Weather: When To Shut Down?

I-80 Wyoming: "High Wind Advisory. Gusts 65 mph. All high profile vehicles exit now." (Road was still open)

I pulled over & called my trainer. He said keep going don't be a wuss. I was carrying 9,000 lbs of furniture. Kept driving & made it through. On the way back there was a sign reading "16 semi trucks overturned this weekend"

I-17 Flagstaff, AZ: "All commercial motor vehicles, tire chains recommended." Blizzard-ish. Ground was all white, could not see the edge of the road, or lines. I kept going, 25 mph. Strong uphill, and easy downhill. Very sketchy, but made it through.

OKC: Nice weather all day. As evening approached, I was rolling into OKC looking to drive thru and shut down in Texas. Saw some clouds and a few lightning bolts in the distance. Kept going, drove thru some horrible rain & wind. Other traffic was crazy all over the road & shoulders. It was completely dark, but the Radio said a tornado was one exit away. Got really lucky and found a Love's with one spot left.

High winds, Tornados, snowy/icy mountains & steep grades:

* At what point do you pull over and shut down? * Do you rely on the highway signs? * Do you shut down for "recommended" warnings or only mandatory? * How do you judge the difference between a regular non-hazardous storm vs a heavy thunderstorm (potentially hazardous?) And at what point do you shut down? * How do you judge the difference between snow, hard packed snow, sleet, slush, ice, hard packed snow with a layer of moisture, soft-wet snow which potentially will freeze to ice, etc. And which of those will you shut down for?

(Note: the next company I'm considering has a no-chain policy.)

Personally I would have parked in all those situations, I'd rather my trainer think I am a wuss and keep my rig up right.

65 MPH winds with any weight let alone only 9k is asking for trouble if the highway signs say get off you should, Some places will ticket you for not pulling off.

I wont mess with ice at all, snow is ok to a degree ice is a no go for me. But since I have a day can I have to be a little more selective since I cant pull off and sleep easily.

But if you do not feel comfortable park!! DO NOT let anyone guilt you into running.

Don’t make it on the video clip that is shown on the evening news. If there ever is a doubt, there is no doubt. Park it. No load pays when you’re sitting on your side or worse. You are the captain of your truck, not your Super Trucker trainer. WINDS: When IN Doubt Stop. SNOW: Slowly Navigate Or Wait.

There is no question:

When you think you should stop...stop.

By that I mean if you're driving along in wind, ice, or otherwise adverse conditions, feeling it may be time to pull over, it's time to pull over right then.

Just because you made it through those scenarios above, doesn't mean you should have. You have to listen to your gut first.

Between you and your trainer (who you called so I know he wasn't there) who's the expert on road conditions where you are now?

In your own judgment, would you feel comfortable continuing on down the road in your current conditions?

The person to make the go/no go decision is the person holding the steering wheel. That would be you. Stop in a safe place and call your DM. No one should tell you to continue. Also generally speaking, weather delays are understandable and don't come back to bite you.

******correction******* I don't remember exactly what the sign said in Wyoming on the way back. I believe it was 16-19 overturned trucks, but that may have been for a longer period of time than one weekend, I don't remember. At any rate, the time period covered my trip through the high wind advisory. ************

Thank you

Well, here in Calif along the I-15 northbound side between Fontana & the base of Cajon Pass, I have seen 5-9 trucks flipped over along the side of the highway in 1 day! So it CAN happen lol That spot always has the worst winds on windy days, as winds come down or thru the pass/mountains on both sides. Another reason our wildfires, when they happen spread so dang fast due to winds.

If your trainer suggested you were a "wuss", he should be brought in for re-training, in my opinion. That was totally wrong, wrong, wrong. I have asked my driver manager , who is an experienced driver, many of the same questions you ask. She has never wavered from the sound advice the other commenters have expressed above. Always take the course of caution and safety. It is the company policy that is not only preached but practiced.

I believe that if anyone at Schneider was verified to have given the "wuss" advice, they would be fired without question. You can call me a wuss because I'm afraid of snakes, but not because I exercise caution in my driving.

As everyone has stated you should always be on the side of safety! The warning signs are either for your benefit and safety or the legal reason to exit highway. If you had to think about these warnings go with your "gut" feelings and do the right thing and heed the warnings. You could have become a statistic but thankfully you didn't. Mother Nature is nothing to play with when she is having a bad day. You have been lucky so far but don't play the odds as eventually you could lose it all. Good luck to you.

I pulled over & called my trainer. He said keep going don't be a wuss.

Here's a tip on how to handle tough weather. Don't bother calling your trainer. Send a message on the Quallcomm to your driver manager that goes something like this, "There's a high wind advisory here. Electronic signs are saying all high profile vehicles exit now."

Anytime you do that you'll get something like this, "10-4, stay safe and I'll get your appointments changed. Keep me posted." Always do this as an electronic message. Forget about phone calls. This puts everybody's response on record, and nobody's going to suggest you do something extremely risky.

Also, it doesn't matter what your trainer recommends or anybody else for that matter. You make these decisions, but if you want some advice, get it electronically from your driver manager.