Okay, so yesterday I got my first winter driving lesson, normally they dont come so early in the season but this whole year has been screwed up so I didnt expect thing less. I was heading south out of Gaylord and it was 24 degrees and raining ( these two facts will come into play in a minute) and I weighed in at around 74,000 lbs (useless fact but it makes the story more interesting). I was running 60 mph, I get to the first set of S-curves which starts with a curve to the left and I get into the curve and turn the steering wheel and nothing is happening... Physics came into play... Weight, inertia, coefficient of friction or lack of friction, and so on... When my steer tires finally found something to grab onto, my eight drive tires decided to let go of whatever they were holding on to and we fishtailed a little ( in a car this is really not a big deal but I have a trailer behind me and when the tractor fishtails, the trailer is soon to follow), then the trailer fishtailed a little, then all 18 tires decided to grab on to something ( as did my but cheeks when it bit my drivers seat) and we went on down the road. This happens alot in the winter to big trucks when its slippery out... Still want to tailgate us? Cut us off in traffic? Pull out in front of us just to make a left hand turn? People can change a lot of laws but the laws of physics can not be broken... Give us big trucks some room to breathe, or stop, or turn, when roads are good or bad...if Ive got a 1/4 mile between me and the car in front of me, that isnt to let you in, its my braking distance, my comfort zone... We do a job that most of you wouldnt. So ask yourself is getting someplace 30 seconds earlier worth the risk of not getting there at all..
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:22:58 +0000
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