What Is Your Preferred Method Of Chaining Up?

I hate to admit this, but when I got my chains from the terminal , I couldn't lift them into the truck! I had to have the guy in the shop put them in my side box for me. How on earth will I get them on the tires if I absolutely have to??

I hate to admit this, but when I got my chains from the terminal , I couldn't lift them into the truck! I had to have the guy in the shop put them in my side box for me. How on earth will I get them on the tires if I absolutely have to??

That was probably 6 sets of chains in one bag.

You're only dealing with one set of chains at a time...

Rick

I have two bags...I think with a pair of chains each...and then a couple of cables. Even if it's half the weight of the bag, that is still a lot to wrestle around a tire. LOL

As a general rule, my answer to the chain question is a resounding NOPE. If there's a major winter storm happening in a chain area, I'm parking myself about 2 hours away from that area and telling my FM I'm shutting down until the weather clears and the salt shakers can get the road cleaned off. That 2 hours usually (but not always) leaves enough of a buffer to allow whichever state I'm in to get the road clear and take down the chain law. It also makes it easier to find a parking spot, since you're not RIGHT THERE where the nastiness is.

Now, if it's post-storm and there's still a nasty patch that requires chains to get across, I'll go ahead and wrestle them on, but only if it's less than 50 miles of road. Anything more than that, and I'm just wasting my clock. It takes me roughly an hour each time to get them on and then back off again, and you can't do more than 20 mph with them on, so a 50 mile stretch of chains required is going to take about 4 hours to get through altogether. That just gets worse the longer the distance the chain law is up.

One circumstance in which I will never chain: deadheading. Chains or no chains, deadheading on slippery roads is insanely dangerous. You have zero weight keeping that trailer on the road, and it's at least 50 times more likely to break traction and start fishtailing or jackknife. Nope nope nope.

Any company worth anything will understand shutting down because of bad roads and bad weather. Appointments can be changed. That's what the CSRs are supposed to be there for. Never, and I mean NEVER, let anybody try to tell you your load is so critical as to force you to drive when you think it's too dangerous to do so. Walmart isn't going to go bankrupt if you don't get that load of dog food there tonight. Safeway isn't going to explode if their yogurt is a day late. Home Depot won't really miss that trailer full of hammers that desperately. There is literally no load so critical as to make you put your life and the lives of everyone around you at risk trying to push through when every fiber of your being is screaming "WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING??!? PARK THIS @#_&+-_##$ TRUCK!!!"

As a general rule, my answer to the chain question is a resounding NOPE. If there's a major winter storm happening in a chain area, I'm parking myself about 2 hours away from that area and telling my FM I'm shutting down until the weather clears and the salt shakers can get the road cleaned off. That 2 hours usually (but not always) leaves enough of a buffer to allow whichever state I'm in to get the road clear and take down the chain law. It also makes it easier to find a parking spot, since you're not RIGHT THERE where the nastiness is.

Now, if it's post-storm and there's still a nasty patch that requires chains to get across, I'll go ahead and wrestle them on, but only if it's less than 50 miles of road. Anything more than that, and I'm just wasting my clock. It takes me roughly an hour each time to get them on and then back off again, and you can't do more than 20 mph with them on, so a 50 mile stretch of chains required is going to take about 4 hours to get through altogether. That just gets worse the longer the distance the chain law is up.

One circumstance in which I will never chain: deadheading. Chains or no chains, deadheading on slippery roads is insanely dangerous. You have zero weight keeping that trailer on the road, and it's at least 50 times more likely to break traction and start fishtailing or jackknife. Nope nope nope.

Any company worth anything will understand shutting down because of bad roads and bad weather. Appointments can be changed. That's what the CSRs are supposed to be there for. Never, and I mean NEVER, let anybody try to tell you your load is so critical as to force you to drive when you think it's too dangerous to do so. Walmart isn't going to go bankrupt if you don't get that load of dog food there tonight. Safeway isn't going to explode if their yogurt is a day late. Home Depot won't really miss that trailer full of hammers that desperately. There is literally no load so critical as to make you put your life and the lives of everyone around you at risk trying to push through when every fiber of your being is screaming "WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING??!? PARK THIS @#_&+-_##$ TRUCK!!!"

Very well said. Thank you!

My company generally leaves it up to the driver. If he feels unsafe, shut it down. There are times, however, that they will issue a mandatory shutdown if the area you are in is just too bad to drive on.

I like the idea of parking out about 2 hours. Though sitting, when I know I should be moving, bothers me, I'll just have to do the right thing.

Also, it's better to shut down when you know there is parking available rather than try to drive it and HAVE to shut down and find everywhere you go is filled up.