For those of you who DON'T chain up...
#81
01-25-2008, 11:22 PM
Board Regular
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lower Mainland, British Columbia, Canada
Posts: 272
You make a lot of good points in your post, however, chaining whether you are in an area that you might chain a lot or not at all should be common knowledge. It should be a part of the job. Just like knowing how to shift the truck, chaining should be part of the overall training a truck driver goes through. Snow isn't dangerous, it's driving too fast in snow that is dangerous. If you have chained up properly and drive accordingly, it should be safe for you to drive.
The fact that some drivers don't know how to chain up is out of pure lack of training by their companies. You see these guys with chains hanging off the side of their trailers but I wonder how many would actually know how to put them on properly. Anyways, I don't think I'll convince you but maybe some newbie driver will look to get training from their company or hopefully another driver on how to put on chains.
Originally Posted by golfhobo
Originally Posted by jeremyh
If you are in my neck of the woods chaining up is a neccessity. If you don't chain up you would just sit all winter.
Down here in the States, temps rise during the day, usually just after a snow storm. Up there, you can expect the snow to stay around forever. Down here, they plow the roads, the sun melts the thin layer that remains, and within a day or less (sometimes longer,) trucks can roll again without chaining! MANY MANY more trucks than you have up there! While I agree with you that truckers should KNOW how to chain.... I don't think it is a REQUIRED part of our jobs, UNLESS we want to live where YOU LIVE. You asked what the truckers of the "old days" would have done?? Well, I suspect MOST of them would have waited it out like WE would like to do! Best reason for this..... they drove BEFORE the "Just In Time" model of logistics and warehousing! In TODAY'S world, with "J.I.T.," many more loads are under time pressure than in the previous WAREHOUSING "model." Yet... STILL.... most American companies prefer their drivers to chain up ONLY to get OUT of trouble.... not INTO it! :roll: The fact that you prefer (or have no choice but to) live in the frozen North, hardly gives you the right to question OUR work ethic! You see maybe 50 trucks an hour on some of your roads up there.... we see 50 trucks per MILE!!! MORE fatal accidents are caused each year by shear CONGESTION of trucks in the "States," than are caused up there by the rare inexperienced trucker who doesn't want to chain. A driver is MORE likely to die in a truck crash in CLEAR WEATHER down here in the states, than in snowy conditions in Canada. With the exception of those who live in and drive regional in the Western 11, MOST American truckers RARELY would need to chain up! And by your OWN admission, you'd rather that those inexperienced drivers stay OFF the road when YOU need to be ON it! :roll: So instead of being concerned with the SIZE of our "private parts," I suggest YOU "grow" some perspective..... and maybe "get OUT a bit more!" :roll: :wink: 
#82
01-26-2008, 12:07 AM
I'm not a truck driver (yet) but when you tighten the chain around your tire,do they just tighten around the outside of the tire,or do you also have camlocks (or whatever) on the backside/inside of the tire?
Needless to say I've never messed with them before I live in Southeast Texas,but I want to learn as much as I can about trucking.
#83
01-26-2008, 02:28 PM
Jeremyh...you state "The fact that some drivers don't know how to chain up is out of pure lack of training by their companies". Maybe the reason why the compaies don't train is because they want their drivers to think things over carefully about safety instead of letting the ego run amok and do something stupid. Knowing how to put on the "jewerly" is not learned by watching a training video then going out into a nice sunny day in the company's lot with bare pavement. It takes practice to put them on correctly and drive on them correctly. Most of the time the experience of applying correctly comes in the worse of conditions and then only used for a short distance (over the top of a pass).
Personally as a lady driver, I don't want to know about chaining. I've seen it done in the worse of conditions but don't want to experience it. Trip plan better, watch weather patterns, listen to road reports and other drivers and remember there is no load worth loosing your life or truck over. Dispatchers are usually sitting in a warm, comfy office not lying on their backs in the snow getting a set of chains to tighten on the tire. I'll park it before I need to chain. That shows that I am a properly trained driver and knows her limits. Soladad
#84
01-26-2008, 07:02 PM
Jeremyh said:
Anyways, I don't think I'll convince you but maybe some newbie driver will look to get training from their company or hopefully another driver on how to put on chains.
