Can A Tailwind Be Too Strong To Drive In Safely?

I'm on I-80 right now about 10 miles west of Cheyenne. There is a steady WSW wind about 25-35 and gusts up to 45. I need to head east and as soon as I get to Cheyenne, the winds will die down. I'm pulling an empty trailer and I wouldn't want to be out in crosswinds this strong but driving about 15 miles with a tailwind like this seems relatively safe to me.

I've had a couple of drivers tell me I might want to wait it out though so I'm taking the conservative route and waiting since I'm a new driver. Would it really be that risky with an empty trailer? I have a straight shot East with no turns or on-ramps that would put me in crosswinds. I'm normally a pretty conservative driver but this doesn't seem too bad to me. I-80 is also technically closed to light trailers from Cheyenne on west even though the dangerous winds are further west of here. I don't feel it would be unsafe to drive eastbound but it's my tail on the line if anything happens.

Would any of you shut down due to a strong tailwind? I can see doing so if you had turns or shifting winds but I just have a straight shot.

Shut down. Better safe than sorry. Did u just see the driver that died when his truck blew off the Chesapeake bridge?

You appt time will be changed to offset the down time

Shut down. Better safe than sorry. Did u just see the driver that died when his truck blew off the Chesapeake bridge?

You appt time will be changed to offset the down time

Oh man, I don't know if I even want to see that lol. I think about that every time I cross a bridge. I'll be shutting down. I was just curious about how risky it would actually be. A bull hauler parked next to me told me to wait it out. I figure if one of those guys says to slow down, I'd better slow down.

Risky enough to not be worth the risk. No load is.

I drove in some pretty gusty conditions in the TX Panhandle today. Not very comfortable with an empty for the last 45 miles from the Philtex Complex in Borger, to Amarillo. Shut down at the Pilot. I hate wind!!! I concur with the others. Shut down.

Shut it down. The thing about wind is, you can't see it. All it would take is for you to turn, or the wind to shift, and now you have a cross wind.

I saw the report. That happened about the same time I was in that area. I was just on 95 south though. The signs were posted stating no empty trailers, and they reduced speed to 40 mph

Park it. Even *if* it were to stay a direct tailwind the entire time, that doesn't mean you wouldn't be hit by a strong enough gust from behind to cause you to lose control. Just imagine a giant hand shoving your trailer forward faster than your tractor is moving. Instant jackknife.

I've seen some pretty post-apocolyptic looking scenes in that area when the wind kicks up. There would be dust storms, trucks blown off the road and fires where you could smell the oil burning all at once. I didn't even like to drive my car through that when I lived out there.

I drove in some pretty gusty conditions in the TX Panhandle today. Not very comfortable with an empty for the last 45 miles from the Philtex Complex in Borger, to Amarillo. Shut down at the Pilot. I hate wind!!! I concur with the others. Shut down.

Thanks everyone. I'm glad I was "forced" to sit and come on here and ask some questions.

When the wind had died down a little, I pulled out and it was DEAD calm less than a mile down the road. Lucky for me but also a reminder of how quickly the wind can change out there.