Wintery Fun.

Had my first little taste of winter today, it's been raining, sleeting and or snowing today and the temp fluctuated around through out the day, I was a little nervous at first but I kept my cool, increased my following distance and slowed down as needed and kept alert for any issues. Wasn't as bad as it could be but was enough to make me say I'm not a fan, as I shut down for the night it started snowing heavily and now there is half an inch or so on the ground I'm hoping it's gone by morning, if not, well tomorrow will be interesting.

Snow isn't so bad but do be careful, especially of any ice. Don't hesitate to find a safe place to shut down if roads become treacherous.

Winter tip #1:. When parking for the night, roll back and forth slowly to cool your tires.. otherwise, the heat from them can melt ice and snowpack and literally refreeze your tires to the pavement during the night as you sleep.

Winter Tip #2:. Only set your TRACTOR brakes when parking for the night. The rain/slush can cause the brakes to freeze. Feel like laying under your trailer beating them with a hammer to try to get them loose? If your drives freeze they're easy to break loose just by moving. A small torch is useful to have.

Winter Tip #3:. Drain moisture out of your airtanks regularly. Yes most are automatic drain, but it sure won't hurt to take extra precautions.

Snow isn't so bad but do be careful, especially of any ice. Don't hesitate to find a safe place to shut down if roads become treacherous.

Winter tip #1:. When parking for the night, roll back and forth slowly to cool your tires.. otherwise, the heat from them can melt ice and snowpack and literally refreeze your tires to the pavement during the night as you sleep.

Winter Tip #2:. Only set your TRACTOR brakes when parking for the night. The rain/slush can cause the brakes to freeze. Feel like laying under your trailer beating them with a hammer to try to get them loose? If your drives freeze they're easy to break loose just by moving. A small torch is useful to have.

Winter Tip #3:. Drain moisture out of your airtanks regularly. Yes most are automatic drain, but it sure won't hurt to take extra precautions.

Thanks for the tips Susan I appreciate them, I did one I think anyway, I had to move a few times to position the truck to park how I wanted it so maybe that counts? And just did 3, with two I found my truck is on a bit of an Incline and I don't know if I'm just paranoid or what but I'm not sure I like the idea of leaving my tractor breaks the only thing holding me in place, would wheel chocks help here or can I expect some A-hole to steal them?

Also is it weird that when I see a WS truck I think of you? Thats not creepy is it?

I've never yet had problems only setting the tractor brakes, but I don't generally park on hills for the night either. Typically it's fairly level in a truck stop parking lot. Tonight I'm at the Love's in Knoxville, IL. I74 exit 51. 3 other WS trucks are here.. all same model same year lol. It's really cold but also dry tonight so I set the trailer brakes too.

Last winter in Minnesota and North Dakota blizzards I did not set my trailer brakes and was grateful.. the trucks that did were having a heck of a time getting their tandems to roll.. can really screw up tires fast lol. It will cause a flat spot from dragging if not noticed asap. I'll do a little serpentine swerve as I leave to make sure I can see my tandems rolling and not frozen and dragging.

Just had my first wakeup of the season last week.

Cruising along I90 Wis into MN about 8 am. (Standard Costco load so I'm at 78k and change) Dash temp was showing 34-35 Little on and off drizzle. No icing noted on mirrors. Noticed traffic slowing a bit so I ease off cause I was getting a bad feeling. Sure enough just a mile or two on started coming to the wrecks and spin outs. 120 miles, 8 4wheeler wrecks, 4 rigs in the ditch.

Those borderline temps are when things get weird. Watch the bridges and overpasses.

I drove in the snow storm last night/early this morning. It was my first crack at the snow, too. The worst part of the drive was the big hill leading up to, and the street, leading into the DC. Trucks were stuck. I used a different entrance, to get around the stuck trucks. I started to jacknife at the bottom of the hill right before the guard shock. Glad I was only going about 5 mph. A quick tap on the trolley brake and the truck straightened out.

Glad you are safe. Carry a bag of Kitty litter under your bunk, and extra jugs of windshield washer fluid. And isopropyl for the brake lines. (And maybe to pour on the brakes if they freeze?)