Fear of winter driving

[Useless]

Just chain up on November 1st and don't take em' off until April 1st.

STFU, Coldfrosty!!! :shock:

If my wife reads what you said, she's likely to try it out on ME!!!! :twisted: :P

[LadyNorthStar]

[quote="Useless"]

[color=darkblue]The initial thesis of this thread was about driving as a LEASE operator,

Actually it was about winter driving and that was just mentioned.


You are not paranoid. I never had even driven a car in the snow until 4 years ago when I moved up here.
When I started the job I currently have it was May, and I had till October. The first time I heard there was snow up ahead I think I almost had an anxiety attack. lol I was pretty sure I was gonna turn around and quit.
Well that ended up being an 8 month winter!! I survived and I can tell you this winter is a LOT easier. I got used to it so fast I almost prefer winter now to dealing with the tourists in the summer.
It's just something you learn how to do like anything else, just take it as slow as you want at first to be comfortable, never worry about people going around you, they might be the ones in the ditch up ahead.

[forsiktig]

Driving in the snow is not so bad, just go slow downhills, and fast in the bottom of the uphills (if that is possible), slow down BEFORE the turn and accelerate out of it. When it starts to rain on the ice, you really got a challenge!! The only thing that helps is to pretend that you got an egg between the pedals and your feet, and make slow movements with the steeringwheel. Never forget to grease up the fifth wheel minimum once a week in the winter. I may sound like a teacher here, but I have been driving on the small Norwegian roads for 15 winters, without any big accidents. If you are in doubt about chaining up, DO IT !!

[JoeyB]

On ice/snow-


1- find a speed you're comfortable with and knock 10 mph off that. This takes a lot of sterss out of the situation

2- come to a complete stop at the top of down grades, then starting from zero, allow the rig to pick up ONLY as much speed as you want. More stress gone.

3- Be carefull about blasting up the other side- many rigs have been lost because a heavy foot at the bottom of the grade broke the drive tires loose, they lost their ability to provide direction and jacknifed the rig at speed.

4- If your trailer starts stepping out of line, get that clutch on the floor and stay off the gas and brake. Just steer, it'll straighten out. Never try to accelerate away- (sorry guys)already the trailer wheels are sliding, why would you want the drive tires to break traction too, which is exactly what's gonna happen if it's that slippery that the trailer's going nuts.

5- Turn off radio. Listen to the engine. If the drivers break loose, you'll hear the engine pick up and you can respond instantly.

6- Little jacknifes are easy to fix. After you go about 15deg, it gets much more difficult. If everything goes to hell and you're sliding for the edge of the cliff, forget about the trailer- just drive the tractor, steer it where you want to go just like you would if it was your car. NO MATTER WHAT- you sit there and DRIVE that %$##% truck until it stops moving. Never give up on it. You'll be amazed at the kind of situations you can pull out of the fire if you'll just stay with it.

[choperbob]

left buffalo today, drove at 30mph all the way to eirie pa. was not passed by very many vehicles. drove at a safe speed and had plenty of room to stop in. that is a bad part of winter driving. still I kept the wheels turning and the doors shut. all in all not a bad day, was better than just sitting.