I managed to escape chaining my first 2 years, but this year I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to. So.... I went to the link someone provided on that other chaining thread, and read the instructions. I would have printed them out, but my ink cartridge dried up. :evil: Anyway, with that and a quick lesson from another driver at the truckstop where we were ALL trying to wait it out, I finally decided I would have to go fer it, since I didn't want to be more than one day late. I can tell you that it wasn't FUN!! Cold, wet, dirty! But yeah.... in a way.... part of the job! I won't do it again if I can avoid it, but if I HAVE to, "it ain't nothin but a thing." Next time, I may bring along a set of coveralls, and a mat of some sort to kneel on! :lol: It still makes me mad though, that they can plow 300 miles of road, but can't clear 8 miles of Cabbage Mtn!! But, I wouldn't have wanted to go down it without them. One guy tried it (illegally) and caused a wreck at the bottom! We sat in line at the top for over 2 hours while they tried to find a wrecker to clear it! :twisted: It took them 2 full days to lift the chain restriction! But, that's how long it took me to drop/load and come back thru! :wink:
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Remember... friends are few and far between. TRUCKIN' AIN'T FOR WUSSES!!! "I am willing to admit that I was wrong." The Rev.
#85
01-26-2008, 07:08 PM
Originally Posted by scania
I'm not a truck driver (yet) but when you tighten the chain around your tire,do they just tighten around the outside of the tire,or do you also have camlocks (or whatever) on the backside/inside of the tire?
Needless to say I've never messed with them before I live in Southeast Texas,but I want to learn as much as I can about trucking.
__________________
Remember... friends are few and far between. TRUCKIN' AIN'T FOR WUSSES!!! "I am willing to admit that I was wrong." The Rev.
#86
01-27-2008, 12:40 AM
O.K. This is what hapens in the real world
The snow gets progressively deeper or the road gets slicker with every truck that spins abit... At some point someone is driving too slow or misses a gear and that's all it takes to spin-out... Now what ? Time for chains, I can throw a set on in 5 min. tops in a hurry and hopefully I haven't screwed up anyone else... If you don't know how to chain up, it's going to take forever to clear the road.... Just think how many trucks are going to have to stop now and chain up... :evil: I load up to 140,000 lbs. Gross If I get stopped half way up a hill ( It's a BIG Deal ) because somebody doesn't "want" to chain or doesn't know how, :roll: They shouldn't drive truck! How do you "know exactly" when you need chains anyhow? I've had to chain up to get out of the yard...
#87
01-27-2008, 04:49 AM
Originally Posted by Soladad
Personally as a lady driver, I don't want to know about chaining. ~chain throwin lady
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The Alaska Highway is my playground! 
#88
01-27-2008, 08:10 AM
Originally Posted by LadyNorthStar
Originally Posted by Soladad
Personally as a lady driver, I don't want to know about chaining. ~chain throwin lady Turns out the lady was from the truck in front of Werner....She was putting the GUYS CHAINS on FOR him...... I'd call that pretty doggone equal.... 
#89
01-27-2008, 02:30 PM
Sweet
 I'd offer to help anyone, anytime.I think everyone gets in a big hoopla over this Canada vs: US chaining thing. Always going on about driving OUT of trouble, not INTO it. It happens, but rarely do people run chains on flat ground. Generally, on the highway, we chain to come up hills, and take them off before we go down. Most people will park before they'll run much distance with chains on the flat. And, generally, is those of us nut bars who are in SUPER B's that are chaining, not 5 and 6 axle vans. Everyone else is flying up hills, and we're stuck throwing iron. When a Super B is empty, we have NO weight on the drives and all drag. When a train is hauling fuel, the fuel sloshes to the back, again no weight on the drives. So no matter the amount of trucks on the road, there are reasons we chain to go. Becase 99% of the time we're just getting up a hill. Makes no sence to stop for that. Better go to a 5 axle if thats your MO. I've chained up 3 times this year in a super b. Thats not bad. Twice was because someone was going to slow and spun out in front of me. Once I spun out empty and only needed 1 chain to get up. I haven't once this year seen a single trailer rig with a set of chains on. Personally, I've never stopped because of a slick road, or any other reason. But the only times I've WANTED to were due to visibility issues. Thats what scares me.
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The Alaska Highway is my playground!
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