Dealing With Wind

What's the best thing to do when you feel like it's dangerously windy when you are driving?

Is it best to stop or better to try to drive out of the wind gusts?

Is wind something to be concerned about? I've seen videos of trucks knocked over by it. But maybe this is rare.

Any general tips for dealing with heavy wind gusts is appreciated.

I’m going to say that if you, as the driver, do not feel safe with the wind, get off as soon as you can and park. Try to park with the tractor facing the wind and at an angle to the trailer for stability.

You can enter “wind” or another phrase into the search bar and get lots of info about driving in wind, including the famous wind speed chart.

Driving safely in high wind conditions depends on many factors. Dry van or reefer? Empty or loaded? How much experience does the driver have in windy conditions? Are other drivers shutting down because of the wind?

When a new driver encounters big wind for the first time, it can be scary. But as time goes on, you will develop a feel for when it’s safe and when it’s not.

G-Town provided this handy chart in a previous post discussing when and when not to shut down based on wind.

Alot depends on your direction of travel vs the direction wind is blowing. If you're driving into the wind or it blowing at your back it's far different than hitting you on the side. Weight of your load also affects it. The chart Zen shared is a great tool but ultimately it's your decision if you should shut down.

One time cutting NE from Peru Illinois up to Aurora I was empty and no joke seen my tandems lift off the ground. That was one of the scariest moments I've had driving. I had no where to pull off so I continued on at a much slower speed and safely got to my destination. After I picked up my 30k or so I had no issue on my 300 miles back to our yard as I was driving INTO the wind though I had trouble maintaining my speed. Last spring there was a day with 50 mph wind gusts out of the west. The load I took to my stores had me going north but I was loaded with about 35k didn't feel it too much. However on my way back I was only doing about 35 or so coming south. Fortunately my backhaul only had me getting hit on the side for about 30 miles. After picking up my heavy load I was able to do 70 back and feel perfectly fine. Packrat talked about his experiences running in wind while doing a Walmart Dedicated account with Crete. Davy has also talked about running the overnight hours when the wind typically dies down more than daytime.

It's all about what YOU feel comfortable with. There will always be people going faster or slower than you. As a wise man (George Carlin) once said : anyone going slower than you is an idiot, everyone going faster is a lunatic. If YOU don't feel safe going pull over at the safest place and COMMUNICATE it to your dispatcher. DO NOT risk your, or the general publics, safety for a load. If YOU don't feel safe that truck doesn't move. A driver legally can not be punished for refusing to run if it would endanger themselves or the general public. A motor carrier will be penalized severely if they coerce drivers to do, as well as if they encourage or allow drivers to violate certain regulations such as driving while ill if it impairs your driving ability.

I always hated crossing east-west or west to east on the I-80, more times than not there were hard side winds blowing thru the plains ughhh. Shut down a few times, because our load was too light, to go thru it. Heavier loads, I proceeded on thru, with my spidey senses ON HIGH lol and drove a tad slower if need be.

Then don't even mention having to park during winter on the I-80 sheeesh lost a lot of time parked due to weather, and usually CRST's warning qualcom messages. We also got stuck at a Love's in Dallas, during that winter snow storm, sat there 10 friggin days, BUT we were bobtail and my mentor saved us a spot right up by the doors bout 40 foot walk lol... Went a bit stir crazy stuck in a truck with a co driver, luckily, we got along well together or who knows hahaha

You'll develop a feel for it over time. There's several threads on here about wind. There's several apps to use to monitor wind speed, direction and forecast.

Also, most trucks have (at least in our fleet) NOAA all hazards weather radio on the stock radio, hit the source or program button til you see WX on the display, then use the up and down scan buttons. I80 and 25 in WY broadcast the windspeeds frequently along both interstates.

There's no hard set rule that I know of because every load and every wind gust is different. The direction is critical as is the decision to shut down BEFORE you get trapped in a high crosswind with an empty or nearly empty trailer.

I routinely haul a 4 to 5k pound load of empty granola bar boxes from Bella Forche SD through WY down to Denver. I hate it. It's essentially empty and I've been shut down on that load for high winds in Bordeaux WY for 3 to 4 days at a time. As was said, I'll run at night a lot because they calm down, bur it's no guarantee. Sometimes worse at night depending on the storm

Thank you for the input, everyone.

For context, a brief but intense storm hit me as I was going west on I-94 near the Montana-South Dakota border.

It only lasted for about 10 minutes, heavy rain and wind gusts meant I had to keep the wheel turned right just to stay straight. I've been through wind a lot but this was the worst so far for me.

North Dakota, not South Dakota

Thank you for the input, everyone.

For context, a brief but intense storm hit me as I was going west on I-94 near the Montana-South Dakota border.

It only lasted for about 10 minutes, heavy rain and wind gusts meant I had to keep the wheel turned right just to stay straight. I've been through wind a lot but this was the worst so far for me.

Like everyone mentioned previously, it all comes down to "it depends on....."

The wind chart is just a tool, one of many that I use to make the Go/No Go decision.

My first year, I was super super cautious in the wind. There was a little bit of blow over fear there.

Now, I have driven in enough high wind situations, in many of the same areas, to know that certain areas are going to be high wind, typically from a specific direction, and that helps making my choice as well. I have spent way way way too many days shut down at that stupid rest stop 16-ish miles east of Laramie with the Lincoln statue due to extremely light loads.

Remember, even if "the numbers mean I SHOULD be ok" and your gut is saying don't go, follow your gut and park it.

I have spent way way way too many days shut down at that stupid rest stop 16-ish miles east of Laramie with the Lincoln statue due to extremely light loads.

Remember, even if "the numbers mean I SHOULD be ok" and your gut is saying don't go, follow your gut and park it.

Yeah that's a poorly set up rest area for trucks. It's at mm 323....10 miles from Hwy 287 and 13 from exit 310 Curtis St.

Laura