Really Scared

Got a load - 4660lbs picking up in Kansas City heading to York PA. Been monitoring the weather and its not going to be good......talking of strong winds from PA to the east coast. My load is too light for this weather. How would you cope/drive in said weather?

Depends on your skill and comfort level, the speed of the wind, and if it's gusting or steady wind.

I could tell you all about specific wind speeds I'm ok with at certain weights, but that won't really help you. My basic rule of thumb is I'm ok as long as I can keep it in my lane. If I can't keep it straight enough to hold my lane I'm running a pretty serious risk of getting flipped over or hitting someone else in an adjacent lane.

Although I haven't been watching the weather, I am up here now on the 80 in Ohio headed for PA. Currently it's just cold and rainy. I haven't experienced any severe winds. I understand conditions can change but so far it's just another day on the job.

I slow down to 55mph. if still fighting it, then to 45mph. if im that slow and it is still fighting me i park it. no one will criticize you.

i shut down empty in OK this week due to weather. "tennis ball size hail, 50mph winds and 80 mph gusts" was posted on National weather service. uh..yeah ok.

you titled the thread "really scared". you already decided to shut down ...so do it. the more scared the more likely to have an accident. good luck

If it helps any, I just came from out that way and it really wasn't all that bad. Slow your pace a bit and feel what the truck is doing. If you get to a point where you feel it isn't safe, pull over and send in the appropriate messages to let dispatch and safety know why you can't proceed. It's easier to err on the side of caution vs calling in to tell them your truck wanted to take a nap in the median.

Delivered in York, PA yesterday morning. Headed from there to load in NJ. Heading to Iowa now. Most of these trips was on 80. No problems at all, just the NE traffic.

Slow down.

If you still can't maintain, stop or go sliw until you get to a safe haven.

No load is worth a danger to your life.

Got a load - 4660lbs picking up in Kansas City heading to York PA. Been monitoring the weather and its not going to be good......talking of strong winds from PA to the east coast. My load is too light for this weather. How would you cope/drive in said weather?

What I would do here: Let your DM know you don't feel safe hauling that light of a load in that kind of weather. Put that on the QC, that way you will have them by the nuts if they try to pressure you into hauling this load. Or get as far as you SAFELY can and then request the load be repowered, relayed or rescued off of you. Either way you are covering your own rear end out there. Safety above ALL ELSE. Remind your DM of this.

What I would do here: Let your DM know you don't feel safe hauling that light of a load in that kind of weather. Put that on the QC, that way you will have them by the nuts if they try to pressure you into hauling this load.

Now there's a fine line between being careful or being paranoid and panicking, ya know what I mean? First of all, she didn't even get to the weather yet and several drivers have said the weather there wasn't a problem. So no need to jump the gun and start telling dispatch you're preparing to shut down or that you need the load repowered or any of that.

Not to mention, no one said anything about being pressured to drive or anything.

Obviously I get what you're saying but I think that's a bit of an overreaction at this point. I don't think the weather is going to be much of a problem and I don't think there's any need to paint dispatch in a negative light without cause.

Now there's a fine line between being careful or being paranoid and panicking, ya know what I mean? First of all, she didn't even get to the weather yet and several drivers have said the weather there wasn't a problem. So no need to jump the gun and start telling dispatch you're preparing to shut down or that you need the load repowered or any of that.

Not to mention, no one said anything about being pressured to drive or anything.

Obviously I get what you're saying but I think that's a bit of an overreaction at this point. I don't think the weather is going to be much of a problem and I don't think there's any need to paint dispatch in a negative light without cause.

100% correct here. Make sure you TRIPLE check the weather before even attempting to drive that load in the area where bad weather is forecasted. Once getting as far as you can before that point then TRIPLE check again and make sure YOU feel safe before proceeding. If you do, then go for it, if not, THEN let dispatch know on the Qualcomm , right?