Stressful Day But Could Not Stop....

So I am pulling a load of Conway freight. Most times love it. Do mostly UPS and Conway loads. Light loads. Great fuel mileage. This load I now have is 26,000. Actually one of my heavier loads for Conway. Going west on I 90 at Spearfish SD I jump on us 212 which cuts out about 100 miles of I 90. No problem. 245 miles of nothingness. Make it to Billings MT and get fuel. Get about 10 miles west of Billings and the wind starts up. That's around 435 mile marker or so. Now the fun begins and I swear the wind thinks it's funny and a game. Now remember I only have 26k in the box. According to my steering wheel I should have been doing donuts on the interstate. The heel was turned that far to the left. But the weird thing was every time I got within 5 miles of an exit the wind would stop blowing. So of course I would keep going thinking the wind is done play it's games. 5 miles past the exit here it comes again.

Most experienced drivers know that a wind of 50 mph can overturn a truck grossed out at 80,000. It's scary to think about. By now I am down to 35 mph cause going slow is about the only way to combat wind and not blow over. With all the rocking the truck is doing my brother wakes up and ask if everything is ok. I did not answer and kept facing forward. Finally the wind let's up some and I am able to check local wind conditions with an app I have on my phone called "Radar Now". When I looked at what it said the wind was blowing at I almost cried. Not really but I was not happy to say the least. The wind was blowing out of the west by northwest at 55 mph and gusting up to 66.7 mph. Actually scared the hell out of me. Almost wish I had not checked the weather.

Well made it to Livingston MT and had to take a detour through town due to the wind on the highway which bypasses a very high wind area. Once we got through town the wind died down to 18 mph and I was able to get back up to 65 mph and make it to Deer Lodge MT where I currently am.

Some may ask why I kept moving and did not pull over and I will tell ya this....Sometimes it's more dangerous to stop and pull over than it is to keep going. Pulling to the shoulder would have been bad cause other traffic might hit ya and the wind could still turn you over sitting still. That is 100 miles of some really tough driving conditions I don't mind saying.

I have ddriven in some crazy scary weather including zero visibility sand storms and whiteout snow storms. I have driven 8 hours on a 156 miles long stretch of road cause it was solid ice at 16 mph. I even have you tube vids of driving on a section of I 278 in New Jersey that was solid ice and rough as hell. Snow plows would not even get on the road. But one thing I hate and never fool around with is wind. In my personal opinion wind is the most dangerous weather condition out there and that's including hail and lightening. Wind scares the hell out of me cause I have seen the aftermath of what straight line winds can do.

So yea today suck big time. Knowing what I know now if I had to do it all over again with the same weather conditions.....well the Flying J in Billings would have an extra truck in it tonight. Tomorrow should be better and should reach Renton Washington by 11am. Having to sit here in Deer Lodge until midnight case my brother only has 17 miles left on his 70 til tthen.at midnight our hours start coming back and we should be good for another week or so running recap on our logs.

I'm with you, Guy....I'll take anything before I'll drive in wind. The truck that got blown off the bridge over the Columbia River was not that far from here...the wind wind really romps when its comin' up the gorge....

If you want to see what wind can do, check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw

Ernie

If you want to see what wind can do, check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw

Ernie

and the worse part about the Tacoma narrows bridge, was that the wind was only blowing about 30-35MPH..it was the oscillation that cause it to sway like that..

If you want to see what wind can do, check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw

Ernie

and the worse part about the Tacoma narrows bridge, was that the wind was only blowing about 30-35MPH..it was the oscillation that cause it to sway like that..

My point for sharing this video is that it all started with just a little bit of wind.

Ernie