Safety tips for driving truck in the chilling winter.
Posted on Dec 25th 2014
Winter is right on us with all festivities and merry-making. Yet driving safely at this time of the year is the prime concern of all the commercial truck drivers throughout USA. Motorshifi.com wants to share some tips to drive safely through the winter chill.
Plan your trip safely - A stress free and safe winter truck driving demands a proper trip planning. Ensure your planning starts before winter. First, do a research about the safest possible routes to drive in winter. Then build a library of safe places to park so you have alternatives when your planned stop does not pan out. How many of us have had the experience of aiming for that rest area only to find that it is closed? That is all fine in fair weather but when the blizzard hits it’s always better to have a plan B, plan C to get to our next safe place.
Learn about the weather - Monitor the weather forecast via different sources: the XM radio, the Weather Channel (usually on at the truck stops), the Internet (from our Smartphone or Wi-Fi), 511 from the not-so-smart phones, and our old friend – the robotic voice of NOAA weather. Lastly, there is the old school method of predicting the weather - using the CB to get information about what the conditions are ahead.
Take out your map, your library of safe places to park, and the weather information you gathered and plan your trip accordingly. When going over the passes, be sure that the snow has melted. In bad weather, restrict your speed limit beyond 20-25mph. If you overestimate your speed you may run out of your driving hours before you can get to a safe place.
Beware of slippage - Always take care of slippage while driving in these winter conditions. After a little while with no mishaps, you grow more confident and try to inch back up to your usual speed. The radio is playing your favourite song, and the traffic conditions have you convinced that you won't be late. But now you're travelling down a hill toward a stoplight, and when you apply the brakes, you can feel that something's wrong. You're not coming to a smooth stop. Instead, you're slipping. The sheer fear of driving in slippery conditions can also cause experienced drivers to tense up. This will result in jerky steering inputs which usually causes loss of control. It can also lead to panic, indecision and inaction, things which are not uncommon. We bet that many of us have had such bad experiences. Please be aware of such situations always.
Equipments must be checked before the journey - Thes equipments and the truck must be in the best shape before the ride starts. Make sure all lights work because half of them will be covered in road grime after 50 miles in the snow. Drain air from both the truck’s tanks and the trailer’s. Condensation in the air lines is the number one cause of frozen brakes. Having a flat tire can be catastrophic when we pull off to the shoulder only to find that after we get the tire fixed we need to be winched out of the snow because the shoulder was really a mud hole covered by snow. A breakdown on the truck in sub-zero temperatures quickly turns into a life threatening situation. More often the bad news will be that not even a tow will come out to help because of the bad weather.
Check your equipment while en route – especially before going into the storm. Also, do not forget to stop after going through a patch of bad weather to knock the snow and ice off the mud flaps, ICC bumper, chain hangers, etc. Bottom line – make sure your equipment is in top shape. Stay Safe by having the Proper Equipment.
Must Have Items and check points
Chaining equipment
Chains – make sure you have enough and have the right size!
Bungees
Cam Lock T-handles
Good, waterproof gloves
Reflective vest
Flashlight
Kneeling pad
Boots with good traction
Hats, gloves, scarves – whatever you need to keep you warm
Extra warm bedding
Extra Washer Fluid
Anti-gel, Anti-gel, Anti-gel
It is always advisable not to let someone else drive your truck! If you do not feel comfortable going down the road in bad weather – simply don’t!
We hope that the tips will be of some help. Please keep sharing your valuable tips, ideas, suggestions, thoughts and even your personal experiences of winter driving with us. We wish that each and everyone will be safe and healthy during this winter season. Happy Safe Driving!!!