Washington Chain Law

2 days is nothing

I know of 3 trucks sitting there in oregon for a whole week as one storm after another rolled through.

4 loads going to the same place. 1 delivered. Reloaded and went south. Reloaded. Delivered and was home for the weekend.

Sitting for a couple hours is ok. But a whole week. The chains are coming out.

 

I understand where you're coming from. If it has to get that bad in which chaining is necessary, which one can find out well ahead of time, I will wait it out somewhere in which it makes sense. Yes it will cause me to lose money. I am.a company driver. The money ain't good enough for me to drive in such porous conditions. Couple of inches of snow, sure. Drivable snow, sure. All out blizzard in which there is a foot of snow? I'm parking it.

 

It has to be pretty bad if chain law is in effect. It may not be counterproductive to some but for me, a company driver, it is. If it is snowing that bad, I will already be behind. If it gets that bad, its wasting time to chain and unchain. That's just my take.

 

You're last sentence sums up my thought. We have enough technology to see bad weather ahead of time now. It's no excuse to get caught up in that if you're uncomfortable in those conditions

 

Depends on what you consider wasting time.

Sitting for 2 hours or 2 weeks.

 

All this chain up talk. Know your routes. Know what the weather and roads are gonna be like. Be mentally prepared to chain up. Make sure your chains fit your tires, do this in early fall before any snow hits, having the right tools for the job make it 100% easier. The chain up area is not the place to be rummaging under the bunk looking for your new bag of chains still in the bag. Have a system, learn a system that works for you, keep working on that system until you're #### good at it, you can work on this system of yours all year round. Sitting out isn't an option at times in the PNW unless you don't mind sitting for a week earning jack. Remember you can chain up even if theres no chain law up.

 

^^^ This. I would’ve made no money as a company driver running the NW. I would’ve been parked from Oct to April. Lol. It’s just part of the job but some never learn how to chain correctly. Then when they get in a bind and they fight a tangled mess of chains for an hour they become discouraged and say it’s not worth it. Meanwhile, those of us who keep our chains in good repair and have them hanging on the truck or trailer and not in a tangled ball can throw chains in 15 minutes and keep rolling.

I don’t get the mentality of “it’s a waste of time and not worth it”. You add maybe 20-30 minutes to your trip at most if you’re organized. Chances are whatever hill you’re on you’d only be pulling it at 30-35 if you’re loaded and you can pull it the same way with chains provided you’ve chained correctly and have them tight.

 

Yep!
About a month ago I had all of my chains stretched out in a parking lot inspecting them and shooting the cams with penetrating oil.
I threw one over a tire and hooked it up to knock off MY RUST as well.

It was a dry, sunny, 50` day.
You should have seen the strange looks I was getting.
They probably thought I was a scared to death rookie.
Nope.
I've just learned it's better to be ready.

It sure was comforting knowing my equipment was in proper condition when the lights were flashing yday.
That's NOT the time to find you have rusty kinks.. jammed cams...no bungee cords... or no cam tool.

 

Any company worth their salt that run these areas will have chain hooks on their trailers or trucks. If they don't ask them. All your chains hanging in order not twisted up makes it nice and easy.

 

It’s just a matter of traction, it’s not (normally) a life or death situation. If you live anywhere near mountains it’s just another part of life.

And if you don’t want to chain, be an O/O or go to work for companies that expect you to park it (there are some out there, but not many. A company can’t make any money in an area where there’s snow more days than not). Otherwise, for most companies it’s just another day, just slower and longer. Chaining is better than sitting any day.