Winter Driving, Roehl Tips and Tricks

Good questions. If I recall right it was the Schofield, WI yard you were at.

On brakes freezing, I've read accounts elsewhere on the forum where drivers say they never set their trailer brakes when parking at a truck stop for the night; only the tractor brakes.

Looking forward to hearing what other drivers have to say about these questions.

 

Roehl will give you a line of BS about applying the Johnny bar/trolley brake slightly to warm up the brakes and remove condensation before parking for the night. Unless I was parked on a hill when it was cold I just left the yellow button pushed in and never had any more issues with frozen brakes. I tried their method, but it was me not a guy in a warm office that was crawling under a trailer with a flare trying to heat up brake lines on a brisk -30 degree morning in a Iowa rest area.
Kitty litter is a cheap and effective way to get traction on ice when dropping and hooking trailers.
There really aren't any big hills out east to worry about as long as you stay on the interstate, nothing that can't be handled by dropping down a gear or two and putting on the Jakes. I got on a really nasty road once trying to go around a scale by Roanoke VA but that is a whole different story. If you have a decent load on I wouldn't hesitate to use the Jake brakes on slightly slippery roads. But I wouldn't use them if I was empty or light and then they aren't needed anyways.

 

get a good blacksmith hammer... also air line de-icer, a 20lbs bag of cat litter, and enough blankets and warm clothes to put an eskimo to shame in case of emergency. I would not recommend a road flare on the brakes although in a jam ya do what ya gotta do. A cheap set of chains if they aren't provided (can lay them on the ground in addition to the cat litter for some added traction.) Always set the tractor brakes and leave the trailer release unless you wanna see what its like to drag it across a snowy parking lot. If you do have to bang them loose for what ever reason find dry ground and then use the trolly valve to break away any remaining ice. And take it nice and slow through the parking lots.

Anti-gel depends on your bio diesel mix and if it's winterized. Err on the side of caution if you get reimbursed and throw it in there for anything below freezing. There could always be water in the line.

Almost forgot a weeks worth of non-perishable food and drinks. Ya never know.

 

Chocks might not be much help on ice but then again they wouldn't hurt. Haven't tried, I just find a solid curb or wheel stop. Service brake should still do the job if the trailer lines aren't frozen. Don't know if removing the only real way to check them was such a good idea in the new trucks. A little wd-40 will go a long ways on the older trailers.

 

I wouldn't recommend a flare either but that was maintenance's idea. Safety first, unless it requires a road call.

 

Ummm... wow. Did it work without damaging anything?

 

Any Roehl truck newer than the 07's don't have trolley brakes. At least the 12and 13's don't.
I've mentioned this before, but I got a military folding steel shovel too. You can lock the head in a 90 and use it for chopping ice as well.

 

When I was in Marshfield last weekend I sat in one of the new Kenworths. Was surprised to see it had a trolley brake lever on the steering column.

Or hand-to-hand combat, should the need arise....