[Copperhead]

For all you new drivers. Most of the companies and truck schools are pretty lazy about letting new drivers know about cold weather issues and trucking. Last night, today, and tonights episodes in dealing with cold weather in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota prove my point. I lost track of the number of Swift, U.S. Xpress, Conway (CFI), Marten and a host of other companies who had trucks down along the interstates.

Word of wisdom from someone who has been at this game for almost 3 decades....

Carry extra fuel filters and a wrench. Learn how to put one on. Also, I know that most company drivers are limited to a fuel network, but try to be selective within the network. The Pilot in Des Moines had almost half of its pumps gelled up because of the lousy fuel they get. And I don't want to hear from some "know it all" that it is because they have a B5 biodiesel blend. Love's T/S just down the road from them also has a B5 blend, and I have fueled up there twice in the last two days and the temp was -29F last night and I am presently in -25F heading to -30F. Truck is running just fine. Flying J and Petro are decent stops. As you gain experience, you will locate some of the best stops that carry great quality fuel and are not part of the normal fuel "chain" outlets. Also, if you know that you will be heading to colder weather, limit you fueling elsewhere until you get to the northern fuel stops. The southern stops usually do not treat their diesel for cold weather quite like the northern stops do.

Buy, carry, and use a good fuel additive. Power Service, Howes, FPPF, etc. Some may quibble over which is best, but all of the products work quite well. Darn sure better than not using anything at all!!! And don't be such a tight wad and not get the stuff if the company won't reimburse you every time. Companies are bean counters and don't give a rip about your welfare like you want. Sad truth. You have to use a little of that gray matter between your ears and look out for yourself sometimes. Likewise, just stop into any truck dealer, quick lube, or truck repair place and pick up a couple of spare fuel filters. They are VERY CHEAP insurance.


I would sure hate to see a new driver that is trying to learn the wonderful world of trucking, broke down along the road and freezing his behind off because the service truck or wrecker will not be there for half a day because they are busy with other trucks and drivers who weren't prepared.

Take care and good luck learning the business. It's not your average job, but it can be rewarding. Even with the little things I addressed here.

[GMAN]

That is good advice, Copperhead. It is -9F where I am sitting in the "sunny" South. If you don't have any fuel additives keep a bottle of alcohol with the highest % of alcohol you can find and keep it in the truck. You could use it to stop the gelling if caught early enough. It can also free frozen trailer brakes if you put some into the glad-hands. It is best to not apply your trailer brakes when in this type of cold weather and snow and ice unless you are being loaded or unloaded at a dock. Your trailer brakes could freeze.

[Orangetxguy]

Originally Posted by GMAN

That is good advice, Copperhead. It is -9F where I am sitting in the "sunny" South. If you don't have any fuel additives keep a bottle of alcohol with the highest % of alcohol you can find and keep it in the truck. You could use it to stop the gelling if caught early enough. It can also free frozen trailer brakes if you put some into the glad-hands. It is best to not apply your trailer brakes when in this type of cold weather and snow and ice unless you are being loaded or unloaded at a dock. Your trailer brakes could freeze.

Once the temps have turned to "deep freeze", adding a little alcohol to the air system is a good thing to do, regardless of what you are doing. If you run in the "Deep South" at all, and have a weak air dryer, you will want the water in your system to not freeze...period.

Like Copperhead suggested....buy a jug of Power Service or Howes...ENOUGH TO TREAT ALL OF THE FUEL. $20.00 out of your pocket hurts...but I think a lot of managers are going to give you that money, back when you present them with a receipt that is clean. Even Kerosene will gell up, in the right conditions. -30 is a right condition.

Get a piece of cardboard and tie it to the grill of the truck. That will help reduce the wind chill factor to the radiator, and allow the temperature of the coolant to rise enough to heat the entire cab. It looks like he11...but better to look like he11 than to freeze to death and go there. Your not going to hurt the engine doing this.

That is all.

[ct77]

yall arent kidding, drove I-80 yesterday and today, counted 8 Conway daycabs I am guessing their terminal fuel or wherever they fuel at must have been gel when they put it in. Any body else see the driver on the WB side in Iowa who ran up under the bridge and just missed headon collision with support column?

