Winters are not fun when you are a trucker

Just found these videos on YT, pretty shocking to be honest, filmed as it it happened.
People have to drive as if the wheels are not turning they are not earning, so they take chances, especialy when their dispatchers are breathing down their necks telling them to get moving, to deliver that load.

youtube.com/watch?v=00-Id-mXtUM#t=22.071333

youtube.com/watch?v=q8RwzqIzFeQ

youtube.com/watch?v=7iEX9Kx2-jE

youtube.com/watch?v=7iEX9Kx2-jE

Nothing to do with taking chances .
Take it slow you’ll get through , just uneducated fools driving beyond their means .

If I’m not mistaken, someone posted here, not long ago, that Bison push drivers to keep driving , not matter what road conditions, and that dispatchers at Bison get very upset when you tell them, road conditions are bad, and you need to wait for some improvement.

hkloss1:
If I’m not mistaken, someone posted here, not long ago, that Bison push drivers to keep driving , not matter what road conditions, and that dispatchers at Bison get very upset when you tell them, road conditions are bad, and you need to wait for some improvement.

So Traffic clerks are the same over the pond then :imp:

hkloss1:
If I’m not mistaken, someone posted here, not long ago, that Bison push drivers to keep driving , not matter what road conditions, and that dispatchers at Bison get very upset when you tell them, road conditions are bad, and you need to wait for some improvement.

the trick wae Bison is to play them at there own game …ie safety is #1 …and safety is #1. if dispatch is ■■■■■■■■ just .stop use your phone to photograph conditions and send to “Adolph” in the safety office and say you are shuting down due to weather/road conditions.then qualcom dispatch and tell them. NOw don’t be doing this every time it snows use your head and watch other companies pulling over.(forget about watching the wraparound Stetson users ). info from a friend.

That huge pile up ,not one death :open_mouth:

Albert1:
That huge pile up ,not one death :open_mouth:

Apparently there were 2 dead

My company have a rule, if you feel like stopping do so, they would rather the load got there late than not at all. I have only stopped once due to a blizzard and when I phoned them they were fine with it. Vermont roads are terrible in winter, they do not spread road salt until there are serious accidents or delays.

Winter can be nasty for sure , it’s knowing when to push on or pull the curtains . My lot would rather we get there than not and pay us to park if we feel it’s warranted , dispatch will never hassle us to move the load . I parked once last year running empty between Portage and Winnipeg because the truck was steering itself and my attempts were futile(worst piece of road in Canada IMHO) . Down to common sense , if you’re not comfortable park up before you become a hazard to yourself and others . Winter certainly has its moments from hell but it’s not bad all the way through , day after day .

flat to the mat:
Winter can be nasty for sure , it’s knowing when to push on or pull the curtains . My lot would rather we get there than not and pay us to park if we feel it’s warranted , dispatch will never hassle us to move the load . I parked once last year running empty between Portage and Winnipeg because the truck was steering itself and my attempts were futile(worst piece of road in Canada IMHO) . Down to common sense , if you’re not comfortable park up before you become a hazard to yourself and others . Winter certainly has its moments from hell but it’s not bad all the way through , day after day .

^^^this^^^
On the turnpike job we have to stop by law as soon as a travel not recommended advisory is issued.

Not all do though, the drivers are usually very easy to spot in the snow, if you get my drift…

flat to the mat:
Winter can be nasty for sure , it’s knowing when to push on or pull the curtains . My lot would rather we get there than not and pay us to park if we feel it’s warranted , dispatch will never hassle us to move the load . I parked once last year running empty between Portage and Winnipeg because the truck was steering itself and my attempts were futile(worst piece of road in Canada IMHO) . Down to common sense , if you’re not comfortable park up before you become a hazard to yourself and others . Winter certainly has its moments from hell but it’s not bad all the way through , day after day .

This is spot on, I’m just starting my 10th winter here now and prob parked up for 5 or 6 days total in that time.
I’ve never chained up and never will, I was told by 2 old Canadian drivers with about 80 yrs exp between them, that if it’s bad enough to chain up, then park up, ■■■■ the company and load, it’s better to lose money than your truck and load and maybe your life.
That prairie in MB & SK is brutal for ice.
I’ve never gone over the Coquihalla in the winter, always went through the Fraser Valley and never got held up that way.

youtu.be/hvhRHiskRIc , when the sh*t hits the fan . I was first on the scene last Feb in MB to something similar , first guy I found had no nose , a broken neck and eleven broken ribs , and so it went on . Tends to focus the mind on safety ,and yes it still haunts me .

Where are you based FTTM, are you in Manitoba?

The worst thing about winter driving is that not matter how careful and safety conscious driver you are, someone else might not be, and you can be wiped off the road because some other drive thought it was OK to overtake where he shouldn’t, lose control of his vehicle when speeding, etc:

youtube.com/watch?v=JpIimImniuc

youtube.com/watch?v=Zg8Iec-uG_c

Manitoba :unamused: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: , no way Jose . Saskatchewan , aka Gods country the land of the living skies . (dons tin hat :wink: )

I don’t mind throwing on some chains if it’s just for one hill and I can take them off and keep going when I get over the top. But I’m never going to be chomping about with them on all day at 15 mph. The thing that gets me parking-up in bad weather is the windscreen wipers. With certain types of snow, they soon turn into swishing blocks of ice with about an inch of scree getting cleaned off. I soon get fed-up with stopping and cleaning them.

^^^ Heated wiper blades , available from CTS Winnipeg .

I don’t know if you have them over there but up here the Volvo’s and Scania’s have heated windsreens.Ok,they are expensive but they help a hell of a lot.
We drive about at between 60-70 kph with chains on without any problems as long as the ice\snow is thick enough.

Not just the windscreen, on these Volvos as soon as it gets a bit wet out the mirrors and side windows become opaque within minutes and with no headlight washers it soon becomes very hard to see when it’s dark outside, which it is for a lot of a shift in winter. Not so bad in the prairies as they don’t really treat the roads, but in ON and BC it’s a right PITA. You use more screenwash than diesel some days!

Thanks for the tips; but I don’t think my boss will go for any of that stuff. I haven’t enough faith in snow chains to take them over 20 kph. To many times they have thrown themselves into the scenery and I’ve had to mend them with the padlocks from the trailer boxes.
Headlights are a problem but I also worry about the rear lights when driving in falling or blowing snow. All to often they will get covered with snow; especially LEDs that don’t have heat to melt it. If I stop to clean the screen, I always clean the trailer lights first and hope that anybody who is following my tracks doesn’t plough into the back of the trailer.

T

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Got pulled over by DOT in a storm last year because my rear hazmat placard was covered in snow , oh really :unamused: , full level one inspection and sent on my way . Jobsworth ginger ■■■■■■ .