Hey!!! That was a pretty cool slow motion rollover! Well...Lay-over any way. It didn't really roll all the way.


I loved the braking action once it was up on the edge of the tires...that was slick!!

If I found myself in a situation where the wind was starting to lay my truck over, I would cut it in whatever direction there was no obsticles in my waY TO try to get the trailer and tractor in an L shape to prevent it from laying over, obviously in that video he had the room to cut it to the left to try to use the tractor as leverage against the trailer, and there was plenty of room it looks like to do it.

Well in reality too I wouldn't be driving in winds excess of 40mph

In our safety meetings etc, they tell us when we have high winds, the faster we drive, the more chances of being blown over. Funny..I've always been told that if you are stopped, or going slow, you have more chances of being blown over. So which is it? :eek1:

Ya know, we had a meeting with our safety man last year about severe weather. He was reading the book, and asked us, "what to do when there might be tornadoes in our area?' "Find a safe place to have shelter". I was like, "that's fine, if you are delivering in town, but what about us line-haul guys that get caught out in no-man's land?" "Do I just stop, get out, and go bear-hug a mesquite tree, or a fence post?" :lol: He said, "well, hopefully you can get to the nearest town, and seek shelter." I was like, "What???? The towns are 30 miles apart. If I'm gonna make it that far, why stop? By then, I be out of the storm." :rofl:

I had a tornado blow me across two lanes on a bridge once, that was a scary experience! I was an inch from the guard, luckily I was able to fight it back over into the lane, and like you said, I was in the middle of nowhere, what was I going to do, stop on the bridge and stick my head between my legs? :)

Well, it's common sense.
These yahoos know that in west Texas, there aint nothing. Yet, they talk to me like I am always passing through big cities. Hello??? McFly????

Oh well. I just hope this season (tornado season is just around the corner) is pretty mild. We need rain, much bad. But just no hail nor tornaders.

Obviously, you are jesting. But, for the sake of the newbies.... that is the wrong thing to do! (Unless one uses the Trolley brake.)

IF and when this happens, there are three important things a driver can do to recover:

1) Turn the cab in the downwind direction. (LEFT... in this case.)

2) Hit the trolley brake to "anchor" the tandems while the cab is still pulling away.

3) Accelerate to pull the trailer forward while doing numbers 1 and 2 above.

Close, but no cigar. Obviously, if there is traffic to your left, you wouldn't want to drive into them. But, turning to the RIGHT would be the wrong thing to do. If the wind is coming from the right, and your right side tandems are already off the ground, turning to the right would INCREASE the pressure against the trailer side. The CAB may be turning into the wind, but the trailer will not respond quickly enough to reduce the pressure, and you will only increase the "whip" affect that will roll the trailer over.

As you said.... in THAT video, the driver had plenty of room to steer to the left. Doing so would reduce air pressure against the trailer and give stability to the entire frame. Anyone who has ever been sailing knows that you reduce pitch by turning "downwind."

Jackrabbit379 said:

It is as you were told. The faster you go, the more wind resistance you create. Couple that with the wind itself, and you are asking to be blown over.

You COULD, but personally I would look for a better alternative.

First, even on 30 mile stretches of Texas highways, there are often crossroads that go UNDER the interstate. I would try to get to one of those, pull off the road and park UNDER the overpass.

Second, and failing that availability.... I would take the next exit and drive TOWARD the tornado and onto a two lane highway with trees on either side. Then get out of the truck and either lie in a ditch or run into the woods and lay low!

Third, if I had NO OTHER alternative, and the tornado was upon me, I'd drive the truck OFF the road and into the ditch TRYING not to lay it over. It is easier to pull a truck out of a ditch than to put it back on its wheels.

The funny thing about that video is that there was ALREADY a truck on its side! That driver was a fool to continue! In fact, where were the cops to close off that bridge (at least to high profile vehicles?) That bridge apppeared to be over water... I'm not sure. But, bridges over WATER are more dangerous than bridges over land! I suppose someone here would want to know WHY I say that. Maybe not. I'll wait and see.

For what it's worth: I have BEEN in the direct path of, and survived ONE tornado in my life. Not in a big rig but, lessons learned nonetheless.

Hobo, thanks for the advise. Only problem. I run 200 miles on a 2-lane highway. Nothing but a barbwire fence on both sides. :lol: :p

You say you thought Swift was a good company until they "sacked" you for the rollover accident? What did you expect? Did you think they would run out and hand you the keys to another truck so you could do it again? No matter what your excuse may be..A rollover is ALWAYS a preventable accident. If you can't handle the piece of equipment you are driving then you shouldn't be driving it. Consider yourself lucky you didn't kill yourself or someone else and find another career.