To chain or not to chain...

I chain and its my choice. Do what makes you feel safe and keep that in mind if you decide to keep trucking with your chains on. Every year I see dummies doing freeway speeds with chains on, they arent meant for that. Slow way down and keep your movements steady and your braking and acceleration slow and steady. Bring some good winter clothes and gloves along if you are going to go into that type of weather also and bring a nice small blue tarp along to kneel on while chaining up. You are going to get wet and cold so be prepared and also have a safety vest on. Another thing to think about is lighting, it gets dark earlier in the winter so a good headlamp will help with things as theres nothing like trying to hold a flashlight in your teeth while trying to chain up in the dark.

 

It sounds like excellent advise except for the if you get stuck, others here have expanded on that aspect and World of Transportation has given you sound thoughts...but here's an additional couple.

If you don't handle the truck, and have an accident, it's on you and your record. The chance of injury, death and damage is higher. As one place I worked said, "If you chain up, you're fired". Why? Because in their opinion, that's endangering their equipment, cargo, the public and yourself and that means that your judgement wasn't sound.

The greed isn't necessarily the company's in these cases, it's the driver's. Driving in those conditions is a gamble. Will it get worse? Will it get better? Will there be ice? Will the truck slide off the road because I can't control it? If you've never had that experience of a vehicle sliding uncontrollably, driving in mountain snow is not the place to experience it.

Now, that's not to say that all "snow" weather is bad to drive in, but there is a nice rule I like, to go along with the others you've been told...and it goes like this. "If in snow, take it slow, if on ice, NO DICE". The trick is learning weather, and the conditions that can ice a road. Having to chain, is an indicator to me, that conditions may be more treacherous than I care to experience. Why become part of the problem or suffer other fools, if you don't have to?

Remember, if you do decide to drive it, it's all on you...as otherhalftw has stated, if you don't run don't cry about not making any money, I'll counter that with, if you do drive it and get an accident and/or fired, I don't want to hear crying over that aspect. There is no job that is worth dying over, period.

 

I know how to chain.

When I was younger the chains were not as heavy. I was a super trucker who could drive through anything to get my load to market. Charge.

Now, I sit and watch others attack. My grandfather always said, "Show me a man who works hard, and I will show you a man who doesn't make any money." If you are late because of snow, the customer yells. If you are in a wreck your wife cries. Which would you prefer?

 

i think the situation determines the correct responce "TO CHAIN, OR NOT TO CHAIN" experience helps but chains they are just another tool in the bag, if the tool works for the job at hand, great! if not,wait. in alaska you should always have chains in the winter, using them is determined by the situation you face on any given task.

 

Coming from the Bay Area i've never even driven a car in snow lol.

So giving my exp I'd definitely chain up, if not, sit it out..

 

to make money in the northwest in the winter months you gotta throw the iron... there are alot of people that only run up here in the summer months and makes the rates go down but that is another descussion.

i notice it every year once the weather turns cold the amount of trucks up here drops considerably

i chain if the law is up if it is too bad dot will shut the road down

if you choose not to chain thats fine and your choice just don't belly ache about it and the lower checks and usually result

good luck and stay safe out their

 

Also you might feel funny having your trailer swing around and beat you down the canyon!
That happened once to a trucker going down parleys canyon. After he crashed everybody laughed at him.

 

Well, let me ask you this, how long can you afford to sit and wait out the chain law? I've seen the Chain law up on I-70 W. of Denver for a week straight, and even then, you'd still have to chain up if you wanted to try and turn around and head back to Denver to take a different route, so then what? Do you carry a weeks worth of food in the truck with you? How about a weeks worth of fuel to sit and idle? How deep are your pockets? In Colorado, the fines start at $500 and go up to $1,000 for not chaining. Oh, and last year, if you decided to park in the chain up area and wait it out, after 24 hrs, State Patrol was kicking you out, if you had chains you were told to put them and on and get your butt on the road, if you didn't they called the heavy wrecker and had them tow you out, and you paid the tow bill. How many days can your company afford for you to sit and wait out a storm before the load is late? One of our competitors never used to carry chains, if the chain law was up, their drivers would sit and the loads would have to wait. Those of us who weren't afraid of snow and chaining used to make a lot of extra money every winter collecting their loads.

My very first time chaining (outside of school), was 3 am in a heavy snow storm on Wolf Creek Pass, which BTW, was also my first time over Wolf Creek. I hate to chain up, show me a driver who likes to chain up and I'll show you someone who needs some time in a padded room, but, it's a part of the job, it's a requirement, if your not going to do the entire job, perhaps McD's is hiring, you'll be warm, dry, and not have to chain up.

 

This is a very simple question, and one that was already answered in Orientation. Straight from W/S;

"If you have to chain to get the load delivered on time you WILL do it, But if you don't feel safe PARK IT! No load is worth your life..."




American Trucker