Thats my problem ive never drove in the snow. Car,Truck, Or Rig nothing but since ive read the posts on here i feel much better about it i think i was making it worse then it will be ,thanks everyone

In my experience, in the real world, all the theory in the world doesn't mean shit. When it happens, you will react. Hopefully you will react correctly. You won't have time to contemplate.

I was coming up to an intersection, and I could see the sheet of ice coming up, but not far enough in advance to get stopped before I got onto it. I intended to ease through very carefully, and not change a thing, but the pickup I was originally following at an enormous distance had other ideas. I was closing, closing, CLOSING, CLOSING!!!! I had no choice. I had to hit the brakes.

Wow. Holy shit. I can't believe I didn't jackknife. My trailer was all over the ditches on both sides of the road, and I was steering furiously, doing something, doing something else, riding the waves, I have no idea what I was doing.

I got onto clear pavement, no fourwheelers in ditches on my left, no fourwheelers in ditches on my right. I didn't hit anything. I didn't jackknife.

It isn't because I'm that good. It was pure luck. That was a cold, cold morning in North Carolina, on US 70, right outside of Kinston. I had already spent the night before at that Wal-Mart in Kinston, because it was cold and dark and wet, and I didn't want to wait until the roads froze up on me.

I got rolling too early.

I'm extremely careful, but it's hard to be careful enough in winter. I've been through 10 winters so far, and I don't think it will ever stop scaring the piss out of me.

I'm going to knock on a bunch of wood now.

Carry enough food and drink to survive at least three days. I also suggest a jug or bag of ice melt, and small shovel. (I once had to dig my way out of a frozen dock in a blizzard with nothing more than a hand truck and a scrap of pallet wood. Fun.)

I guess the absolute worst for me was the morning after I spent the night on the side of a steep driveway entrance in Asheville, NC, laying on the back of the sleeper, because that direction was down. I finally got up the hill in the morning, got my load off, and headed back on I-40 toward Statesville.

Everything was fine except for a few shaded patches with some chunks of highly obvious stuff on them. 70 mph most of the way, clean, clear, dry roads.

I was running 70 mph when I saw a glint in the distance. A car on the side. Two. Four. What the hell? Lots of people were running 70 until they hit the Catawba County line. Catawba County didn't do a damn thing to the road, and it was a solid sheet of compacted, glazed snow. There must have been 50 cars in the ditches on either side of the road.

I got slowed down just in the nick of time, and eased through there in bumper to bumper traffic, in an empty single axle cabover. Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop. I think the trucker's eye looking waaay down the road view is the only thing that saved me from disaster.

That was a lousy trip all around, but I just edited this to snip all the other details. No use going too far overboard, or else this thread will fill up with 50,000 horror stories over night, and that's not really the aim here.

I think we can all agree on two things.

1) Winter driving in a semi sucks.
2) Everyone who disagrees with this opinion is either Kanukistani, crazy, or both. :D

Drive scared in winter weather, do not drive confident because it can and will get you into trouble. If you feel your vehicle starting to slide or hear the engine starting to rev up when you haven't moved the gas pedal, your in a slick area and your drive tires are losing traction, let off the gas and hold the wheel straight. Let'er bring herself back straight, do not get to see-sawing back and forth on the wheel trying to get it straight, you will end up wrecked if you do. It's taken me 10 winters to get to where I can feel my tires starting to lose traction before I get myself into a bad situation.

I have also learned that the higher the gear your in, the less chance you have of the tires losing traction. The higher the gear, the harder it is to notice when the engine is starting to rev up becuase your just letting the engine lug along at a very low rpm. Obviously, you cannot afford to be in a high gear when coming down a mountain in the winter stuff.

Dry snow VS Wet snow, dry snow likes to blow easier than wet snow and dry snow can be found more to the north. Wet snow is usually found towards the south. Both are dangerous once they get on the roads. Watch the weather reports if you can, a cold front coming out of Canada with snow will drop dry snow, a front coming out of the south will bring wet snow.

Just take it easy and smooth on the steering and the pedals. Let gravity and rolling resistance slow you whenever possible, and treat that gas pedal like it's a rotten egg you'd rather not squish.

If it's slick and icy, curves are "fun." Go slow enough so you don't really have to torque on that steering wheel. As a previous poster said: look ahead.....WWAAAYY ahead. Surprises will put you in a ditch, or worse.

But really, if people are sliding off the road around you, the time to stop was 30 minutes ago. Keeping supplies on the truck (and your fuel tanks above 1/2 tank) will let you shut down at the first safe spot, and you won't be as tempted to crawl down the road to the nearest truck stop with a restaurant, etc.

Snow is a weird animal. It can actually give you traction when it's dry and powdery, but when it's wet or polished smooth it'll act just like ice.


Bill

No you're not making it worse its definately all bad. And never even driving a car in it will make it harder. You have alot to learn and it will be by the seat of your pants because its a "feel" thing that comes with experience. The heavier you are the better off you'll be. I would avoid even trying it when empty until you get a little experience.

Correcting a skid depends on what caused it.

Letting off the fuel to quickly can lock up the drives causing the trailer to push the tractor sideways. If you feel this happening a little throttle will correct it.

Too much throttle can break traction on the drives and cause the tractor to slip sideways out from under the trailer. Letting off of the fuel can correct it.

In both cases depressing the clutch can fix it because then you get all axles free wheeling and it will straighten out, especially with weight.

Braking requires alot of room. Do not tailgate. Too much brake pressure will cause a skid. Obviously letting off the brake will correct it but that depends on how much room you have to stop. Slow way down early. Dont wait. You better scrub off alot of speed before you get to the exit ramp because if you wait you'll never get stopped at the bottom. They typically run downhill and are the last thing to get plowed or salted so be ready.

When parking for the night drive over your spot forward and backwards to pack the snow or you'll be stuck in place by morning. this also helps cool the tires. If they are warm they will melt a little snow and settle an inch or so and then everything refreezes and you'll be stuck by morning. If this happens, try chains under the drives for traction if you have them. If the ice isnt too deep you can spin the tires in place for a minute or two and hope you melt it down to a better surface.

Try not to run the defroster. If the cabs heater will keep the windshield clear then leave it alone. The defroster warms up the glass and the wipers and the snow melts and then refreezes which why your wipers get covered in ice and snow. They'll stay snow free with the heater on.

There's so much more...it just takes doing it to learn and hopefully not the hard way. Take your time, park it if your not sure. I'm 44 and I've driven (and played!) in snow all my life and its still a very nerve racking night driving during a snow storm (unless I'm playing, then its a blast!)

Also try to stay more or less with flow of traffic, especially in poor visibility. Dont go as fast as the fastest guy because he is the biggest risk taker but going to slow will run the chance of someone coming up from behind who couldnt see you in time.

I'm 44 and I've driven (and played!) in snow all my life

LMAO

:lol: I'm stupid enough to drag a trailer thru the worst blizzard to get to the UP and play in this crap!

Nothing better than watching a guy with a $50k Suburban pulling a $10k trailer holding 4 $10k snowmobiles jacknife at 75 mph racing north on I75! I've seen it more than once! :lol:

You know I was just digging atcha about your sled brand-When you going to buy a good one?-You know-The one with the emblem of the blue North Star :P
Yeah-I see all these guys from Illinois with those trucks and snowmobile trailers running flat out with a foot of Snow on the road and ice underneath to get here :P

Yoopr you a big snowmobiler? I was thinking about buying a sled at some point. You live up in the UP right? I've only been up there in the summer on a route once. Beautiful area. If I get a sled maybe I'll have to head out there sometime.