Welcome back to the three part series on winter driving. During this post I will discuss how to safely move freight this winter when “Mother Nature” does her best to ensure that your freight sits. Weather conditions across this country can be very different from one region to the other. A driver that has spent his first two or three years driving across the bottom of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, has not really gained any experience in winter driving. All at once they get a load going from Atlanta to Seattle and are thrown into situations that they are going to have a difficult time dealing with. Not knowing what to do in severe winter weather can be a terrifying situation when you start to consider the consequences if something goes terribly wrong. If you know what to do before you get into a dangerous situation, you can be a safer, more relaxed driver even while others around you are losing their minds.

Stopping Distance Is Key

One thing that you must drive into your brain when it comes to winter weather is stopping distance. Having 18 wheels does not mean that you can stop 18 times faster. On frozen, snow covered roads, all it means is that you are a much bigger sled. If you have a seven second following distance in clear dry weather, you had better double it for driving on snow covered, frozen winter roads.

Braking is key in stopping on winter roads. The number one thing that gets people into trouble is applying too much brake. If you brake like there is a raw egg between your foot and brake pedal. The same thing works with the fuel pedal. But for right now lets stick to braking. If you wait to start applying the brakes until you get to the point where your heart rate is speeding up, you are too late. You better look for a way to get through without killing anyone. The biggest reason that the “rear end collision is the winter killer, is drivers not anticipating early braking.

Lets say for instance that you are on a snow covered Interstate Highway. You are traveling at what you feel is a comfortable speed of 50 miles per hour. You are cruising like this because there is no other traffic around you at the moment. ” Hey this is kind of cool,” you think. Wrong! Getting complacent will get someone hurt. Well the next thing you know, you are heading down a decent hill that has a gentle curve to it. You look ahead and see that the traffic is stopped at the bottom due to a wreck on the bridge. There are deep ditches on both side of the road. Well here you are, loaded with 44,000 pounds of roll stock paper, on a curving down slope that is covered with snow. Can you stop? The distance is short. What will happen when you apply the brakes? If they are all adjusted he same, hopefully they will all apply the same and you won’t have one lock up. In this case, this is the worst-case scenario. You are probably going to have to make a decision, whether or not you take the off road solution and risk your own life, or are you going to try to find a way through the wreck where you only kill a couple of people?

The answer is,

Not to get into this situation at all. If you are driving above 40 MPH on snow, packed or otherwise, you are looking for a reason to give up your CDL’s. Slow down and have time to stop. Number one you must be moving in a straight line to use the brakes to stop. If you wait until you are in the curve before you start braking, centrifugal force is going to make it very easy for your rig to start sliding. What part do you think is going to slide first? It will probably be the trailer that slides first. If you think that trying to correct a jack knife on a dry road is scary, try doing it on a frozen, snow packed one. Straight line braking is the safest braking when it comes to having to stop. You can gently brake in a curve for speed control, but the key word there is GENTLY. Having to stop once you are in the curve or heading down the hill is a recipe for disaster. You must have a great deal of following distance to avoid getting into trouble. If you keep getting the typical “HERO” running up and passing you at much greater speeds, back off a little more and let them go. No freight is worth your life. You may see him again later, in the median, upside down or on his side.

If at any point you feel that it is unsafe out there, find somewhere to safely get off the highway and into a truck stop or other safe haven. Just remember that its winter. If you park on a ramp, you will probably either get told to move, or get buried by the snowplow when it shows up. Get into a truck stop. The key point to remember when it comes to winter braking is anticipation of stopping. You are not on the road by yourself. Don’t ever think that you are, because when you do, you will find that situation that you don’t want to be in.

