Winter is a time of the year, that as humans we have grown to adapt, and can always expect it to happen. Some humans unlike others tend to forget how to prepare for winter, and you usually read about them; see them on TV, and here about them on the radio. I love the weather, I love extreme weather. What I have observed in the most extreme weather is that the most folks also seem to love it too. People seem to get a feeling of invincibility when they get behind the wheel of there 4000 pound, traction controlled, power everything SUV. I see them in the ditch, down the gully, and smashed in to very unrecognizable shapes every day. Wake up America and slow down. God does not care what you do, nor do Mother Nature and Old Man Winter.
The great part about trucking is, if you don’t like they weather that you are currently driving in, drive for about 500 miles, it will change. This has not been the case for Joy and I, or should I say, this has not been the case for America. This winter has blanked the entire USA. All of those silver haired snow birds that migrated to Arizona woke up to a dusting of the very thing that they dislike. Last week we dove over to North Carolina to deliver a load of paper for Procter & Gamble. 200 miles into the state our outside temperature gauge is reading 57 degrees. Wow, could this be true, as I rolled down my window, the heavy musty air poured into the cab of the truck. It reminded me of being in Hawaii. Once we arrived at the RDC (regional distribution center) we were greeted by a very happy security guard. He was dressed in full winter garb. Everything but ear muffs, I think that if he had them he would have had them on. It must have been and interesting site, scrawny white boy in tee shirt next to big over dressed security man. I can only imagine what he must have thought 3 days later when it snowed there.
De Moines Iowa gets snowed in.
Joy and I feel that it is our responsibility to check road conditions of the state that we are currently passing thought. We consult the NOAA web site frequently. Every chance you get, you ask other truckers, listen to the CB and take 5 to watch the weather channel at truck stops. So it was no surprise to us to see snow and adverse driving conditions in the heartland of America. News Flash Iowa, really nasty cold air from Canada is pushing its way into your back yard. The part that makes it really fun is that simultaneously a massive tropical depression from the Gulf of Mexico is going to run into the cold air. Six inches of this wonderfully fluffy snow blanked De Moines that night, and the city had no snow plows. Well none that we saw any ways. The temperature on the dash was reading 14 degrees. This makes for the type of snow that you can not make a snow ball out of. Really Fluffy! Now here is the amazing part, folks that have never seen this stuff were out driving in it, and driving at the posted speed limits, on the freeway.
Smash Boom Bam!
Over the next 24 hours we counted more that 50 vehicle’s off the road. At least one every 5 to 10 miles. Lots and lots of SUV’s too. The best “E” ticket ride that we saw was a Dodge Durango that was traveling a very high rate of speed, lost control, went off the freeway, down into the drainage ditch, up the other side, went airborne, cleared the farmers barbed wire fence and landed on its feet out in the field, at least 75 yards from the road. The most amazing impact that we saw was a band new Ford F-350 Super Duty 4X4 that hit the guard rail with such a violent impact that it removed the entire rear end from the truck. I was driving slow enough to look to see were did the rear end go, no clue.
From high winds in Wyoming, to sub zero temperatures in Texas, this is a winter for not only the record books, but the history books as well. I can’t help but think that secretly Al Gore is pumping his fist in the air in his TV room, chanting “Global Warming is real!” You might have something there, Al.
We are home now, resting up and getting ready to see what February holds for us. Driving a 80,000 pound sled around is stressing enough, but trying to avoid SUV’s and Mini vans filled with children playing games, and giving you the traditional blow your Semi Truck horn, will drive you insane. So the next time you are all out on the highways and byways of our nations roads, remember to leave lots of room between you and those big trucks, please don’t tailgated or cut us off, remember that it takes 90 feet a second to stop in 800 feet going 60 mph.
The great part about trucking is, if you don’t like they weather that you are currently driving in, drive for about 500 miles, it will change. This has not been the case for Joy and I, or should I say, this has not been the case for America. This winter has blanked the entire USA. All of those silver haired snow birds that migrated to Arizona woke up to a dusting of the very thing that they dislike. Last week we dove over to North Carolina to deliver a load of paper for Procter & Gamble. 200 miles into the state our outside temperature gauge is reading 57 degrees. Wow, could this be true, as I rolled down my window, the heavy musty air poured into the cab of the truck. It reminded me of being in Hawaii. Once we arrived at the RDC (regional distribution center) we were greeted by a very happy security guard. He was dressed in full winter garb. Everything but ear muffs, I think that if he had them he would have had them on. It must have been and interesting site, scrawny white boy in tee shirt next to big over dressed security man. I can only imagine what he must have thought 3 days later when it snowed there.
De Moines Iowa gets snowed in.
Joy and I feel that it is our responsibility to check road conditions of the state that we are currently passing thought. We consult the NOAA web site frequently. Every chance you get, you ask other truckers, listen to the CB and take 5 to watch the weather channel at truck stops. So it was no surprise to us to see snow and adverse driving conditions in the heartland of America. News Flash Iowa, really nasty cold air from Canada is pushing its way into your back yard. The part that makes it really fun is that simultaneously a massive tropical depression from the Gulf of Mexico is going to run into the cold air. Six inches of this wonderfully fluffy snow blanked De Moines that night, and the city had no snow plows. Well none that we saw any ways. The temperature on the dash was reading 14 degrees. This makes for the type of snow that you can not make a snow ball out of. Really Fluffy! Now here is the amazing part, folks that have never seen this stuff were out driving in it, and driving at the posted speed limits, on the freeway.
Smash Boom Bam!
Over the next 24 hours we counted more that 50 vehicle’s off the road. At least one every 5 to 10 miles. Lots and lots of SUV’s too. The best “E” ticket ride that we saw was a Dodge Durango that was traveling a very high rate of speed, lost control, went off the freeway, down into the drainage ditch, up the other side, went airborne, cleared the farmers barbed wire fence and landed on its feet out in the field, at least 75 yards from the road. The most amazing impact that we saw was a band new Ford F-350 Super Duty 4X4 that hit the guard rail with such a violent impact that it removed the entire rear end from the truck. I was driving slow enough to look to see were did the rear end go, no clue.
From high winds in Wyoming, to sub zero temperatures in Texas, this is a winter for not only the record books, but the history books as well. I can’t help but think that secretly Al Gore is pumping his fist in the air in his TV room, chanting “Global Warming is real!” You might have something there, Al.
We are home now, resting up and getting ready to see what February holds for us. Driving a 80,000 pound sled around is stressing enough, but trying to avoid SUV’s and Mini vans filled with children playing games, and giving you the traditional blow your Semi Truck horn, will drive you insane. So the next time you are all out on the highways and byways of our nations roads, remember to leave lots of room between you and those big trucks, please don’t tailgated or cut us off, remember that it takes 90 feet a second to stop in 800 feet going 60 mph.
