Wyoming I-80 East And Westbound Multi Car N Truck Crash

FaceBook link:

https://www.facebook.com/jerry.williams.184/videos/965352290165168/

I have been over that stretch of highway multiple times in good and bad weather ... I can conceive of NO reason for most of those trucks to have THAT much momentum as to cause this much death/destruction ... you hear the guy commenting on individual trucks as "There's a high baller..." and that sort of comment ... hell, the cars on a carhauler have broken loose and run up into the CAB!! ... this is one of the "High ballers" the guy shooting the video referred to ... unbelievable that THAT many trucks could not stop in time ... this is simply a case of TOO MUCH SPEED and no common sense ... I feel for the guys who were doing it right and got caught in a mess they didn't create ... also, anyone else notice the trucks up front??? Yes, FedEx ... just coincidence? I think not ...

Jopa

And that, boys n girls, is precisely why you SLOW DOWN and leave extra space in bad weather. The guys who survived that are gonna have a lot of explaining to do. Especially to their respective state departments of unemployment.

During my TNT training at Prime I was the one driving from Denver to Ogden and got on 80 from 25 in one of the first snow events of the winter season. It was 24 degrees out at night, with the wind blowing about 20 mph and just enough sleet on the road to hide the lines. I started going WB on 80 and was the first truck in line of about 10-15 trucks and a few 4 wheelers and I was totally dumbfounded to hear a handful of guys on the CB completely going bat **** crazy cuz I was only doing 55 thru one lane construction traffic in those conditions. They were saying stuff like: "OMG don't tell Prime there might be ice on the road, he'll panic and come to a stop and we'll all be stopped!" Or "Are you kidding me driver I gotta be in Salt Lake by 3:00, how about picking it up for us?!" I couldn't believe that anyone would want to drive more than 55 in sleet, wind and at night. My trainer woke up to all the talking on the cb and said "Man turn that thing off until the constructions over so they can pass and be on their merry way."

I was going faster than I wanted to at 55 and I let those a-holes **** me off enough that I drove out of my comfort zone. That was pretty much the turning point of listening to the cb while driving. Unfortunately I have a hard time listening to the plethora of ignorant comments on the cb. Now as long as I can't hear em *****, then I drive how ever fast or slow as I feel comfortable with.

Gotta slow down! Hey Jopa, I am with you on the FedEx reference.

I was just there a day before the pile up. Wind gusts of 50 mph +. I took my sweet old time

From 2013 in Indiana...Indiana Pileup 2013

Notice the last photo with multiple trucks piled up.

Dave

Pro driver - knows when to shut the truck down as no load is worth a life

super trucker - thinks he can drive in anything and never needs to shut down due to weather

looks like one type of trucker got hit with reality. i do not get that ego thing of driving in impossible weather. no shipper or reciver will hold it against you for being late due to weather.. late fright is better then freight all over the road.

I disagree with a lot of comments in here. First of all, you folks say shut down. That's understandable. But where?

There's barely any truck stops and/or rest areas in that stretch of road. Sometimes we can't just shut down. On that day, exit 310 was shut down to the truck stops because a truck jackkifed on the off ramp. So... Where to shut down??

Brian, I too was on that road the day before. It was pretty nasty but manageable. I decided to push it because it would only get worse. It was the first day of storms and if I didn't drive through it then I'd be sitting for four days. Does that make me a super trucker? You be the judge. But sometimes, especially on this day, shutting down isn't as easy as it sounds because there's no where to shut down.

Watching the weather more closely was just about the only solution. But since it's technically not winter anymore people get off guard.

Eckoh, you said no shipper or receiver will hold it against you that you were late due to weather and I disagree. What happens when you're late to Walmart? You become a work-in. So a 2 hour unload will now become a 7 hour unload with no detention pay because you were late. And depending on when the customer was informed, they'll also charge you a late fee.

Slowing down and giving more following distance is great, but ice is ice and you'll still most likely end up sliding in these conditions. In fact, the day I was driving through this area, the westbound side had a 2 mile backup. Apparently the road was so slick that trucks had no traction to climb a small mountain. But where are we going to shut down? There's nothing in the area. I literally watched a truck trying to climb but his tires were spinning like he was on air. It was just hellish conditions.

So in summary, they need to create more truck parking areas in the Elk Mountains and between Cheyenne and Laramie because often times drivers want to shut down but there's simply no where to shut down at. That's just my opinion.

I disagree with a lot of comments in here. First of all, you folks say shut down. That's understandable. But where?

There's barely any truck stops and/or rest areas in that stretch of road. Sometimes we can't just shut down. On that day, exit 310 was shut down to the truck stops because a truck jackkifed on the off ramp. So... Where to shut down??

Brian, I too was on that road the day before. It was pretty nasty but manageable. I decided to push it because it would only get worse. It was the first day of storms and if I didn't drive through it then I'd be sitting for four days. Does that make me a super trucker? You be the judge. But sometimes, especially on this day, shutting down isn't as easy as it sounds because there's no where to shut down.

Watching the weather more closely was just about the only solution. But since it's technically not winter anymore people get off guard.

Eckoh, you said no shipper or receiver will hold it against you that you were late due to weather and I disagree. What happens when you're late to Walmart? You become a work-in. So a 2 hour unload will now become a 7 hour unload with no detention pay because you were late. And depending on when the customer was informed, they'll also charge you a late fee.

Slowing down and giving more following distance is great, but ice is ice and you'll still most likely end up sliding in these conditions. In fact, the day I was driving through this area, the westbound side had a 2 mile backup. Apparently the road was so slick that trucks had no traction to climb a small mountain. But where are we going to shut down? There's nothing in the area. I literally watched a truck trying to climb but his tires were spinning like he was on air. It was just hellish conditions.

So in summary, they need to create more truck parking areas in the Elk Mountains and between Cheyenne and Laramie because often times drivers want to shut down but there's simply no where to shut down at. That's just my opinion.

Daniel, question for you ... you mentioned that the road was SO SLICK that you watched a 2 mile back up form over a small grade that was near impossible to climb over ... we've both been through Wyoming - that stretch where the accident occurred included - and the conditions can scare the pants off of you, right? So WHERE did the momentum come from that caused such massive destruction? These were NOT 35 MPH crashes for the most part ... cabs were crushed beyond recognition, torn apart, heck even the cars on the back of the carhauler were TORN loose ... there were some raving Super truckers who were doing at least 65 MPH, maybe faster, when they had no business going half as fast ... and one or two speeding trucks did NOT cause that much damage ... there must have been quite a few, maybe the majority ... I forgot the question ... you get what I'm saying, though, there were some guys driving that day who ought NOT to have a CDL (they pass you every day, don't they) and they all got caught in the very situation that they thought would never happen to THEM cause they're Super Trucker guys, yes!! Bet they all thought they were the victims of other drivers being too tentative and causing the problem by BEING IN THE WAY ... that's just how stupid they are ... talk to you soon,

Jopa