I love watching the snow blowing from under the truck tires of the truck ahead of us when we travel down the road. Watching the snow swirl and dance under the trailer. And watching the light powdery snow blow from the top of the trailer. It is so neat to watch the snow separating from under the trailer and coming out both sides of the truck.
I love when we are going up the mountains and there is a truck slowly coming down the mountain on the other side. It is the prettiest picture I have ever seen. Especially when it is just around dusk and the lights are on. It is so pretty when the truck has mountainsides and trees surrounding them and they're gliding down ever so slowly with the snow blowing around them.
At Christmas time listening to the radio hearing Christmas music playing, watching out the window at the 18 wheeler's on the roads ... thinking to myself ...
Many times I sat in the kitchen window where we use to live watching the trucks go by thinking of that song.…
Hoping in my heart that each one passing by my window was heading home. And would arrive safely and in time ...
Sounded wonderful when it started didn't it? Pretty as a picture sometimes ... most times, but then there is the down side to winter trucking. Although the scenery is so pretty and there is so much of it to see, it is no fun being out there in the winter months. Wintertime has to be the most stressful time for a driver (trucks and four wheelers alike). The slick roads, poor visibility. Poor drivers who don't know how to drive in bad conditions, cause more headaches and worries then one person Deserves to have in a day. You know the one? The one in a hurry to get where he/she is going not thinking of those around them or what could happen with one minor mistake. Staying calm no matter what you are up against is most important. You have to stay calm. Tension makes things happen ... If I said, it's easy to maintain a calm composure while driving or after an incident ... "I'd be lying" it's not easy, but it is important." Your mind has to be clear for anything that may occur such as unexpected road conditions, severe weather, and reckless drivers. The possibilities are unlimited of what a driver might come up against while driving truck in the winter time.
Driving on Black Ice or any kind of ice can be very scary. We hit black ice twice that I can recall and both times were scary. Traveling East on I-84 just outside Greentown, Pa. we were cruising along not going to fast because earlier there was a light drizzle and we never exceed the speed limit. Seldom do we ever do the speed limit at all when it drizzled on cold days or nights. The same for light snows that quickly change to wet roads because of moving traffic. If the roads are cold and the temps are just right ... the conditions are perfect for freezing roads or black ice.
That night we were traveling East I-84 as I was saying we had just topped the knob and started down the other side when all the sudden the steering wheel seemed to not want to do anything. We did have the jake break on and when we let off the fuel it was silent. We knew we were headed to a very bad situation if we didn't handle things properly. By keeping control of the vehicle, keeping a cool head on our shoulders and by watching our surroundings we were able to keep control of the situation and get stopped safely. Lucky for us we had found out before the worst could happen. We managed to slow it down and worked the truck to the brim of the road where the gravel was and piles of snow had been plowed prior. The truck had almost slowed to a complete stop when we were dragged into one of the snow banks. Small problem because we were able to get out later.
Hubby was yelling back to other drivers at the top of the hill ... hold everyone up. Don't come down this side. It's nothing but ice! The salt truck has not done a thing with this road. Hold them back!
we sat there for a while still passing the word back over the mountain ... don't try to come down the other side. We're sitting here with the breaks on and every so often we slide just a little ... it's that icy down here. About that time we saw head lights coming up over the top ... calling over the radio we told that guy if you can get it off to the side ... get over there and stop. Either he didn't have a radio or he didn't care. Never did find out, but what we do know is he was one lucky trucker!!! Cause while we sat there watching out the mirrors we saw his headlights and then we didn't ... then we did and then we didn't. The fear was setting in now because he was getting closer and he was coming down that hill pretty fast ... spinning in circles.
We sat there in our truck pretty much counting on kissing our behinds good-bye. But it was everything next to a miracle as I had witnessed (besides the birth of my own babies) he went right by us. It was a set of doubles (no joke) it was a set of (I'll leave the name excluded, but if he tells you the story, he's telling you the truth) freight doubles that went by us ... it was amazing what we witnessed and that driver to this day has to still be telling the story himself ... and no one is probably believing him. There was the tractor and two trailers and all three were turning down that hill at the same exact time. Not one of those trailers was out of order. When he reached the bottom (no joke again) he was facing the right direction and just kept right on going. Now as everyone knows that was truly a stroke of good luck or having angels on your shoulders, because he should have lost that all together.
We sat there taking a few deep breaths thanking the heavens for letting him pass by like he did and for letting him get on track safely. Whew!
We're sitting there calling on the radio trying to contact the police, or a base station to get the police on the phone and tell them about the mess out here. No answer, all was quiet. Then a driver from up on the hill shouts down to us "Man watch out, he slipped right around us and he's coming down!" again over the top of the mountain comes more lights. We thought it must be a four-wheeler, but we were wrong .... Here comes another 18-wheeler. Seemed to be doing pretty good, but then all the sudden his lights started doing the same thing as the doubles did, round and round. Man ... his headlights are gone! Where did he go? Did he go over the bank? We can't see his lights what the happened to him? Where did he go! All the sudden he was right smack behind us. We heard him hit the mountainside (stone mountain side) only inches from hitting the back of our trailer. A car would not of fit between his trailer and our own.
The truck was backwards facing up hill, lying on its driver's side. I said, Oh god! Go check on him to my husband. Paul jumped out of the truck in the freezing temps. to check on the driver. The driver was trying to get out of his truck, which was now all busted up. Paul kicked the windshield in on the truck and helped the driver out of the truck. We brought him up to our truck to let him sit inside the cab, because it was just too cold for anyone to be sitting outside or inside the cab of a truck with no heater.
