High Winds; Good Judgment
Topic 27330 | Page 2
PackRat wrote:
Having the trailer tandems up in the air while carrying 45,000 lbs in the trailer is very scary.
PackRat, could you clarify what that means? I know that tandems slide back and forth and the reason for that relates to freight distribution across the axles. You were writing about driving in high winds - did the trailer lose ground contact?
Exactly. First bad wind I experienced in Wyoming I saw a UPS daycab with a 53' pass me with the left side trailer tandems, inside and outside tire duals, off the pavement at least six inches!
Tandems:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Tandem:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
PackRat wrote:
First bad wind I experienced in Wyoming I saw a UPS daycab with a 53' pass me with the left side trailer tandems , inside and outside tire duals, off the pavement at least six inches!
Not for the faint of heart out there!
Tandems:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Tandem:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
I have no idea how you guys manage it! When I was younger I'd pull off the road during bad wind in my Volvo because it was enough wind sail for me! One thing I've heard repeatedly is stay safe! No amount of money is worth your life!
The I-25 and I-80 area from Colorado Springs north to Cheyenne, then west to Salt Lake City I've always referred to as The Bermuda Triangle for trucking. Beautiful scenery but some scary stuff happens out there.
PackRat wrote:
...some scary stuff happens out there.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jan/02/tumblegeddon-drivers-ring-in-the-new-year-trapped-/
That was a notable New Year's story; didn't see any mention of it on here, tho. Washington State, a little beyond the Bermuda Triangle of trucking...
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PackRat wrote:
PackRat, could you clarify what that means? I know that tandems slide back and forth and the reason for that relates to freight distribution across the axles. You were writing about driving in high winds - did the trailer lose ground contact?
Tandems:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Tandem:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".