HOW do big rig drivers do it?

[Jumbuck]

We were coming home from Lansing the other night and the roads were greased ice. I mean it was slippery and we were empty. I was puckered up doing 40 mph! Even other cars were going slow in this snow! (Which is unusual as seeing 2 unicorns mate)! Now, here comes all and I do mean all the big rigs in the left lane and I swear they were doing at least 65 mph!
My question is...How in the HECK do they stay on the road? I know the rigs are ARE heavier than Sprinters but no matter HOW heavy they are they can and do slide off the road. I've tried to figure out if its because they are super experienced drivers able to handle anything or if they are super in-experienced and don't know any better. but what I can't understand is that you rarely see one off in the ditch.
It puzzles me that they ALL do it. I don't mean to cut too fine a point on this but I could understand if only once in a while you might see one driving like that, but they ALL seem to do it! Am I missing something! Please give me your views on this.
Thanks...Jumbuck

 

[usafk9]

They're lucky, I suspect.

I-65 on Thursday night and I-74 and I-57 yesterday netted different results. I saw at least 12 trucks off the road, with four of them on their side.

I was chided on the CB for driving 30 in the slow lane with my 4-ways on. Made my 'living room real big, and it gave me plenty of time to react when an exiting four-wheeler in front of us did 2 complete 360's before regaining control and finally exiting the ramp.

Insert "foolish" or "stupid" for lucky, perhaps.

I'm still here, truck still in one piece.

 

[jjoerger]

The smart ones are parked somewhere safe.
The ones you see driving on ice will eventually pay the price for there actions.

Posted with my Droid EO Forum App

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I seen 4 rigs ditched in a 35 miles stretch on 65....they go off more then you think....

 

[mjmsprt40]

I had occasion to drive South on I-57 Thursday. Nobody sane was trying to speed, half the time we were in white-out conditions due to blowing snow. I did see a couple of rigs on their sides, and one pick-up truck towing a trailer had lost it and ended up in the median. Special note: It takes a special kind of stupid to get out on a day like Thursday with a pick-up truck towing a large trailer. The wind grabs the trailer and the pickup just isn't heavy enough to keep command of the rig. Get a heavy cross-wind, a bit of glazing from blowing snow and maybe a little too fast for conditions and you lose it.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I had occasion to drive South on I-57 Thursday. Nobody sane was trying to speed, half the time we were in white-out conditions due to blowing snow. I did see a couple of rigs on their sides, and one pick-up truck towing a trailer had lost it and ended up in the median. Special note: It takes a special kind of stupid to get out on a day like Thursday with a pick-up truck towing a large trailer. The wind grabs the trailer and the pickup just isn't heavy enough to keep command of the rig. Get a heavy cross-wind, a bit of glazing from blowing snow and maybe a little too fast for conditions and you lose it.

Southbound on 65 was bad as well.....the wind from the west was blowing snow into the right lane...slicker then crap in that lane....northbound it was the left lane that was slick...

 

[westmicher]

Speaking from experience, an 18 wheeler that is near maximum weight is very stable on relatively flat roads, so long as no emergency requires the brakes be used aggressively.

Howeverm an 18 wheeler, regardless of weight, on hilly or mountainous roads can be very hazardous.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Speaking from experience, an 18 wheeler that is near maximum weight is very stable on relatively flat roads, so long as no emergency requires the brakes be used aggressively.

Howeverm an 18 wheeler, regardless of weight, on hilly or mountainous roads can be very hazardous.

Then that 4 wheeler or another truck pulls out to pass doing 45 when you are doing 65....and it is game over....

 

[Turtle]

They're SuperTruckers, and I don't have a problem telling them so on the CB.

 

[redytrk]

I was chided on the CB for driving 30 in the slow lane with my 4-ways on.

Life is so much better since I threw the CB out the window. I do it my safe way and they can go to h*ll.

 

[layoutshooter]

I see them 'Super Truckers' in the ditches and on their sides all the time, LOTS of them. They kinda look like a dead dinosaur laying there.

 

[Rocketman]

They're SuperTruckers, and I don't have a problem telling them so on the CB.

I got caught in one of the snow storms we had last year. I was coming out of KS up through KC and into IA. It was ice in KS, then turned to snow..about 4-6" on the road. I was doing fine, they had plowed the right lane but the super truckers would pass in the left lane where the snow was 4-6" deep. I guess is was light, powdery snow or something but when they went around, it would totally blind me just like white out conditions. It was scary. I would go a LONG ways before I could see past the end of my hood again. I tried slowing down when I could see them coming, I tried everything I could think of. At one time there was two trucks running nose to tail (I guess the second truck was staying tucked up behind the 1st one close enough to not get blinded). I thought the second had me. I was really surprised he didn't jackknife and take me with him when he jerked the wheel to avoid rear-ending me. I finally got through KC and parked it.

The next morning as I headed out, I saw several trucks on their sides in the ditches and had to wonder how many of those guys did nothing wrong (the snow wasn't hard to deal with at all), they just got blinded by the idiots running 65-70 mph in a snow storm.

