Time for a reality check and a safety lesson. Whether you like it or not.

True. I've been following this thread. I saw a lot of devastation this last winter. I was on 80 in March and got tired of taking pictures of wrecks there were so many. As spring approached I congratulated myself for making it through my first winter as a driver. Yesterday, on 77 between Statesville and Lake Norman (I know this road and the traffic BTW) I'm being cautious. Plenty of room. Remembering that running 5 over isn't going to get me there any quicker but it does increase my risk on a road like this. I got impatient with a senior citizen in a large sedan. He could not hold a pace. Kept speeding up and then slowing down to 45. I waited until it looked safe. The truck I have will run the speed limit in west Texas, so I matted it and pulled out. Eased up to 70, looked to check following distance, checked three right mirrors to ensure I had given the guy plenty of space so I could pull back over without causing him to stain his depends. Looked forward to see a chain reaction pileup in my lane. I have a new respect for the durability of a good set of trailer tires now. I slid it to a stop in a cloud John Force would be proud of. It was me now that needed a change of drawers.

I am lucky that I have experience in motorsports. I have road raced competitively and understand mass, momentum, and friction. Surprisingly, a lot of what I learned and used in racing carries over to trucking. Not in the speed sense but in the control sense. I know what a steering wheel feels like when the steers lose a little bite on ice. I know to make small corrections at the limit. I know how to use momentum to my advantage. But here is one thing I had not experienced. A full on locked up panic stop in a truck so loaded down I can't pick up a fat chick for fear of being over gross. I had no idea how the truck would track. I was lucky. If I hadn't ensured plenty of room I'd have been part of the accident.

The lesson I learned is to remember the lessons I've learned.

 

Bad roads, use your cb with zero squelch, if you see on coming traffic moving slow, or no on coming traffic then thats a good clue right there! Stay the hell of the northern routes if you don't know how to drive on slick roads, lol. When visibility is limited travel at a speed that you can get stopped in that distance. Let the hot dogs have the hammer lane, stay in the slow lane and for god sake dont stop! 45 mph is pretty much the national minimal speed on the interstates so if you feel the need to go that slow then be sure to have your hazzard lights going so you dont get $$$ ended.

If you have chains and don’t know how to use them just ask another driver, at least that works good on the northern routes, not sure now days with new HOS parameters.

A couple pair of cheap cable chains on freezing rain can make a world of difference and they last a long time if you dont spin on them or run them on pavement.
Once again use the CB too! I mean warning other drivers as well as just listening for your own benefit!

 

Exactly, Joe! Fandango, you're hating on the Smith System, but I promise you, if you're not using those techniques in your driving, you're not nearly the demi-god you think you are. If you're half as good as you claim, those techniques are so ingrained in your everyday drive you don't even think about the fact you're using it unconsciously. It's not something the companies cram down your throat to control you, it's done to teach you how to be the safest driver you can be.

I've got a challenge for you, Dr Fandango: tear apart the Smith System, step by step, and back up the how and whys of your disagreement. Right here for all of us, so we can learn. Show us how wrong it is.

As Joe said, you don't necessarily 'need' it, but it teaches those habits that you better pick up somewhere!

 

Here's a point to add on, in addition to hiring someone who can fog a mirror, and driving beyond your capability, lets talk about driving beyond the capability of the truck, or driving beyond the tip of your own nose.

Every fall, my boss spends a full day, per truck, making sure they are ready for winter. By mid-Oct. at the latest we all have brand new drives, not 50%, or slicks, but lugs, M&S rated, with some bite. Wonder how many of those trucks were running on slicks, or eco (read Ca.) friendly all seasons? I wonder how many of those drivers were prepared to be out there in that stuff? How many of the track suit and sandals crowd were involved?

How many of those drivers, or a significant number of drivers, can't drive beyond the tip of their nose? They can't multi-task, no, I'm not talking about tying their shoe, eating a slice, and talking on the phone at the same time, I'm talking about being able to drive and work the controls of that truck without taking their eyes off the road. Every truck I've driven, I've "memorized" where all the controls are, so that in bad weather, rain, snow, dark of night, I can work the wipers, adjust the radio, adjust the HVAC controls, without taking my eyes off the road. 90% of the time, I can do it without thought, and get it right and yet, how often do we hear of accidents caused because someone looked away to adjust the radio, or turn on the heater, or take a drink. They don't pay attention.

BTW, from talking to someone in the "know", between both Wyo. wrecks, there 20 owner operators involved and they weren't lease operators either, but one truck operators.

 

And your proof of this is............None otherwise you would have backed it up ......Now tell me something I don't know about trucking I have more miles backing up then you have going forward and I didn't go to school I learned the hard way

 

Hammer I agree with ya... They should train on the smith system there is nothing wrong with it what so ever... Hell we use to do the National Safety Council Professional Truck Drivers Training and get the certification.... Never to old to learn... Good post HAMMER

 

In 5 years Joe is gonna be a safety administrator for some carrier, I know it!

 

Can verify, looking for blender!

 

Don't know how long you been driving, but I started in a 1974 GMC 4000 33 years ago, bought my own semi in 1986, 1973 K100. Overall driving I have a good 2 million under my belt, and have 0 accidents for that time! I pride myself in being able to say that. I have a vintage tractor manual that sums it up pretty good.... Safety starts with a careful operator.... None of us is more holy than the other, some of us are just more careful, like the guys in Joseph's original post, very few practiced any safety for those conditions in the video. Sorry but that's just how I see it! Start throwing stones now.