Visibility

You have to see where you are going so the first thing, before you even push in the red and yellow buttons, is your windshield clean? Is the washer reservoir filled with winter solution? (The blue juice will freeze; fill it with the pink, winter stuff) Are your wiper blades in good shape? Does the defroster on your truck work? Is your dashboard cluttered with all kinds of junk, blocking the defroster? Get all of this done before you get on the highway. Did you know that a dirty windshield would fog up faster than a clean one? Do you smoke? Tobacco smoke leaves a film on the windshield that will promote fogging of the glass. Keeping the windshield clean can be a daunting task during a winter storm. Routine cleaning of the windshield wipers can get to be a pain. There are too many variables to tell you that one method or another will keep them clean. At some point, they are going to clog and you are going to have to stop and clean them. (Off the road, not on the shoulder.) Some people will tell you that all the heat on the floor is the way, some say full fan some say low fan. There is no one perfect way to do it. If you get to the point where you are having to stop and clean them more than twice in an hour, its time to find a place to hole up until conditions clear up.

Following Distance

Proper following distance really is the key in all that I have talked about. Following too close will not only reduces your stopping distance but in a blowing snow condition, it will help to clog up your windshield and your radiator as well. Back off and keep them both clear. Traffic tends run in packs during bad weather, stay out of packs. Also stay away from the “Four Wheelers” as they tend to think that the road conditions are better than they are. Don’t be fooled by the guy passing you at a higher speed and ratchet jawing on the radio about how you are in the way and that its just fine out here. If you al of the sudden get a case of the “braves” and jump out there with him, you will be judged just like him when something happens. Case in point, about nine years ago I was up on Interstate 80 heading west bound just into the State of Iowa. It had been spitting snow all day and I had slipped a bit coming across the Mississippi River Bridge. When I got close to the “Iowa 80″ truck stop, the bottom had fallen out of it, and it really started to snow. For the next few miles all you saw were “Four Wheelers” in the ditches and median. (This is a great warning sign) It was time to get off the road and into the truck stop. I got parked and positioned the truck so I could see the highway, that way I could tell if the traffic was crawling or clipping along pretty good. About an hour later the word came out that the road was closed just passed Des Moines, and that there were numerous wrecks between here and there. Well we started passing that information on to the trucks that were still on the road. Some “Highway Hero, Super Trucker” in a black Pete, (I’ll Never forget the truck), Said we were al candy asses and that he was going to get his job done. Shortly after that I saw lightening and heard thunder. Then it really got to snowing like I had not seen in a while. The next morning when we could move again, I saw a truck that looked sort of like the black Pete from the night before. I said sort of because it was in the median, disconnected from what looked like was its trailer, upside down and mangled. The cab was not in great shape and it gave me a sick feeling in my stomach to look at it. I never knew if it was the same driver and I never found out how the driver of that black Pete in the median came out. Just remember that it is your life and as far as I know, you only get one.

How does that story relate to following distance? The Big Black Pete was not the only vehicle in the middle when I went by. It was not a pretty thing to see.

Maintenance Tips and Wrapping It Up.

There are a few maintenance tips that you need to know before you are ready to head out onto the frozen white line. Number one on the list is worn belts, hoses, and seals. It is a good idea to get your rig into a shop somewhere to have it checked for winter operation prior to winter setting in. If you are comfortable in you knowledge of the class 8 truck to do it yourself, by all means do it. Just do it before winter is here. For the rest of us, we need to get it in somewhere and have the experts look at it to see if it is ready for winter. Waiting until it is freezing cold outside and snowing will find you in long lines behind other drivers that didn’t do it when they should have. Freight slows down in the winter so you don’t want to miss that load because you are in line for the shop after six or eight other trucks.

Belts and hoses

Look at your belts and hoses, look for cracks and fraying of the belts. Are your belts tight? Refer to the operator’s manual for specs on the particular truck you are driving. Check the hoses for cracks and bulges. Looses clamps and splits will only get worse when it is below freezing. Always carry extra clamps and anti-freeze in you truck with you as well as the tools to replace a clamp. Never replace radiator fluid with just plain old water during winter. An extra clamp in the side box could be the reason you get off the side of the road and away from danger. An extra set of belts can be a lifesaver if the road service truck brings the wrong ones.

