So today, I got to one of our three stores in Bismarck and it was on fire.
No really. There was a fire. It’s probably in the news. Google it if you care. The only burning question I had was if I could still get behind the store from the other direction and make my drop and hook.
But that’s irrelevant.
No really. It’s irrelevant.
When I left the store I headed east on I94 empty. It’s snowed a bit last night but I didn’t notice anything terrible when I left Steele, ND where I stayed last night. It was cold enough that the fine, powdery snow was just blowing across the pavement and not a sloppy mess.
As I left I got up to about 55 and stayed there. The pavement looked more wet in the city limits than outside so I went slow.
Then as I got out of town it looked dry again, with about a 20mph wind from the north and the powdery dry blowing stuff again. I’ve seen that a million times. it’s usually no big deal. So I sped up to 60 and kept a steady throttle.
About 5 miles out of town, all of a sudden the RPMs spiked and the tractor faced left about 20 degrees. I let off the throttle and counter steered figuring it wouldn’t make a difference and I was screwed. I figure I slid a good 50 yards or so.
I ended up in the left lane even though the wind was pushing me toward the shoulder not the median, which I thought was odd. Out loud. Very loudly. With lots of profanity.
So I got everything straightened out, finally finished cursing, and kept going.
Now at this point everyone in Walmart would tell you, “DUUUUHHHH, you should have done a weather shutdown!”
They might be right. But this is North Dakota in the winter. The **** am I gonna do shut down until June? Nobody ever has an answer for that.
So I slowed down to about 45 and put my four ways on and proceeded between 45 and 50mph.
This little dancing act happened TWO MORE TIMES. Bopping along, spike in RPM, boom sideways. Loud cursing. I saw a Ruan in the ditch and a Wylie flatbed.
It dried up for a while between Jamestown and Fargo, then a few cars upside down in Fargo from the morning commute.
Anyway, I got passed at least 100 times by guys just hauling ass. They must have had great loads on, or weren’t subject to wind, or something.
But running with the four ways on helped.
That’s what’s relevant.