Winter Driving ?

Bad weather isn inevitable. It can hit suddenly. You will have to drive through it.

To go along with what everyone else has already said...

1. Pay attention to road signs!!!!!!!!!! That 40 mph curve is lethal in bad weather.
2. Your biggest danger will be coming from the locals, people who you think should be use to the local weather. Idiots in daycabs and pickup trucks will come screaming by you, cut you off and wipe out right in front of you. DO NOT CUT YOUR WHEEL. If you can steer(theres a difference between steering and cutting the wheel) around the wipeout, do so. If you cant, hold your course...odds are, they will slide out of your path. If not, guess their luck finally ran out.
3. If you are in heavy traffic, get off the road immediately. Let everyone who is going to die go ahead and die. Road will clear out and you can drive in peace.
4. Drive with your fingers instead of your arms. Finger muscles have better precision compared to the larger arm muscles. In icy conditions, precise control of the steering wheel is whats going to keep you out of a ditch. If you have to correct, you make small corrections.
5. Watch the stress levels. Driving on the slick stuff is extremely stressful. I normally do a 13.75 hour day, but in bad weather, I will cut the day to about 7-8 hours. I will also be more strategic about where I'm going to park Think truckstops are dangerous? Just wait til it snows and ices over.

 

And never ever follow too close!

 

Drive with the differentials locked? Isn't that really rough on the components at highway speeds? You sure about that?

I have driven 10 wheelers that were AWD, 10 wheelers with diff lock, R model Mack 18 wheeler no switch on the dash 1982 model.

Bad thing is I might be graduating in December

 

Differentials locked at highway speeds is rough on them, yes, but you shouldn't be driving highway speeds in snow/ice.

 

That's a very general statement,......And very offensive to this day cab driver,.....

 

Last winter I drove into an area where everyone was spinning into the ditch on each side. I slowly drove my truck to the Crown of the road. stayed straight and drove on through. Black Ice can catch you by surprise, Dont slam breaks and try to steer hard. You will just be part of the pile up on the side of the road.

 

The first day I started as a student driver for Werner I got experienced in it from day 1 as we left the Fontana Ca yard heading up I-5 Grapevine it started snowing heavy and the slowed to a crawl with all the accidents, then we hit rd closeing in N.Ca over Shasta when it opened it was 2-3" packed snow. 2 weeks later I went over the infamous Wolf Creek Pass hwy 160 in Co again packed snow. I now work in the Oil-Gas Field trucking service, we drive offroad 60-80% of the time up mountain trails & canyons in snow that most people would not take there 4x4's !!!

TIPS;
To drive in winter you have to be very smooth with controls
Your brakes must be adjusted so you do not lock up a wheel
Keep your speed low
Do all your braking in a straight line, then use only very low application pressure
Interaxle and diffs locked ( if you have them )
If conditions look like they will turn to ice, then CHAIN UP before you need them
The more weight you have the better the traction
Stay on the crown of the road, be aware of the edges, its easy to slide off
Packed snow is generally ok, its when it turns to smooth ice, then you will need chains
N0.1 Stay off the brakes !!!

BRAKE ADJ "" all the way tight, then back out 1/4 turn ""

 

I did just the opposite. I started school in November and the 2nd week in the truck the snow started flying. You'll have to experience it sooner or later, I figured it would be better with someone there who could give me some pointers.

Don't drive faster than what you're comfortable with. If you start getting real tense, take a break.

If everyone is going much faster than you are get off the road. If you're going much faster than everyone else, get off the road.

Try not to do anything quickly.

***Many people will tell you to watch for spray from the tires and will say that if there's spray then there isn't ice. Although that may be true on a basically bare road at a certain temperature don't rely on it. Nothing is more slippery than ice with a layer of water on top.

In heavy snow with a lot of traffic everyone will follow the same path or tracks on the road. If you need to stop get out of those tracks, that will be the slipperiest part of the road.

When slowing down keep a close eye on your trailer. If you're going straight and it's going right get off the brakes and straighten it out.

Don't let your fuel get too low and make sure you have a decent supply of food and water. You never know when you will get stranded due to road closures caused by either the weather or accidents.

Saying never use your jake when there is snow is like saying never swerve. It's just a rule for the stupid who can't determine when it's safe to do so.

Watch for snow plows. They don't move very quickly.

Even though the road may be great the ramps can be horrible. Take them with extra caution.

If you search on this site there are some good threads on winter driving. Take everything with a grain of salt, especially my advice, I've only done a couple of winters in a truck. Like anything, caution and common sense are the key.

 

well, I've been running 12 yrs in the Colorado Mtn's, every winter, chaining up at least a dozen times per season. So let me give you some advice.

