driving in the snow

[Carolina Cowboy]

98% OF AMERICANS SAY 'OH S**T' BEFORE GOING IN THE DITCH ON A SLIPPERY ROAD.

THE OTHER 2% ARE FROM ILLINOIS , INDIANA, MICHIGAN OR WISCONSIN , AND THEY SAY, "HOLD MY BEER AND WATCH THIS!"

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

What about North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, all of New England, and a few others. They get some pretty good snow too.

 

I recall that Southern Illinois didn't get all that much, but there was a bit of Hold my beer and watch this.

[Carolina Cowboy]

What about North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, all of New England, and a few others. They get some pretty good snow too.

 

I recall that Southern Illinois didn't get all that much, but there was a bit of Hold my beer and watch this.

Hi Badger

Did not mean to leave anyone out, just could not spell all of them

when I first moved up north, a lot of people were concerned if a southern redneck could drive in the snow(and I have found since, there is more rednecks up here than all the south ) but have found out since that the main difference between the south and the north in the snow is down south, we get a few days off if it snows 6 to 8 inches, up here it is just another day ........

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Nephew did that before doing doughnuts on the pond.

 

never did stop before he got to the thin ice.

[Boss Hoss Fly #63711]

Hey, we had sum snow once

[Foul Mouth Frank Shutz]

What's a road?

 

Seasons Greetings from Alaska

[Apache Hawk 60642]

What about North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, all of New England, and a few others. They get some pretty good snow too.

 

I recall that Southern Illinois didn't get all that much, but there was a bit of Hold my beer and watch this.

 

 

Dey just say somethin' in a foreign language, dat's all !

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

98% OF AMERICANS SAY 'OH S**T' BEFORE GOING IN THE DITCH ON A SLIPPERY ROAD.

THE OTHER 2% ARE FROM ILLINOIS , INDIANA, MICHIGAN OR WISCONSIN , AND THEY SAY, "HOLD MY BEER AND WATCH THIS!"

Southerners around here don't drive in snow.

 

We buy a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk (it don't matter if we need it or not, that's the tradition) and stay home a couple days until it melts.

 

Besides, there's no place to go 'cause there ain't no place that's open and most (if not all) of the roads are closed if it's snowing more than a couple inches.

 

I was a trucker for a few years and learned to drive in snow (I spent my first winter OTR running between Chicago and NYC, so I had to learn how to handle it FAST) but I still won't go out when it's on the ground. I can handle it fine, it's just that the idjit sliding sideways through the intersection toward me can't. I ain't gonna be the innocent bystander that gets creamed.

[Deja Vous]

There is nothing like donuts in a huge parking lot on ice ... lol And no I am not talking about the kind you eat.. lol

[Doc Cherokee, SASS#48332]

We got between 8-12 inches here in the northern mountains of N.M. yesterday..Spent the day learning how to run a snowblower..Kinda fun..Sorta!

 

More on the way today..I think winter's finally got here..Although just north of us, they have been gettin' hammered for weeks now!

 

Of course this morning I've got sore muscles I forgot I even had..Thank goodness it's Saturday!

 

I also found out that a lot of folks in New Mexico don't know how to drive in the snow any better than a lot of folks in North Carolina do..

[Doc Cherokee, SASS#48332]

Hi Badger

Did not mean to leave anyone out, just could not spell all of them

when I first moved up north, a lot of people were concerned if a southern redneck could drive in the snow(and I have found since, there is more rednecks up here than all the south ) but have found out since that the main difference between the south and the north in the snow is down south, we get a few days off if it snows 6 to 8 inches, up here it is just another day ........

 

Yup, same thing out here..

[Wild Will Bartell]

Up here, the snowplows don't even come out unless there's 3" - 4" of snow on the ground.

 

Smuteye - I know what you mean. Nothin' cranks up the ol' pucker factor like drivin' an 18-wheeler during snowstorms. The whiteouts are the best though...

 

Being a native Upstate New-Yorker, I have to laugh at the folks who think that because they have "4-wheel drive", they can go as fast as they want in any conditions. They eventually find out though, that it is NOT "4-wheel stop"...

[Willie Wheelgun]

My sales territory includes North Idaho and Montana. Second your comment on the white-out pucker factor, especially at night. I have driven for miles using the rumble strips on the edge of the pavement to make sure I was still on the road.

[Noz]

The definition of a 4 wheel drive vehicle is a vehicle that gets you a lot deeper into the woods before you get stuck.

[Apache Hawk 60642]

Southerners around here don't drive in snow.

 

We buy a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk (it don't matter if we need it or not, that's the tradition) and stay home a couple days until it melts.

 

Besides, there's no place to go 'cause there ain't no place that's open and most (if not all) of the roads are closed if it's snowing more than a couple inches.

 

I was a trucker for a few years and learned to drive in snow (I spent my first winter OTR running between Chicago and NYC, so I had to learn how to handle it FAST) but I still won't go out when it's on the ground. I can handle it fine, it's just that the idjit sliding sideways through the intersection toward me can't. I ain't gonna be the innocent bystander that gets creamed.

 

 

I mean no brag here Smuteye John, but I've logged over 2.2 million accendent free miles.