[steeringwheelbracket]

Yes I was really suprised by all the breakdowns. There was more super truckers broke down than i expected too.. I got fuel at the petro @x99 I39 They Had a one two blend.plus i put additive and alki.. Every other stop near there were jelled. The reason i put the alki in is if you have water in your fuel it keeps it from freezing your separator closed. Most treatments only treat the fuel...All that and yet i forgot to treat the volvo dump truck i was hauling that was fueled with southern off road fuel..Fun day and im not even gonna talk about my pony motor.....

[catalinaflyer]

I was running from Fargo (-23) down to St Charles, MN (-30) yesterday and I counted 5 Swift's, 1 Pumpkin and 3 OO's on the side of the road. I guess withSwift being based out of Phoenix and the bean counters going into work yesterday morning in short sleeve shirts they couldn't get a grasp on the severe cold in the north land. I watch day in and day out as these "mega" carriers pull in an pump straight number 2 when it's below zero. When you question a driver they either have no idea what blended fuel is or they know but the company doesn't allow it. I guess the $.20 a gallon savings is bigger than the cost of road service when one gels. Maybe after the kill a few drivers due to hypothermia they will pull thier collective heads out but then again I will probably get that 65' SeaRay from Santa before that happens.

Carry some fuel treatment and at least two extra filters. Companies may not pay for them but is your life worth the $40 you would have dropped in the stupid poker machine? The sad part is some of these "mega" carriers will actually disciplin a driver if they put additive in the fuel or change a filter.

Our company doesn't want us buying any more polar fuel than necessary but they don't complain about it unless you top off with 200 gallons headed straight south. We are required to carry filters, wrench's and two bottles of PS 911 in our trucks. One roadside service call for a gelled truck will buy a few cases of treatment and filters.

[ct77]

I-80 casualty

[cdswans]

Originally Posted by ct77

yall arent kidding, drove I-80 yesterday and today, counted 8 Conway daycabs I am guessing their terminal fuel or wherever they fuel at must have been gel when they put it in. Any body else see the driver on the WB side in Iowa who ran up under the bridge and just missed headon collision with support column?

Amazing. I74 - I280 - I80 and I380. Other than the dozen + run off/slide off super truckers, the common theme was Conway, Roadway and USF daycabs . At first I thought it was a Sterling problem. It didn't occur to me that it could be a fuel problem until I saw this thread. I never had a problem with fuel until this snap . . I froze everything up in MN. The repair guy used 4 quarts of diesel 911 in each tank. It took about an hour but he got me going.

I didn't see the Conway you mention. Did anyone else see the I74 EB Star in IL? He went into the median and just barely touched a bridge abbutment with his nose. I'm guessing he saw his life flash before his eyes. The truck and trailer were so straight and upright, it looked as though he parked it there on purpose.

[Jumbo]

On I57 we counted 13 trucks along side of the road in a 40 mile stretch today. Almost everybody had their hoods up. You would be surprised how many guys dont carry fuel treatment or filters.

[cdswans]

Originally Posted by catalinaflyer

I was running from Fargo (-23) down to St Charles, MN (-30) yesterday and I counted 5 Swift's, 1 Pumpkin and 3 OO's on the side of the road. I guess withSwift being based out of Phoenix and the bean counters going into work yesterday morning in short sleeve shirts they couldn't get a grasp on the severe cold in the north land. I watch day in and day out as these "mega" carriers pull in an pump straight number 2 when it's below zero. When you question a driver they either have no idea what blended fuel is or they know but the company doesn't allow it . .

Funny. Your post appeared while I was writing mine. This goes back to orientation . . 5 years ago . . fuel additives and alcohol are expressly forbidden and will not be reimbursed. That is until, while I was making the previous post, the Qualcomm came to life with instructions on how to deal with the extreme cold . . idle the truck and use fuel additives . . no mention of alcohol. They must be spending a fortune on road service. I only saw one Swift, an L/O stuck at the entrance of a Love's in . . in . . it was so cold my pen froze.