winter driving, little nervous

If you ever get a chance; go see a snowmobile race. 100+ hp on ice. These guys are NUTS !!!

 

Like I said the professionals are the ones that wait for the roads to clear. It usually doesn't take but a few hours at least until they get some salt down. This is an excellent post because it truly is just like listening to the CB in bad weather. You will always have the idiots tell you its and keep going or that you are a ##### for parking it. All those photos posted in this thread, those are the guys that were talkin crap! Follow their advice and you see where they park!

You aren't going to shut it down for the winter or for days until the pavement is dry. You are just parking it until the brunt of it has past and the salt shakers have a chance to throw some salt down and push the majority of the stuff off the road. Also, that's another hazard while you are out there, salt shakers! Give them a little time to do their job and then you will be good to go. Oh yeah, make sure to yield for the tow trucks going to pull out all the super truckers who couldn't wait an hour!

 

Im also a new driver a little anxious about the upcoming winter. I too grew up in Eastern PA and did my share of driving around pickemup trucks with rear wheel drive in snow ice and freezing rain. The thing with them is sometimes that can be fun. However sliding around in this wont. Thank you everyone for the advice and I will try to remember it all. I am one of tose drivers that is well aware that I am more important than my load or my job. Better late than strewn across some field.
One question I have is a lot of this advice is about standard shift, unfortunately I'm driving a god awful automatic. Any advice from experienced automatic winter drivers? I have the manual buttons but no clutch to control the tac.

 

not 100% sure but i think some states mandate that you have them in the truck during the winter months even if you never plan on using them, might want to look into that.

 

This is true,I know for sure the whole West coast has it mandatory to carry chains certain months over the Winter and many times the mountain passes require chains when posted and the cops do enforce it.

 

Out here in the NW most outfits expect you to chain up and keep driving.
They don't use salt out here just sand and gravel but often the plows and sanders can't keep up with the snowfall,besides we have a lot of steep grades in the mountain passes so we have to chain up for those anyway.
I threw iron 3 times last Winter,it wasn't too bad but it is a PITA.
I was chained when I took the pics of all those trucks who were not and got stuck,they were faster than me but I got where I needed to be and they didn't lol.

 

Man those have got to be some serious snowy roads to require chains. Hate to see what happens when you hit some bare patches and bust those chains and tear up your fenders.

 

Some states require you have them whether you plan on using them or not...

 

It happens but most drivers pull over and take off the chains at the bottom of the mountain pass where they are no longer required to be on and only required to be carried.
Sometimes though in places like I-84 in the Blue mountains and Columbia river Gorge you might have ice and snow so bad that it's safer to keep chained up for a couple hundred miles.