 

I can look at a driver and a situration and know bout what they will do. Dat goes fer truckers too !!

 

I CAN drive in da snow...

 

I just don't want to !!!

[Carolina Cowboy]

The definition of a 4 wheel drive vehicle is a vehicle that gets you a lot deeper into the woods before you get stuck.

 

I can not tell how many times I have heard someone say, I have 4 wheel drive, it goes great in the snow and ice, I say, it is not the going that gets you in trouble, it is the stopping that will make you pucker, and once you slam on those brakes, it don't matter how many wheels you got driving, they all sliding now

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

I mean no brag here Smuteye John, but I've logged over 2.2 million accendent free miles.

Then you are one bad man. That's a lot of miles, any way you cut it. The hard part is just stayin' out of the way.

 

If folks wanna learn how to drive defensively, they need to learn to drive a big rig and go out on the road for a while. Trucks don't turn on a dime and don't stop on one either. I wish I had a dollar for every time some little Geo Metro tried to run over the Freightshaker I was assigned to. In town, I got to where I just assumed I was gonna get cut off at every stop light and in Detroit, it was usually getting cut off by 3 cars instead of the usual 1.

 

The closest I came to having an accident was on the NJ Turnpike. I had to get over 1 lane and the next thing I know a BMW doing about 80 comes blowing by me as I start to come over. Then he locks them up and rode even with my rear drives for a couple miles just to show how he didn't appreciate me trying to get into 'his' lane.

 

 

Bill,

Never did the whiteout thing. Drove through a storm from Chicago to Allentown, PA one time because I couldn't find anyplace to pull over. That was as nerve racking as my first time over Donner (coming back east from Sacramento with 37K in an old beat up trailer that I had to get repaired at the '49'er before I could even start the run), just longer.

 

Got caught in a sand storm out in west TX down south of Big Springs once, though. I pulled over and waited it out. There was about a half an hour there where I couldn't see the end of the hood much less the ground out the windows.

[Uno Mas SASS #80082]

.

Gotcha beat, Californians can't drive in a light rain. Damn hippies.

 

Uno (Bunkerin' down until it dries up) Mas

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

.

Gotcha beat, Californians can't drive in a light rain. Damn hippies.

 

Uno (Bunkerin' down until it dries up) Mas

Wanna see scary?

 

Try driving through Phoenix in a bad thunderstorm. Happened to me once. I was in the far right land doing 40 with my lights and 4 way flashers on because of the conditions (I'm from AL, we can do thunderstorms, snow is foreign to us) whilst all of the cars with local plates were blowing by me doing 75+.

 

Guess they never heard of hydroplaning.

 

Now THEM folks can't drive in the rain.

[Uno Mas SASS #80082]

Seen scary.

 

Years ago, we were struggling back to LA during the first rain of the season. Traffic heavy, visibility fer shiite, traction no better after a year's worth of leaked oil comes to the surface. Then -- some black, Italian-looking, penis-extender screamed by like a wet comet at maybe 90-100, maybe more, using both the fast and breakdown lanes. Wholly Shiite!

 

As we mounted the exchange overpass, we could see a field of red lights blossom, where hopefully, the idiot removed himself - and only himself - from the shallow end of the gene pool.

[Apache Hawk 60642]

Then you are one bad man. That's a lot of miles, any way you cut it. The hard part is just stayin' out of the way.

 

If folks wanna learn how to drive defensively, they need to learn to drive a big rig and go out on the road for a while. Trucks don't turn on a dime and don't stop on one either. I wish I had a dollar for every time some little Geo Metro tried to run over the Freightshaker I was assigned to. In town, I got to where I just assumed I was gonna get cut off at every stop light and in Detroit, it was usually getting cut off by 3 cars instead of the usual 1.

 

The closest I came to having an accident was on the NJ Turnpike. I had to get over 1 lane and the next thing I know a BMW doing about 80 comes blowing by me as I start to come over. Then he locks them up and rode even with my rear drives for a couple miles just to show how he didn't appreciate me trying to get into 'his' lane.

 

 

Bill,

Never did the whiteout thing. Drove through a storm from Chicago to Allentown, PA one time because I couldn't find anyplace to pull over. That was as nerve racking as my first time over Donner (coming back east from Sacramento with 37K in an old beat up trailer that I had to get repaired at the '49'er before I could even start the run), just longer.

 

Got caught in a sand storm out in west TX down south of Big Springs once, though. I pulled over and waited it out. There was about a half an hour there where I couldn't see the end of the hood much less the ground out the windows.

 

Not at all ! I should explain. I was in da Army till 18...uh...1976. Couldn't advance cuz da Army was so top heavy, so I went to da Reseves. Owned and operated many of my own rigs over the years. But what most folks just don't git and dat is my rig (last one was a 98 K Wopper) measured 70' from front bumper of my tractor to dot bumper of my trailer: doin' 10mph over the posted speed limit, pullin 40 TONS of produce down da interstate! Think bout dat fer a mintue folks !!! ! I had one young wife tell my dat I could stop 18 times faster den she could cuz I had 18 more brakes !!!! How's dat fer crazy !!??