The driver was shaking and he was a wreck. I tried to calm him and then once he was calmed we ask him why in the hell he even tried that? He said he didn't have a radio and he didn't know. Well you are one lucky man because if you had hit us we'd of all gone down over that bank. We called back up the hill to let everyone know that the driver and us were fine. Keep them back
Some shouted over the radio .... I see yellow lights the salt truck is coming. We sat there that night for two hours and 15 minutes waiting for the salt truck. Never did see a police officer that night at all.
The other time we hit black ice was in Salem, Ohio. Once again everything went quiet in the truck and we knew it was bad. We saw the car behind us just popping off the roadways zip ... zip ... zip ... Paul says, I think I missed my turn I have to go back. We went down the road about a mile and found a large lot to turn around in. We got turned around and headed back. There were lights shining in the sky and there was a police car sitting in the road. The officer walked back to the truck and asks Paul if he would do him a very big favor? Block this road with your truck so no one gets through here ... thank you. Paul adjusted the truck so that it was blocking both lanes. People behind us blowing horns, flashing lights finally the officer turned his cruiser lights back on and that settled their behinds down *smile*.
We were empty and I guess once again lucky that we had gotten through there to even turn around. All those cars we saw disappearing were running over the road into fields and ditches because of black ice.
When they finally got the vehicles all out and the road salted really good we continued on down the road. Stopped at a donut shop where we parked the truck and stayed the night. You could not even walk on the ground it was so icy. We ended up in the middle of the winter taking off our shoes and walking inside the donut shop with our socks on to get coffee. That night it was just the four of us ... Paul, Me and the two girls inside the donut shop.
Trucks usually jack-knife in these types of conditions. In icy conditions jack-knifes usually occur with the slightest touch of the breaks. The trailer starts sliding ... sometimes they will pull out of it, but if that trailer reaches a 30degree angle you can pretty much figure it's over. Over not meaning you are dead, but over meaning that you probably won't pull out of it. Re-gaining control is hard to do once it reaches this point. This can happen with a loaded or empty trailer.
So when you are not sure or even have the slightest doubt ... pull it over. Losing a little time is better than losing your life. There is nothing to be ashamed of just because you chose not to run in these types of conditions. Chances are the guy who called you chicken is the guy you'll see in the ditch down the road. Ask us we know ... it's happened three times to us. We've been called chicken because we chose to park it until the roads were cleared, and sure enough we have gone down the road to see that guy laughing at us in the ditch.
Other problems that occur at times out there on the roads for drivers include:
Fuel jells which causes the engine to shut down. Airlines freeze because of water in the lines, which cause the breaks to lock up because you don't have air pressure. Just a case of bad roads can cause problems.
I always make sure he has a snow suit in the truck, gloves, a hat to cover ears and face, a sleeping bag and extra blankets, boots, extra socks, a bag of salt (in case he gets stuck), rubbing alcohol (in case it's a matter of getting ice out of a few lines), dry goods such as crackers, bread, peanut butter, a case of bottled water. I purchased him a small coffee maker, little pots and pans that plug into the lighter. Makes it nice to heat up soups, home cooked food I send along and any thing else he would like to warm up. I even send sterno along. Sterno is heat in a can and makes it nice for cooking and adding heat when the truck won't start. Just don't leave it unattended.
Paul's never been stranded for any length of time (couple hours / half a night), but there's always that chance that he could break down on a back road or in the middle of a bad storm and not have anyway to get to help until day light breaks or another driver comes along to give him a ride. He does have a cell phone, but the signal isn't always the greatest. New York is the worst for carrying a signal.
I would rather send what he may never need and too much of it, then not send anything at all and have something go wrong. I sleep better knowing if something did go wrong he has a way of staying warm through the night until help arrives.
These are the actual photos from the top of the page to give you a better view of how badly this rig was buried. It took all day to dig it out. The snow completely covered the wheels. Buried my car. It was a lot of snow that year (~Christmas 2002~). The dig out in photos is the day after Christmas Dec. 26th, 2002. What a way to spend the holidays.
It was the worst Christmas also. It was our grand daughter's first Christmas and we were so excited the kids were bringing her gram and pap's for Christmas. They arrived and the excitement was short lived. 9:30 a.m. the power went out! It remained out until 11:30 p.m. Christmas evening. It wasn't the greatest day for her first. Joey was disappointed because everything he got from Santa was electronic.
I know there are people who have had worse, but this was our second worst. The first was the year of the great melt down. We got 5' of snow that year and it melted the following two days. Everything flooded. I missed my aunt’s funeral because of that melt down. There was no way out of town. We live in between two mountains up high on the mountains. To get out of town to I-81 you have to climb the mountains. So when it snows or floods all around this little valley, we are stranded until everything is cleaned up. Although some have seen worse ... this is bad for where we are located. We can't go anywhere and he can't go to work .....
In a couple photos’ you can see a pickup truck stuck in the middle of the road, hubby has to make a right hand turn onto Tunnel Street right before that truck. Tunnel Street is also a narrow street. When hubby makes the right hand turn he needs to swing a wide left to make that turn in the bobtail alone.
There are also photo's showing the sidewalk in front of our house and down the street in front of our neighbors homes. Look how deep that snow is! Wow! Need I tell you when you shovel this much snow on a tiny narrow street; there is no place to put it! ALOT OF SNOW let me tell ya!!!
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