DON'T get all caught up in that mess.

Even on bone dry pavement on a sunny day I don't get into a mess like that. It's sheer idiocy. Idiocy by my definition is trying to justify stupid.

 

I have some background on that Swift daycab the jacknifed at the start of the video. He was running on cruise control WITH his Jakes set on high!!???

Yep.

As soon as his cruise control started the yaw he hit the brakes and the Jake's finished the job right quick. This happened I believe in Houston or other southern location, where drivers aren't exposed to icy conditions as much as in the north. That driver had a learning experience.

I did a multi stop reefer load out of Dallas when I was with Swift. An ice storm caused more than a few Walmart dedicated drivers to call in scared. I ran that load, then stayed based out of that terminal for the next two days, until the dedicated drivers decided it was safe enough to return to work.

This is by no means disparaging those drivers that decided not to drive. Not at all. They made a good choice. If you don't have the ability to drive in slick conditions, then by all means either park it or don't come to work. You would be a hazard to others and yourself.

I come from a background that required the ability to take vehicles of all kinds to places that they weren't meant to go. My first time behind the wheel of a car was a 4 speed Fiat in a snowstorm in an empty parking lot, turning Brodie's and figuring out how to shift with a clutch. Fun or work meant getting off on logging roads dozens of miles from civilization, learning the limits of traction and staying aware that at the next switchback a logging truck could be barreling towards you. Big challenges were getting back to your 4 wheel after a week's climbing or skiing, only to find it buried in snow. Then you had quite few miles of foot deep snow before elevation got it down to simply muddy ruts.

Everyone has a different background. Not everyone has the same skill set. Respect that both ways. Give room for drivers that are at the limits of their experience and ability.

In climbing we always said you get better if you have an "EPIC". By definition an "epic" meant you went much much farther than you thought you could, and survived.

 

I can't agree across every aspect of winter driving. In my opinion if you are expecting or see ice you get off the road. You can not drive on ice. I agree with snow and places with just patchy ice.

I don't know if I ever talked about this, but many years ago I was stuck in Amarillo Texas. There was a bad ice storm and to be honest I 40 was sheet after sheet of ice. The Texas DOT opened the road and I saw a lot of drivers go. I stood and shook my head. Later that day when the temps got a bit higher I left. Almost all the way to the Oklahoma line I saw truck after truck in the medium as well as the sides. Several trucks had slid across the medium and were nosed off the road on the other side. I don't think I have seen as many crashed trucks in my career. I don't care how much experience you have. You can NOT operate any vehicle on ice. Stay in!

 

That's a great point and is valid no matter the conditions though especially true in bad weather. Nothing like billy big rigger trying to intimidate grandma in the olds into doing something dangerous.