Seals and oil

That leaky seal around the water pump that never makes it to the ground in summer will for sure make it to the ground during winter. It will go from a seeping seal to a full-blown cold-water leak. You can just keep your truck running for the whole winter and burn tons of expensive fuel in the process and you might keep it at bay. Or you could do all that and the colder temperatures might just blow the seal out the rest of the way. Why not get it fixed before you are on the side of the road waiting for the toe truck to find you. Check all your hot water hoses including the ones running from your engine to you heater cores. Remember that your sleeper more than likely has a heater core of it’s own. Check them all for signs of leakage. Your local truck stop shop can pressure check your cooling system for you before you do it yourself out on the frozen white line. The Small costs of preventive maintenance can keep you from having the out of site costs of towing and repairs on the road.

There are a few more things that you might want to look at before winter sets in and those are your air conditioner system, your batteries, and your fuel system. Did you know that the defroster in most vehicles uses the air conditioner to regulate the temperature of the air hitting the windshield? It does this because in the event that the hotter air is causing the glass to fog, the time it takes the fan alone to cool the glass could cause an accident. Therefore most systems use the chilled gas coolant in the air conditioner to speed up the process. If your air conditioner isn’t working properly, you are not 100% ready for winter.

Weak batteries that may not charge properly in summer will more than likely fail on you in the frozen winter months. Cold temperatures slow a batteries ability to charge so batteries that are already weak will have more than average trouble when below freezing. Get them checked out and replace them if necessary. Make sure that the battery terminals are free of corrosion and that all connections are tight and that there are no bare or exposed wires.

Your fuel system is by all means not the least of your problems. It is very important. One thing to be sure to have on board with you at all times during winter is fuel system treatment. There are various brands out there and if you are a company driver you may be limited on what your company wants you to use. Some will even re-reimburse you for them. Don’t trust the fuel stop to treat the fuel when it is in their tanks. Some do and some don’t, some even say they do to get you at their pumps, but don’t really treat it. Make sure that if your truck has a fuel system heater, it is working properly. Have the shop look at it while you are there winterizing. One last thing, if your truck has the ability to have a winter cover installed over the grill, put it on or have one installed. Make sure you get one that is designed for your truck, as not only to make sure it fits but that it does not overheat your engine. Ones that will allow you to adjust the size of the opening are better as you can open it up a bit if your running hotter than you like. If all else fails you can stick some card board between the grill and the radiator, just make sure it has some holes in it and that you carrier will allow it if it is not your truck. One last thing, and this is from experience, do all that you can to not have to park your truck facing into the north wind even if you have an APU on board. It may heat your truck but it may not heat your fuel and filters. Sometimes it is not cool to be GELLIN.

Last but not least, get your oil changed before winter and again on your normal drain period. Oil loses its viscosity over time therefore the need for the routine drain. Colder temperatures will accelerate this process by a small margin; so going into the cold weather with a pan full of fresh new oil is just plain smart.

Lets review

  • Slow down and increase you following distance.
  • Preventive Maintenance can save you money not to mention your life.
  • Be easy on the brakes and the fuel pedal.
  • You have to be able to see, Keep the windshield systems in good working order.
  • Don’t be a “Highway Hero” and boldly plunge on into the storm.
  • If there is ice on your windshield, there is ice on the road.
  • No freight is worth your life.
  • Anticipate early braking.
  • If you are uncomfortable get off the road.

And most of all don’t out drive your skills. You’re a better driver for admitting that you don’t feel safe than if you keep going and prove that you were right. It’s the driver with all the bravado that you will find all piled up in the median the next morning. Use your head out there and you will get through winter safe and sound.

Stay safe, Help each other out and remember,

WITHOUT TRUCKS, AMERICA STOPS!