What Is Your Limit For Wind?

I just called off for the first time for wind, there is a high wind warning with sustained winds of 35 mph and gusts upto 65 expected for about half my trip. My lead trailer was 15 lbs and the rear was 14k lbs so not as much weight as I would have liked.

I really hate calling off for weather especially for a non snow event but it was a risk I didn't want to take.

At what point would you guys feel unsafe driving? Curious to know, especially if you pull wiggle wagons.

It varies for me depending on where I am, the weight, the road conditions, etc. I will drive in fairly high winds, though. Anything above 50 mph in IA, NE, WY gets me thinking about parking.

I drove last winter on that WM dedicated account in some crazy strong winds across Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. These were all empty trips back to the DC in Cheyenne. There were many trips that I was thinking, "This is the day I finally get blown over." Fortunately it never happened. I got a lot of winter experience on that account so I know my limits.

This chart provides excellent guidance

I've only driven flatbed and tanker, both of which aren't affected as much by wind compared to van trailers. With flatbed, it depended on the load. Tall, light loads like PVC pipe would cause me to consider the wind more than 45K lbs of steel three feet off the deck. Driving across Wyoming, I would follow van trucks that were weaving all over the road from wind, while I would just get the occasional gust on my tractor. With tanker, I'm essentially driving a low profile tube that, when loaded, is almost always at least 75K, so far I've not had an issue with wind with the tanker.

This morning through parts of Kentucky and Southern Illinois the gust were forecasted 45-55 mph. I finally parked in Mount Vernon 50 miles after getting getting an automated message stating gust up to 57mph and to find somewhere safe to park if under 40k. I had under 25 in the box so called it a day.

At no point did I feel unsafe or not in control but figured better safe than sorry. According to the chart I should have stayed parked in Knoxville, all through central Tennessee the alerts were 35-45 and then the rest of my route was 45-55.

Mountain Matt shared this wind speed guideline from Wilson Logistics

What do you use to get forecast wind gusts? The Windy phone app seems to work well and allows a sliding timeline. Is there something more useful?

I use a combination of willyweather, windy app, noaa all hazards radio and Google. I try to stay out of wyoming, Colorado. New Mexico and such in the winter especially. I hate running 80 empty and I don't make as much money. I often drive overnight and I'll check the wind forecast before I take the load. Also I check the weight if I can. It's usually listed on our load info.

I just got done hauling an empty across 40 to Albuquerque. I ended up shutting down and using split berth for 6 hours til the winds calmed down. For a while they were ok as they were west, so head on. But then changed to out of the north, so a crosswind. 35 sustained, 45 gusts. It started pushing me around and I could see the trailer tilting. I slowed down to 35 mph, put on my flashers and pulled off.

The haul back is only 12k. I drove til 4 am, wind stayed west, to my back. Couple of nerve wracking gusts but it was fine.

If I'm less than 15k I'll pull off if it's hitting 35 to 45 mph gusts crosswind most of the time and i can feel it pushing me. It's just not comfortable for me. The new truck is far better in the wind, but it's still uncomfortable, with no need to risk it. I know of a few drivers from my terminal (Denver) who've rolled or blown off.

I get the light stuff going across Wyoming all the time in the winter. This season I have been shut down twice already on the same 11k lb load.

The wind chart is where I START my decision making process. The biggest combination for me is how much is on the trailer, how it's loaded, and what direction is the wind are the first data points. 25 mph from the front or back is different than 25mph from the side (sustained)

I just pay super close attention to forecasts, how the truck feels, and research bail out options along my route.

Got this today, this is why I'm so conservative in my choices