Slowing down is good advice. Make sure that you allow plenty of room between you and other vehicles on the road. Remember, it is very easy to jackknife on icy roads. Keep off the brakes as much as possible. It is much easier to do when your speed is down. It is also a good idea to keep plenty of fuel in your truck in case you get stranded like many did on I-90 the last day or so. You don't want to take a chance on running out of fuel if the roads are shut down and you need to idle. (I wonder if NY was writing tickets for idling during this shut down?). I would also keep some drinking water in the truck and some food. You can keep some food in the truck even if you eat out most of the time.

One other thing. If you become uncomfortable with road conditions, I would find a place to park until the roads become clear. No matter what dispatch says, you are the one who is on sight and know the current road conditions where you are located. It is better to be late than not arrive at all. Most loads can be rescheduled. If you wreck the load may not arrive at all.

 

Question for those that know more than me;

What about modern engines that make peak torque at much lower RPM's? Should you still lug in a higher gear?

I've always just tried to go by feel. Feel the road surface, feel the engine, feel what the truck wants to do & respond very gently. Look ahead to see what's coming, speed up if it's an uphill, slow down for a curve or downhill.

I always chain at the first opportunity & go as slow as possible.

One of our drivers got fired this week for losing half his chains & getting towed out of the ditch twice, all while being wildly off route (For those of you that know Nor Cal, he was trying to get to I5 from Quincy via Hwy 49). His explanation was that he didn't have cam lock chains & the old style never stay on. He thought it was OK to call a wrecker (twice) without calling the boss or dispatcher. He still thinks he should be paid for the replacement chains he purchased (at an outrageous price, again without calling anyone) but never bothered to install & is threatening to take the co to court for the money, never mind the scraped up fuel tank, torn up quarterfender and mudflap.

This is the second time he's been fired. The first one was for being in an accident, off route in the snow.

Aint no cure for stupid.

 

It sounds like this guy hasn't got enough common sense to drive a truck. This is why it would be a good idea for carriers to charge drivers a bond. It is hard to believe that he called a wrecker twice and didn't even bother to call the company to get permission. He should have to pay for the wreckers himself. And he should also not be reimbursed for buying chains that he bought on his own. He may have sold the old ones.

The scary part is to think that there are drivers like him among us.

 

Having drivers put up a bond? That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Maybe we should have drivers buy separate insurance in case they have an accident and are determined to be at fault.

 

You know, I could just about make a case for that.

And I once again agree with GMAN on another point he makes. It's darned scary to think about the drivers we have out here today. When I last drove back in the 70's & early 80's it just wasn't like this as far as the quality of drivers is concerned.

I could speculate a bunch about the changes, but a forklift driver had an interesting take yesterday while we were having this conversation. He feels that drug testing actually drove a lot of good drivers out of the business. He was saying that there were a lot of good drivers that just liked to party a little when they were off, that quit driving & went to work in mills or construction jobs where they wouldn't get randomed.

After thinking about it for a bit, he may have a point.

 

Actually, I think it would be a great idea. Someone mentioned it not too long ago. You have never owned trucks or had drivers. If you had, you would understand why it is something that carriers and owners might want to consider. While some drivers take good care of equipment, there are others who will abuse the equipment assigned to them and steal from their employers. It might help reduce some of those losses if drivers knew that there were consequences and that they would have to pay if they steal or abuse their equipment. It would not affect honest drivers since they would get any money put into a bond back when they left their company.

 

The Ol 49'er goes no where near Quincy and it is does not intersect with I5. Want to try and get this story straight?

 

I thought this was a board for driver's not companies. Nevertheless, your idea is probably not applicable to our industry on a driver by driver basis. I say this because if it was Werner, Schneider, Swift, etc. would have implemented it a long time ago.

Bonding in industries with the potential for high theft is done by the Company. The Company submits a prospective employee to a bonding company. The bonding company does it thing, and says yeah or nay that the person is bondable. In the event of employee theft, the Company "can" submit a claim to the bonding company. I emphasize can, because the Company is reluctant to submit claims because their coverage costs go up, and eventually they can't get bonding. Anyways, say the employee rips off the company and a claim is submitted, then the Company is made whole by the bonding company. The bonding company then tracks down the thief for recovery.

Typically, you will see in some job announcements that candidates must be bondable. That means the candidate must have a relatively clean background that the hiring company's bonding company will accept. It does not mean the employee is going to pay the bonding costs.

I had to be bondable to get a night shift clerk job with Circle K when I was in college. In certain industries it is routine.

I have hauled bonded loads. But that is strictly between the company, the shipper, and the receiver.

If you want to go into Performance and Payment Bonds in contracting I can get really long winded.

Thanks,
GG

 

we went from Winter Driving to bonding Oh well it's all truckin.

 

Nothing like seeing the carnage the day after a big snow storm. A regular, "What Were They Thinking." I slow down, slow down some more, and then stop. It's hard enough doing this job. Banging along in a night time blizzard with 2-feet of visibility makes absolutely no sense. Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Big Lots can wait 12-hours for their next load of Chinese scrap.