That morning, the roads had been plowed but the snow had blown into the left lane...basicly same situation developed again. I had seen enough though. I watched for the next super trucker and waited til just before he was going to pull out to pass and I went to the left lane and threw the same wall of snow up for HIM to deal with. Amazingly, he never passed..lol. I went back to the right lane after a while and here comes again. I went back to the left lane and turned the cb on this time. He was cussing me out for blinding him and he couldn't pass. He got a real good earful from me and didn't try to pass again. I pulled into the next rest area and let the idiot go on by.

 

[Jumbuck]

WELL SAID! WELL SAID!
Jumbuck

 

[vanman10]

Nope, trucks go off the road all right. I just happened to mention to my fiancé yesterday that I could not believe how many trucks I have seen off the road lately.

 

[marknolen]

These drivers are unexcusabley self centered reckless that have no care for anyone else on the road but themselves. One night I was out driving doubles for a company called R&L Carriers, it was slick as all get out, and the "responsible" drivers had pulled up to around 40mph like you did the other night. These 3 came by a long line of us that had slowed down and I guarantee you they were doing every bit of 65mph. About 30 minutes later we all that had slowed up came up on these 3 irresponsible drivers and they "all" were wrecked pretty badly, off in the field and in the ditch. I'm sure they all lost their jobs if they lived through the wreck. No that is not experience, when your to stupid to slow down on ice regardless of how big a truck you drive. Hell I have fallen on my butt just walking on ice. Stupid and irresponsible people in every walk of life.

 

[Jumbuck]

AGAIN, well said! Apparently us expediters have a lot more sense than the super truckers!

 

[ebsprintin]

On snow weight does matter. There is a reason why bobtailing is the most dangerous configuration of tractor trailers. A fully loaded semi can go places and at speeds that my sprinter couldn't attempt to try.

On ice everyone is in the same boat, except that a heavy semi will get stuck farther into the mess.

eb

 

[cableguymn]

We were coming home from Lansing the other night and the roads were greased ice. I mean it was slippery and we were empty. I was puckered up doing 40 mph! Even other cars were going slow in this snow! (Which is unusual as seeing 2 unicorns mate)! Now, here comes all and I do mean all the big rigs in the left lane and I swear they were doing at least 65 mph!
My question is...How in the HECK do they stay on the road? I know the rigs are ARE heavier than Sprinters but no matter HOW heavy they are they can and do slide off the road. I've tried to figure out if its because they are super experienced drivers able to handle anything or if they are super in-experienced and don't know any better. but what I can't understand is that you rarely see one off in the ditch.
It puzzles me that they ALL do it. I don't mean to cut too fine a point on this but I could understand if only once in a while you might see one driving like that, but they ALL seem to do it! Am I missing something! Please give me your views on this.
Thanks...Jumbuck

Start engine.
Stop Brain.
Hammer down!

While they handle better at speed. Ice makes um 80,000 bullets. But hey, they have a deadline to make

 

[mjmsprt40]

I saw a video clip the other day concerning the Battle of the Bulge. Tanks were trying to negotiate a downhill grade and slipping pretty bad in the snow. You'd think a tracked vehicle that weighs as much as a Sherman or a Tiger tank could handle the snow, but-- nope, they were sliding, and-- important point-- slowing and revealing their vulnerable sides to the enemy.

Now super-trucker thinks he can do 65 in a snowstorm, with patches of glaze forming on the pavement, in heavy cross-winds. Uh-huh, riiigghhht. All I ask, is, please don't lose control next to me. I like living and I want to keep doing it.

About the deadlines-- we in expediting have them, too. However, the cargo won't get there at all if I'm on my side in a ditch because I was going too fast for conditions, or even going at all when it gets that unsafe.

 

[BigBusBob]

Since it does not look like any 18's commented... I will. How do they manage to stay on the road? well, let's look at the Biiig picture. More tires, more brakes, more weight. More gears,

and as far as experience is concerned...
that's just something one gets right after they needed it.

You sit up higher, you can let off the pedal in an 18 and slow down a good bit quicker than you can in a straight truck due to the weight. There's a good bit more training involved in driving an 18 wheeler than there is in driving a straight truck. and I mean this in the nicest way possible... but- 18's will often use their CB's and communicate with one another much more than straight trucks and expediters in vans. Especially in severe weather conditions.
And it may seem like we're going fast, but in reality- often times in severe weather (like really bad rain and/or bad snow/ice conditions that limit visibility) we're going slower for our size vehicles. So, to come up on a straight truck doing 25 or 30 and we're truckin' along at 40 MPH, then yes- get over! We're not trying to run you off the road- we're simply doing our job of trucking... just like an expediter with 4 tires or 6 or 10 tires.

We're not super truckers, we're not pushing our limits of our luck. We're larger, and have more gears to grab, and more brakes to help us out. Just like anything else- even expediters- there's a select few cowboys that can make the whole group look bad.

Don't knock it until you've tried it. it's not easy, it takes some serious concentration to control that wagon that's wiggling behind you on ice. turning isn't bad- but when you see an 18 trying to back into a spot in a crowded truckstop- it's as tough as it looks, even for veterans. Give us room, we give you room. and vice versa.

Ok, I feel better now. Hope this helps you understand our driving patterns. an 18 wheeler is much more vehicle than a straight truck, even a straight truck that's decked out. and then add in that the stinker bends in the middle!!!

BigBusBob.