Winter Storm

I honestly had no idea till this thread that it could be too cold for salt. What do states like Wyoming do?

As long as you got supplies and you've got fuel for your APU and it keeps working I guess you'd be able to ride things out...

One thing you need to remember if you're stranded in your vehicle is keeping the exhaust clear. Many trucks appear to be going away from the stacks pushing your exhaust above your cab like you see with the hood trucks. Our freightliners and internationals have the exhaust come out under the truck. If your truck is getting buried you risk the exhaust pooling under your vehicle and finding a way into the cab.

That's great information. This is not even something that has been a thought for me to consider. Really appreciate this, Rob.

As long as you got supplies and you've got fuel for your APU and it keeps working I guess you'd be able to ride things out...

One thing you need to remember if you're stranded in your vehicle is keeping the exhaust clear. Many trucks appear to be going away from the stacks pushing your exhaust above your cab like you see with the hood trucks. Our freightliners and internationals have the exhaust come out under the truck. If your truck is getting buried you risk the exhaust pooling under your vehicle and finding a way into the cab.

Really good information there, Rob. This is something that I didn't even realize could be an issue until reading your comment.

I honestly had no idea till this thread that it could be too cold for salt. What do states like Wyoming do?

Non-sodium based chemical treatments like calcium chloride and magnesium chloride have a lower temperature effectiveness cut off point than do their sodium based counterparts. I imagine one of those chemicals is used, as needed. Once the temperature gets below effectiveness for those chemicals, I have no earthly idea what, if anything, can be used.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

There gets a point where NOTHING works. Plow trucks wind up laying down gravel where emergency vehicles need to be (ambulances, etc,) and the local sheriff's dept gets out their back country Search and Rescue equipment to do basically high mountain rescues on flat ground. They get to people with medical emergencies, and then bring them out to an ambulance, or sometimes all the way to the hospital. If it's to the point where SAR is bringing people out, it's BEYOND BAD.

I frequently see people asking about how to check road conditions for various states. I happened to stumble upon this regional road conditions map on the Iowa 511 website. It shows conditions for the Dakotas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Missouri.

In the App it only allows you to see Iowa, but the website has a "layer" that allows you to see regional. I am unsure if other states have similar but it may make trip planning easier than checking every states app you're set to drive through. Sounds like I90 from SD border to I35( Albert Lea MN) is closed, as well as I35 from Ames IA to the MN border.

I frequently see people asking about how to check road conditions for various states. I happened to stumble upon this regional road conditions map on the Iowa 511 website. It shows conditions for the Dakotas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Missouri.

In the App it only allows you to see Iowa, but the website has a "layer" that allows you to see regional. I am unsure if other states have similar but it may make trip planning easier than checking every states app you're set to drive through. Sounds like I90 from SD border to I35( Albert Lea MN) is closed, as well as I35 from Ames IA to the MN border.

That map looks like my navigation screen some places in New Jersey. I usually refer to it as “spaghetti screen”

The snow and ice ended up being a non issue here in the Philly area. Rain turned to snow for about an hour, it all melted on contact then the sun came out. Between the sun, salt crews and increase in wind, everything dried up pretty quickly preventing the flash freeze. I had a 40 footer out today, I did feel the wind pushing on the trailer after my 1st 12 skids were delivered and I lost most of my weight but other then that it was just another day on the road.

Now the dock work after driving was a whole other story. It was brutal…. 9 degrees with 40-50 mph winds, real feel was -19. Thankfully we only had a couple hours worth of freight to strip and load.

It was 55 when my shift started at noon, 9 degrees when I finished 7-1/2 hrs later.

I’m parked at a TA on I-90 in North Bend, WA waiting for the chain law to be removed on Snoqualmie Pass. I’m east bound to a customer in Wenatchee only 112 miles away. It is 573 miles if I backtrack to I-5S to I-84E to I-82N to I-90E to Wenatchee to avoid the pass.

The drive from Everett,WA to North Bend was ok this afternoon until the last 5 miles or so. Then it got nasty with slushy and icy roads with some freezing rain.

Getting into the TA to my reserved parking spot was a big challenge. I’m empty and lost traction on the inclined parking lot. I ended up putting my tire socks on to get parked. I parked to avoid tire socks for the pass! This lot is solid ice with rain on it now. Very slick. I experienced my truck sliding sideways a couple times. Very scary.

I’ve notified Dispatch that I’m shutdown due to weather and will not make my first two customers appointments tonight and Saturday morning. Sales says that I can get there whenever I can do it safely. Just keep Dispatch informed.

It will probably be best to sit here until the pass opens by Saturday night or Christmas Day as the snow turns to rain with warmer temperatures.

I’d burn fuel going the long way around and cannot get that far in one day anyway.

Getting out of this parking lot will be another challenge.

4 semis jackknifed with one flopped over. The one by the flopped over grain hauler, was blocking both lanes on the WB side. That happened not very long before we came across it. PackRat was about 3 mi ahead of me and let me know that traffic was at a standstill or creeping at 4 mph.

PackRat parked for his 10 near Little America and I kept going. This was just outside of Rawlins where I was thinking of stopping at the Flying J at 209 mm. The place looked packed and I decided it was too flipping cold to get out, so I went up to Laramie where it was -16°. Monty my little rat dog didn't like either temperature.

Another slide off east of Superior WY. This is one of several more that I came across last night going across Wyoming to Cheyenne and then South to near Greeley where I delivered my onions.

People do not pay attention to the variable speed limit signs. My truck tells me the speed of the vehicle in front of me. There were trucks as well as four wheelers going 65+ mph. I wonder what those tickets would cost!

Laura

Laura, PackRat: I think you guys out west are having a worse time than me. I was in Sturbridge, MA and it was 40 degrees. 90 miles later on I84, it was 0 degrees and high winds. Going across the Newburg-Beacon bridge on 84 WB was scary. Cross winds were bad.

A few more days and then we can all breathe easier.

90 miles later on I84, it was 0 degrees and high winds. Going across the Newburg-Beacon bridge on 84 WB was scary. Cross winds were bad.

I know that area very well. The Newburg Beacon bridge is sketchy on nice days with moderate wind. That's why the speed limit is 40 MPH, but everybody still does 65.