An Unexpected Slide


I had a truck slide towards the inside of a curve once.

Iowa. Northbound I-380 where it curves left to go underneath US20 then join it.

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I was on solid ice doing about 15 mph with a very light load.

The curve was banked and I wasn't going fast enough for centrifugal force to compensate for the tilt. All tires except the steers let go at the same time and I slid sideways from the right lane down the slope until the tires hit the crunchy ice on the hammer lane rumble strip that had been built up by the plow trucks.

I came to a dead stop, then the truck didn't want to move forward until I hit the PDL. I kept the trailer tires just inside the rumble strip until I was through the curve, then I gently crossed over to the granny lane and rode down the rumble strip to the Flying J exit.
I've had to use the rumble strip to get traction before, otherwise I'd have slid backwards down the hill.
 
My most memorable truck sliding moment was several years ago in Little Rock, AR. I pick up a set of doubles, and started to make my way back to South Arkansas with them. Crossing over the river on 440, it was extremely icy, because 440 and 530 in Little Rock is all basically bridges.

Traffic was creeping down 440 after topping the bridge. I had to very carefully bring my set to a stop. I succeeded. About that time, here comes Fed Ex behind me, unable to stop. He bumps my rear trailer, and sends both of us sliding down to the bottom. Not sure how, but it was like a simply slid sideways, with everything staying in line. Once at the bottom, put the truck in gear and motored on toward the 530 exit. Even Fed Ex came out of it unharmed.

Got on the 530 exit, and things went really bad for me. I slid to the wall. I would take back off, basically at an idle, would make it a little ways, and then back to the wall I would go.

Picture this ,the wall is basically nothing more than the height of a Jersey wall, so the drivers seat was firmly sucked up inside my ass cheeks.

After multiple bumps into the wall, I was around the curve and making my way downhill and completely under control at that point.

Arkansas State Trooper watched everything. He watched Fed Ex hit me, followed me around the 530 exit ramp, and then maneuvered past me with the "thumbs up" out the window.

Somebody yelled out on the radio a couple minutes later that the river bridge was being shut down until some salt trucks could get there. That was a bit funny because the entire area was frozen a few hours earlier when I was bringing my empty trailers up to U.S. Foodservice to get them loaded. It took that long for someone to realize it was time to get the bridges treated.
 
My most memorable slide involved a little old lady and a Chevy chevette I owned.

the streets were solid ice. I braked and you could feel the car following the curb down the street as it was sloped.

lady had pulled out of a gas station and stopped for traffic.

someone called police and they showed up, she wanted it reported for insurance etc since it popped her back window on her minivan.

she sitting in front. I’m sitting in the back of the cop car.

“I accept full responsibility officer. I never should have pulled out in front of the other car so quickly….”

officer looked in the rear view mirror….

“ you got anything to say?”

19 yo me learned at that moment when it’s time to shut up…

“no sir… here’s my license, registration and insurance for your report.”
 
I've had to use the rumble strip to get traction before, otherwise I'd have slid backwards down the hill.
I did that slip backwards down the hill thing you talked about. It was in the winter of 2012 and I was returning to Anchorage with joints -- 90+% of the time the rigs running between Anchorage and Fairbanks are doubles (generally a LWB tractor and two 45-foot trailers and a 2-axle dolly. From Fairbanks to the base of that hill, the Alaska DOT made the highway nice and brown. But to my surprise, the road was no longer brown at the base of Skinny's, a tough pull going south. The approach to that hill is a long downgrade and there's no room to pull off to chain-up. Near the top I burned out. After sliding down the length of my rig (120') the rear axles of the tail trailer slid off the road; that stopped the slide. But during that brief backwards journey I was busy trying to keep the joints straight on glare ice. That they stayed relatively straight was most certainly 99+% luck. After I got stopped I hooked some 8mm studded chains to my rear drivers. Then I flip-flopped up to the crest of the hill, pulled the chains, and putt-putted back to the big city (in Alaska, that's Anchorage). My set looked much like that pictured except there was a 45' can as the tail trailer. And that damn can had 30K in it. Heavy (like over 20K gross) tail trailers tend to cause trouble in winter. Obviously, I had more weight in the lead trailer (that's the law and it makes sense even if there were no law) so I had plenty of driver weight. But when traction goes, thrills are the order of the moment. I was driving a mate to that tractor, 550 hp 6NZ, 18 speed, lockers. And the next picture explains the name of the hill. That roadhouse has been midway up that hill for the best part of 70 years. In the 1980s Dick used to throw down a good burger. But nowadays, the new owners just cash on on the name with booze, a bunch of t-shirts, and junk. Somehow I don't miss those 720-mile Anchorage - Fairbanks - Anchorage turns 4 nights a week.
 

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