Wind? Please take warnings seeriously...

It would seem to me then, given your statement above, that you would be safer driving than being parked.

 

The Original posting was about taking the wind warnings seriously. I am in total agreement. There are many dangers out there. Some of us are more aware of them then others. I am a pilot. I know about crosswinds. I have a physics degree. I can tell you exactly how much wind force it would take to blow down the three little pigs house. What I am trying to express is that some drivers lack the knowledge that the older drivers have. Sharing that knowledge without venom should be our goal.

Drivers are going to do dangerous things without knowing they are doing so. I take no pleasure seeing someone in a ditch. We need to encourage new drivers to park in certain conditions. We should have a method of charging shippers who chose to ship during dangerous driving conditions. Winter driving in the Rocky Mountains should pay more then driving across Illinois in June.

 

Who makes the GO/NO GO decision in your airplane?

 

The math is useless since you dont know many of the variables. Assuming the formula is correct (I have not verified it), we have no idea what P, CD and A. A can be calculated by knowing angle of wind and measurements of your truck, but still your guessing. Unless you keep a barometor handy, you wont know P. You wont know CD unless you put your truck in a wind tunnel.

 

Im normally all about the math, but the math is above the level of most drivers here and the data needed doesn't quite exist. Just get to know your truck and untill you do, pull over. Also, the math doen't take into account ripple effect or gaps. Inmost cases of rool over do to wind, the wind is not at a direct 90.

 

You need to lighten up..... I'm pretty sure it was sarcasm

 

The Pilot is Command. So, I get your point. But as a pilot I have access to a wide verity of information and I know that a my go or no go call will be respected. Telling your dispatcher at many companies that you do not feel safe to drive in the conditions can get you fired. Because we are not union, we have to face that by ourselves.

I would like to see what happens to the drivers in those pictures. I want to know the story behind why they drove in those conditions. I don't want to worry that anytime something goes wrong, my fault, your fault, anybodies fault, that my job is in jeopardy. Trucking has too many managers who rule by fear. I want more carrots and less sticks.

 

http://road-transport-technology.org/HVTT10/Proceeding/Papers/Papers_HVTT/paper_74.pdf
This is a interesting study on the affects of wind vs truck and trailer.
It's in metrics so you'll have to do a little converting.

 

See, this hand is much smarter than an entire university study.

 

The Mesilla Valley Transport trucks don't surprise me. They try to haul as much lightweight freight as possible to keep their corporate mpg figures up. I've seen them battle the nasty West Texas winds running those light loads. Hope those guys are all OK.