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.
9 comments:
And to think, half of your ancestors are from "north of the border. LOL
DOD
You guys really do see it all, that wreck sounds pretty impressive
-Cousin Derek-
Hello to all. I'm at the Iowa 80 Truck Stop, the worlds largest TS, on Super Bowl Sunday. It is 1 degree. I talked to the guy that trained me last night. He was driving in Memphis 2 nights ago in one of this years freak storms. He has been driving big trucks for 9 years. No weather can stop him. If the roads are open, he keeps on trucken. On this night he trucked right into the medium to keep from running over a bunch of cars that were stopped in front of him. No harm done. A wrecker pulled him out and away he went. He did say that he is not going to drive on ice any more. There are guys out there like my trainer who drive for years, in all kinds of weather, with no problems. It only takes one problem for someone to get hurt. If the weather is bad, get off the road. On the brighter side of things we can also drive into places like Jacksonville, FL. 70 degrees and sunny. A nice break from the bad stuff.
Wow, that is amazing. I listen to the CB when it gets really bad. I here allot of supper truckers saying that this is the worst that they have seen in 16 years. West of the Mississippi most of the truckers pull off. But, up in the mountains’, they keep on trucking. I call it the white knuckle express, for Joy and I when those supper truckers pass us. We are off to Atlanta today.
you guys missed out on a pretty spectacular one here in the twin cities, there was a 50 car/truck pile up just south of my apartment, one trucker that was interviewed said he chose to smash into the semi in front of him rather than risk sliding around it and possibly rolling or hitting several cars
Airborne trucks and half trucks?! Sounds better than TV! I should get out more. I rarely see anything like that doing the local gig. Lucky.
Nick
Ok so I thought I had a pretty exciting one but last night they decided to one up me.....
Two semi-trucks crashed head-on Thursday night on 494 eastbound near Robert Street in Inver Grove Heights.
The crash killed both drivers.
Both lanes of 494 were closed until about7 a.m., causing a traffic nightmare in the south metro suburb.
The State Patrol says a westbound semi-truck crossed the median onto an undivided roadway just before 10 p.m., then crashed into a semi-truck headed eastbound.
At least one of the trucks burst into flames after the crash.
I went home from work which is on Robert street at about 7:30 so i missed this one by about 2 hours
Regarding snow in Iowa: Iowa is covered in snow from Dec. through March - about 1/3 of the year. There are hundreds of snowplows in Des Moines. If the weather is really bad (very low visability) they might call them off the roads to keep people from running into them. There is nobody living in Iowa, at least nobody that has spent Dec - March in Iowa, that hasn't seen and driven in a lot of snow. It snows about 3ft worth of snow in Iowa each year. In the southern half of the state it is a bit warmer so some of that melts at times and you will see the grass for short periods of time between snows. In the northen half of the state it just piles and piles until there is isn't any place to put the snow your trying to shovel. I typically have piles of snow 8-10 feet high on either side of my driveway by Feb.
Great post. Looks like you have very interesting information here. Keep sharing such blogs. For more information visit: Trucking Dot Permit
Post a Comment