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

Well, in defense of western Washington, we do have some oh my gosh, hills. But to see the folks that have migrated here from the south, mostly from California, and watch the with the first snow fall is something to drive you to the tavern and drink all night. They have the notion that the faster the wheels are spinning, that will help get them out of the snowbank they are about to slide into.

And then the Disneyland ride down the hills sideways and backwards and any which way.

 

They never give a thought to being prepared, like good tires, full tank of gas, sand or cat litter.

I am surprised some don't put the top down and dig out the sun glasses. Gotta look cool.

 

Something really cool about going down a hill backwards with the top down.

[Apache Hawk 60642]

Well BMC,.. what we used to do was buy a bottle of whiskeyfrom da bar, fill our mugs and go up on da roof.

 

 

There we wood sit in our lawn chairs, drink dat whiskey wif a shot of hot coffee in it, watchin' da Mexicans drive cross "Freedon Bridge" in El Paso, while makein' bets as to who's gonna crash 1st !!

[G. P. Cobb]

Well OTR Boys, I never stayed long in the saddle; but I have made it up and down Donner, snow on the west without chaining up, down east on black ice, my that was scarey. Couple times up and down Sherman and one wet trip up and down Cabbage. Think there is one out east, can't remember it's name............. Happy Trucking New Years to all.

[gabby the frog 21716]

I,D NEVER SEEN A SUICIDE RAMP TILL I WENT TO VERMONT AND UPSTATE VERMONT PROBLEM IS NOBODYS CLEARS THE

SHOULDER IN THE WINTERTIME?????

 

 

GABBY

[gabby the frog 21716]

I,D NEVER SEEN A SUICIDE RAMP TILL I WENT TO VERMONT AND UPSTATE VERMONT PROBLEM IS NOBODYS CLEARS THE

SHOULDER IN THE WINTERTIME?????

 

 

GABBY

[Wild Will Bartell]

Smuteye -

 

The whiteout thing was a real pain, because you never knew when they were going to pop up. You could be motorin' on down the road all fat n' happy when all of a sudden,(usually at night) there was a straight, flat stretch in the road and the wind would just blow all that white crap in a sheet across the road. If you tried using the brights, that would just compouind the matter by creating this bright white screen in front of you. Best way was to use the fog lamps, if you had em' , turn your headlights off, 4-ways on, and back it down to a near crawl. I think that's how finger grooves on the steering wheel got invented.

 

GP -

 

Black ice is another pain. We get it on a semi-regular basis here usually on the overpasses, but when we get a sudden change from warm,(above 32-F) to cold,(teens or single #'s) it tends to form on virtually any road. If it starts to snow, and the snow covers it up, it's even more fun. Best to keep an ear to the NWS for the forcast, and delay your arrival a day or two. We have a North/South Interstate in our area that is a graveyard for trailer trucks when this occurs. Never had to do chains, even though they,(DOT) suggested them in the semi-mountainous areas here in the NE.

 

So, you ask, why in the h-e-double hockey sticks am I still living here??

[Apache Hawk 60642]

Well OTR Boys, I never stayed long in the saddle; but I have made it up and down Donner, snow on the west without chaining up, down east on black ice, my that was scarey. Couple times up and down Sherman and one wet trip up and down Cabbage. Think there is one out east, can't remember it's name............. Happy Trucking New Years to all.

 

 

I have driven in all 49 states atleast twice. Seen what I thought was already been seen.......

 

Den somethin' new and stuipd pop up !!!

 

And da truck drivers (NOT TRUCKERS !!!) are in da truckstops at 3:00pm. Ifin ya git there any later, yur out of luck.

Da C.B ray-diti-o is nasty too. "Whars da hookers( Pavement Princess in my day) whars da dope and whars da beer is all ya hear.

 

Da days of da "Knights Of da Road" are lond gone !!!!

[U B Mountain #40498]

In Maine we go "WEEEEEEEEE"

[Apache Hawk 60642]

In Maine we go "WEEEEEEEEE"

 

 

 

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

And da truck drivers (NOT TRUCKERS !!!) are in da truckstops at 3:00pm. Ifin ya git there any later, yur out of luck.

Yup. I never was 'solar powered' like a LOT of the folks behind the wheel. You can pretty much forget getting a parking spot between 6pm and 6 am in most truck stops 'cause of all the solar powered drivers.

 

When I was running teams, I usually ran the after dark shift of driving. Even when I was running solo, I didn't do it.

[Apache Hawk 60642]

Yup. I never was 'solar powered' like a LOT of the folks behind the wheel. You can pretty much forget getting a parking spot between 6pm and 6 am in most truck stops 'cause of all the solar powered drivers.

 

When I was running teams, I usually ran the after dark shift of driving. Even when I was running solo, I didn't do it.

 

 

 

Never ran with no "team". I took up truckin' to be alone. I normally bout 1000 miles a night and part of da day. And dat was when speed limits was double nickle fer trucks. So as you can tel, I didn't let no grass grow under my feet.

 

I think here,....I got my new K-Wropper it had bout 600 miles on it. When I retired from truckin, had just over a million on it.