1. You can use jakes on snow/ice, BUT you need to know how your truck reactes with them. My jakes, especially on high are very strong, in the winter I normally will only use medium setting (since I have an autoshift my jakes are always on low setting and cannot be turned totally off, but is not noticeable). If you find your wheels wanting to lock with the jake in the lowest setting, then turn it off, only once in 12 yrs have I had this happen, and it was last winter (it was also my first trip in the mtn's with the new truck on snow/ice).

2. And I can't stress this enough LEARN TO PUT CHAINS ON WHEN IT'S WARM, DRY AND LIGHT OUT, NOT WHEN IT'S COLD, WET, AND DARK. If your going to a driving school, make sure they teach how to properly install tire chains, if they don't tell them you want to learn. If they still don't, make sure the company you chose to work for teaches you.


3. Always carry a pair of water proof gloves (like the cold weather fishing type) for putting chains on, a pair of coveralls will help also but not an absolute. Also, a small headband style flashlight, you'll find it very handy for chaining in the dark.

4. Allow extra stopping distance, more so when empty or lightly loaded than heavy.

5. Power divders and locking diffs are great, if you know when to use them. A. NEVER USE ABOVE 35 MPH, THEY WILL BLOW OUT , B. listen and feel for wheel spin. Your butt and tach. will tell you when a tire is starting to slip. If you drive an assigned tractor, you'll get the feel for what it's doing on snow and ice. Slow down and then turn on the power divider, keep in mind, a power divider is not a subsititute for chains.

6. PAY ATTENTION, if you feel your too tired to drive, pull over and rest. If you work for a company that does not provide chains, but tells you to stop driving when the chain law is in effect, then stay in warm and dry states. Colorado and other states are doing this also, require you to carry chains from Oct. 1st til May 1st, even if you don't go into the Mtn's, it's a state law, the fines start # $500.00. There are even chain up areas on the E. Plains of Colorado because of snow and ice conditions.

7. Chains: when driving in snow/ice where they can be kept cool, you can safely do 35 mph. IF your hitting a lot of dry patches where you can't stay in the snow/ice, slow down, typically in these conditions it's 15 mph to keep the chains from being damaged. Check your chains every fall, and every month during the season, make sure they are not tangled, broken, missing links, make sure you have your bungees. Contrary to what Werner and some other companies like to provide, cable chains are not chains, they are a waste of time and illegal in some states. Carry real chains, and don't loan them out, don't loan out your t-bar either, also, always carry at least 2 or 3 t-bars, you never know when you will misplace one.

8. Carry some xtra food, blankets, and water in the truck with you incase you get stranded. Carry a cell phone. IF YOU GET STRANDED, DON'T LEAVE YOUR TRUCK, THE AUTHORITIES HATE FINDING EMPTY TRUCKS AND THEN LATER FINDING FROZEN BODIES.

 

Even though I'm a local idiot in a day cab I've managed to get empty and loaded sets, singles, and vans across icy snow covered Pa roads with a single axle incident/accident free and feel I have some decent advice.

Besides, if you're gonna call day cab drivers idiots, you should understand daycab is not one word. It is day cab or day-cab. I always get a kick out of that kinda stuff. If you're gonna put me down at least use correct grammar and spelling.

Striker and Raezzor had great advice for you and here is mine which pertains more to the Northeast.

First and foremost despite what I'm quoting, don't be afraid to ask local/regional drivers for advice. I know Pa two lane and interstate well and am always willing to help someone with a question. I run 19 in bad weather and have waited for other drivers to catch up so they could follow me on a better route than they were planning to take - this is especially true on two lane roads. It might not look like much of a road on your map but I know it is flat instead of the 8% grades you were going to cross on that US highway. For that matter, I run 19 most of the time because my line-haul run takes me off the beaten path and I give accurate local information any time.


Be steady. Whether it is throttle, braking, or steering just be slow and steady. I like to keep my RPM's in the lower range at all times on bad roads. The last thing I want is to induce a tractor skid with a set. When descending a steep grade on bad roads I keep a steady brake pressure with lower RPM's and maintain a speed as opposed to higher RPM's and snub braking that I use on good roads. I don't have jakes so I have no advice there.

In the Northeast (especially Pa) be advised the worst road condition you will face does not appear that bad when looking out of your windshield. When the temperature dips below 20 and you have a light snowfall you get my nemesis which is black ice. Warm tires run over the snow crystals, it melts them, it's so cold it flash freezes, the salt has little effect, repeat 200 times, and you have a treacherous road. Under/overpasses will freeze first but the entire road will get there. If you ever run I80 across Pa on a February morning you will notice tire tracks reflecting brightly with the sun on what appears to be an almost dry road. That is evidence of the black ice that formed the night before in tire tracks of the thousands of trucks that crossed that path the night before. I might have been the local idiot in a day cab that passed the previous night but I was on solid footing while you were on black ice.