Well me and my girlfriends streak came to an end right around valentine's day! Our streak of not having to go over Donner Pass and chain up this winter if you were wondering. We picked up a load in Denver, Co. a nice light load at that (20k lbs..if that) heading to Richmond, Ca. I should of known how the trip was gonna be just after the first 40 miles! Just north of the Budweiser plant in Ft. Collins it started snowing and it was coming down good! So I says to myself I'll just take my time, oh ya and this load wasnt due for 2 weeks so we were just gonna drop it off in the yard in Sacramento so I really didnt mind going from 70mph all the way down to 45-50mph. So I get into fabulous Wyoming and of course its still snowing, but now it's also ice! So I continue to take my time and look in my mirrors to see I have a little fan club behind me (2 rigs and a 4 wheeler). Personally I hate it when other drivers follow me because then I question myself "am I going to slow, am I going to fast"? So again I says screw it, I'm takin my time, if they want they can pass me or stick with me. Fairly uneventful night after that, but i did drive through snow all night til I got about an hour east of Evanston, Wy. There I pulled over at the J and my girlfriend took over. She drove in the snow from the Utah/Wyoming state line til just west of Salt Lake City, then the roads were clear as the sky. So I relax after that and get some good sleep......til we get to Reno, Nv.

We get to Reno and all signs are lite up saying "Chains required for all trucks"!! Great, I seriously didn't feel like chaining that night and I didnt feel like chaining up at night time, so I told my girlfriend lets go play a little blackjack maybe some craps and then call it a night and hopefully in the morning it will let up. Haaaa big mistake....they closed I-80 to all trucks westbound so all the knuckle head drivers from california could get back home and to relieve a little bit of the congestion going over the pass. So again we sat in Reno and by now both our 70's had restarted and we had planned on restarting in Sacramento at my families. That night they let up on the truck restriction over Donner but trucks still had to chain-max. I had pumped myself up and was ready to roll and "throw some iron" but my girlfriend had other thoughts. She didnt wanna go over that night because of all the traffic that still remained and just wanted to stay another night and go first thing in the morning, personally I think she just wanted to gamble again but she talked me out of going that night and I even got a lobster dinner out of it!

So the next morning is where "I learned a few things". Heading up the pass barely into California not even at the chain check station nearly every trucker was chaining up. I told my girlfriend, why are they chaining it's barely snowing and it's entirely bare pavement. So I follow a Fedex truck for quit a few miles before he pulls off to chain up and again it's still bare pavement. So I play it safe and pull over and we begin to chain up. Pretending to be in the Nascar of chaining up, it takes me 34 mins. to chain up that morning and I update my log book and I'm off up the hill. We must of drove about 30-40 minutes with our chains on in absolute bare pavement. So I pulled over and yanked off the chains and got back on the road to find out it was pretty much bare pavement all the way over the pass, a little slush but no need for chains, so that was pretty much a waste of time. Now back to when I was chaining up, I couldnt believe how much money those "chain monkeys" charge cars and and they charge trucks even more, they were charging trucks $20 a tire, I say to my girlfriend I should stay here on duty and chain up people for half what their charging!! Also while I was chaining I couldnt believe how many people (truckers) didnt know how to chain up or didnt have chains on them. A lady behind me had already been chaining her rig before we even pulled up, so I told myself that I would ask her if she needed help when I was done chaining my truck but fortunately she finished bout the same time I did. An Arabic guy pulled up to my 7 oclock and began asking the "chain monkeys" if they sold chains. I was like why wouldnt you already have them or at least purchased some at the Petro or TA in Sparks???? Then an older couple pulled up next to him and kept looking at me like they had no idea what to do. I told my girlfriend about this and asked her if we should help them. She said yes but I kept thinking to myself, dont people get trained on this stuff?? I'm not bragging and by far I'm no pro at chaining but by the time I put all ours on (max chains) they had just got one of their drive tires chained! So I figured if they could chain one they should be able to chain them all. Sorry this is so long, but I love sharing with you guys. So before I write a book here is basically what I learned that day!!

When chains are required: Truckers panic/worry/stress for no reason. Instead of chaining up and getting it
over with they just sit there on the cb running their mouths back and fourth.

Californians: I have no idea why they drive over Donner Pass in the winter when they cant
even drive correctly in the summer time!

"Chain Monkeys": I should seriously do this in the winter time, these guys make a killing! Like I
said before I cant believe how much they charge people.

CalTrans: I think that Cal Trans is too "chain happy" in the winter time over that pass.
Like I told you all in my book (above) we chained for absolutely no reason.
It's good that they think safety but its like they see one snow flake and they
require chains.

Chaining up: Having to chain up earlier this winter at night, wow what a nightmare. It's so
much more pleasant and easier chaining in the daytime.

Chaining and drivers: Like I stated above I couldnt believe how many people are unprepared or just
dont have a lot of knowledge on chaining. I'm not looking down on these people
but I just would expect them to know what their doing.

 

Yes Caltrans has a thing where they like to make you run chains on pavement, but if everyone chained up when they ran into snow, there would be accidents left and right due to no room in most of the areas and then I'm sure many people would just try to push on and cause even more accidents.

As far as the chain monkeys go, I talked to some guys who have lived in the area for awhile, as I was in the same boat as you thinking "damn these guys are making a killing for what they are doing." But there is alot of competition to get a spot on the hill. You must pay for a number if you can even get one. Then you got to make your best guess as to where to set up. Too low on the hill and no one will stop and too high and someone else will have already put them on. It also seemed like there was a lot of senority and a buddy-buddy system where they may not take so nicely to newbs.:flame:utnumbered:

Sadly, I think most drivers never get any training at all chaining up, and the ones that do it is probably very minimal. I know when I was in driving school, the instructor showed us how to do it and then that was about it. I have had to chain up a few times and know how to do it, but I sure the hell am not going to break any records doing it. Therefore, I avoid it at almost all costs:clap: and one of the reasons I was enjoying the construction business so much:thumbsup:

 

I only have one rule for chaining, IF chains are needed then its time to park its just that simple.

 

Oh believe me Wepwawet, if I could I would pull it over everytime we need to chain. But being that were team you know that its almost unacceptable for a team to do that, plus you read how long we had already sat there, if we sat there til it was clear on Donner Pass we'd probably be there til spring break. I've come to expect to chain every winter when going over Donner so when we get to Reno or if were on the Cali side it doesnt even upset me when all the chain up signs are flashing, its just come to be expected.

CaliTrucker, I had no idea the "chain monkeys" did their business up there on the hill like that. I guess with most jobs now a days it all comes down to who's got the most senority huh?

 

I never had a problem hanging iron back when I had to. Of course, being raised on a farm where you had to put chains on the tractor to plow the field, I had already handled a variety of chains by the time I climbed into a truck. A handful of rubber bungie straps, and roll the truck forward a few feet, latch the catches, and make sure they're on secure. About 15 minutes for all tires.

 

15 minutes for all tires? The snow is getting a tad deep around here, WW. :lol:

 

15 minutes without breaking a sweat, easy.

I grew up in Alaska and have thrown more chains on heavy equipment and off road trucks then I care to remember. Chaining a highway truck with these little tires and light chains is a piece of cake.

 

+1. Montana ranch-hand here!!

 

Okay, I'll give you that. But I believe it is the exception and not the rule. :thumbsup:

 

I call B.S. on ANYBODY who claims they can chain all (required) tires of a truck/trailer combination in 15 minutes TOTAL time!

I can't PROVE it.... and neither can YOU!