Winter

I am at home right now and enjoying my time off with the wife and family. I am playing a lot of Warcraft and a little Sims Golf, tons of fun.

Winters are a bit harder on truck drivers because of all the changing weather. Unexpected delays
cause time management to become critical and that changes the hours we would normaly sleep to change. To sum it up we never seem to sleep at the same time every day. We could be sleeping at night and then have to change it to sleeping during the day all depending on when the load delivers and what the roads are like.

The weather effects other things like the fuel in the trucks when its 10 degrees or less. The fuel will gel and stop the truck from running. To stop that, we put anti gel in the tanks and some tanks have fuel heaters too. When it is under 0 degrees we have to run the trucks to keep them from freezing up. In places like Wyoming where the wind is also blowing on top of the -0 degree weather you have to consider what direction to park your truck so the snow is not blown in the engine or again it may freeze up.

When the temperature drops below 0 all things change into a life or death situation when it comes to keeping your truck running. The truck becomes your life line. If it runs you can get warm, if it stops, you can freeze to death before any help can come to help you. There are many places in the country where you can be 60 to 100 miles from any help and -0 temps will not take long to freeze you. That brings us to the things you can do not to freeze if the truck breaks down. First thermal underwear and a good winter coat that goes below the waist. I also carry thermal padded coveralls that keep me very warm. In the bunk I have a 0 degree rated sleeping bag I can crawl into and you can get heaters that will run as long as the batteries in the truck last. They also make blankets that plug into the lighter socket.

Going outside when the temp drops below 0 is also a challenge. You have to cover up every part of exposed skin, this includes face and hands. We have to go out in the weather for a few things several times a day like fueling the truck and bathroom breaks. also, when you get to a shipper or receiver you have to go in to make contact, then open doors on the trailer and chock tires when going to a dock. When the temp is under 0 breathing also changes, you shouldn't take in huge amounts of the super cold air it will make you cough. I have been in temps as low as -45 and at that temp you don't want to go out at all.

I spent a few days this last trip out stuck waiting for mountain passes to reopen that were closed due to snow.

The west coast seems to be the worst when it comes to road closers in the winter. I would guess it is because the snow is warmer and more slippery on the roads and the west has a lot of mountains that are very steep and full of curves to wreck you.

Almost all of the western states have chain laws to follow. Installing chains on a truck is no easy feat. For a truck and trailer with 5 axles in the state of California you have to put on 8 chains, 6 on the drive tires and 2 on the trailer tires. this can take lots of time and still does not ensure that you are any safer on the highway. My company gives our drivers a choice to put chains on or not to. I elect not to because if I have to put chains on I consider the road no longer safe to drive on, and its not because I can't drive on it, but because the other drivers out there in cars become more unsafe.

Trucks can run on snow differently depending on the weight of the truck. A fully loaded truck will push through the snow and make contact with the road helping us have more control. A empty trailer is out right unsafe in snow and ice. There is nothing helping us stick to the road and the trailer will always want to go another direction, it will often try to pass you. Being alert at all times when behind the wheel is a must in winter driving. Ice effects trucks even more then cars because we have more weight pushing us forward, so turns and stops become more of a challenge. You have to do all changes in small amounts to keep control of the combination truck and trailer. This includes accelerating as well as slowing down. Acceleration can break traction just as easy as breaking can and recovering from a power jackknife is hard to do. Actually any jackknife is difficult to recover from but it can be done. I was taught to never give up trying no matter how impossible the situation looks.

It's time to go back to enjoying my little amount of time at home, until next time, be safe out there.