Winter Driving

[Rigjockey]

For the young among you I present an "old time" Trucker's Story.......

Waaaaay back when, I wuz hauling bulk milk from farms inna tank truck. This here happened in one of the wust winters in history. Wooly mammoths woulda been wearing longjohns it was so cold an icy and snowy.

Anyways I wuz running a load back frum a farm that was waaaaay out in the bush. I mean bears didn't venture back this far. But all inna day's work for a trucker y'know? Now on about the halfway point they was two very big hills we called the Twin Sisters Of Death they was so steep. As I was comin out from the farm it took to snowin an all, durn near total whiteout. I come to the top of the First Sister an stopped to breathe. Knowin what laid ahead I crammed that ol Jimmy into gear and put both feet onna throttle. Had to be wiiiide open to ever hope to make it over the other side. Hit the bottom of that valley doin' about a hunnert an five or so..... 10 feet of flame out the stacks.... an up the next grade throwin gears wit both hands. Started spinnin about 2/3 from the top., but wuz still movin.

Just as the front bumper touched the top, the ol truck started goin backards. So I just cranked the back end into the snowbank to stop her. Howsomever, that didn't work, she just jack knifed around till I was pointin downhill agin. So I piled the coal on hopin I'd get back up the first slope. But, sure enough I got the same result. Them Sisters wuz true females that night; lead a feller on but slap him to reality just as he thought he's home free.

Anyroads, I spent most of that night goin back and forth, back and forth. By the end of it I was getting pretty damn good at it but was getting bored y'know? Finally, just come daylight, a thought came to me. Just as that ol truck started to stop agin, I yanked the door open, jumped down onto the ground an gave her a push. Dang me if it didn't work..... ol truck chugged her way over onto level ground. Of course by then she was movin so slow I coulda made a far an cooked breakfast an still got back in the cab. Course, fust off I hadda stop an think a minute to figure out whichaway I was pointin by this time.

Long story short, I was soon homeward bound. Boss was some upset cause I was a tad late and wantin to know how's come I burnt up a half tank of fuel on such a short trip. Don't think he really believed me much.

Top it all off, when they took that trailer down to the dairy it wouldn't pump off. Seems that with all that back and forth that milk had churned itself inta cheese. Now whilst they was carvin it outa the trailer some SOB ate some. Danged if they didn't find her to be pretty dam good cheese at that. Don't you know they packaged that up an sold it? Opened up a whole new product line for em. But do you think I got so much as a "Thankyew" outa the deal???? Hayell NO.

Life of a trucker sure is hard by times.

The End..... of this chapter.

Lmao! and choking on a smoke. That is the kind of truck stop stories from way back. No one would ever call B.S. ( and it is) but it was so damned funny and well told.

 

[Southern Fried]

Thankyew......

 

[Southern Fried]

BTW, just in case someone hasn't figured it out, yes, I made this up.

 

[THBatMan8]

I guess Im a little hard on people because of where I work. If you have the "park it" mentality every time the weather turns sour, you won't last a day driving for the Feds.

Tonight my home state is under a winter storm warning. Even if a state of emergency is declared, I cannot shut down. You drive when you're told to drive, or you go home and don't come back. State DOT agencies have no jurictiction to shut down federal vehicles, and they won't even try. Why? If a state of emergency is declared, that's when the Feds get rolling into high gear. FEMA, the military, even the PO. Why the PO? Because the PO is a reserve means of communication if power gets knocked off. Maybe some of you old school people remember what it was like before the internet. Before email and texting, you sent someone a letter if you couldn't get a hold of them through a land line. Hands down, the PO has got to be one of the most under-appreciated federal agencies out there. Everyone wants to contract it out, but what people don't understand is that private contractors don't give a crap about emergencies. They shut down with everyone else.

 

[Injun]

I guess Im a little hard on people because of where I work. If you have the "park it" mentality every time the weather turns sour, you won't last a day driving for the Feds.

Tonight my home state is under a winter storm warning. Even if a state of emergency is declared, I cannot shut down. You drive when you're told to drive, or you go home and don't come back. State DOT agencies have no jurictiction to shut down federal vehicles, and they won't even try. Why? If a state of emergency is declared, that's when the Feds get rolling into high gear. FEMA, the military, even the PO. Why the PO? Because the PO is a reserve means of communication if power gets knocked off. Maybe some of you old school people remember what it was like before the internet. Before email and texting, you sent someone a letter if you couldn't get a hold of them through a land line. Hands down, the PO has got to be one of the most under-appreciated federal agencies out there. Everyone wants to contract it out, but what people don't understand is that private contractors don't give a crap about emergencies. They shut down with everyone else.

The mail wasn't running during Huricane Katrina in the affected areas.

Cell signals still got out, though. So email was possible.

 

[THBatMan8]

The mail wasn't running during Huricane Katrina in the affected areas.

Actually, it was running. Just because the stations aren't open doesn't mean the mail isn't moving.

 

[Hammer166]

I guess Im a little hard on people because of where I work. If you have the "park it" mentality every time the weather turns sour, you won't last a day driving for the Feds.

Tonight my home state is under a winter storm warning. Even if a state of emergency is declared, I cannot shut down. You drive when you're told to drive, or you go home and don't come back. State DOT agencies have no jurictiction to shut down federal vehicles, and they won't even try. Why? If a state of emergency is declared, that's when the Feds get rolling into high gear. FEMA, the military, even the PO. Why the PO? Because the PO is a reserve means of communication if power gets knocked off. Maybe some of you old school people remember what it was like before the internet. Before email and texting, you sent someone a letter if you couldn't get a hold of them through a land line. Hands down, the PO has got to be one of the most under-appreciated federal agencies out there. Everyone wants to contract it out, but what people don't understand is that private contractors don't give a crap about emergencies. They shut down with everyone else.

This is kind of amusing, in that almost all the intercity mail is on contractors already. And I don't care who the hell you drive for, in a state of emergency (which implies travel is likely impossible,) you aren't going anywhere because the highways are all going to be shutdown to ALL TRAFFIC. And the state DOT just happens to be the controlling authority on their highways, with full jurisdiction to shut down all traffic.

 

[Tazz]

This is kind of amusing, in that almost all the intercity mail is on contractors already. And I don't care who the hell you drive for, in a state of emergency (which implies travel is likely impossible,) you aren't going anywhere because the highways are all going to be shutdown to ALL TRAFFIC. And the state DOT just happens to be the controlling authority on their highways, with full jurisdiction to shut down all traffic.

 

[THBatMan8]

This is kind of amusing, in that almost all the intercity mail is on contractors already. And I don't care who the hell you drive for, in a state of emergency (which implies travel is likely impossible,) you aren't going anywhere because the highways are all going to be shutdown to ALL TRAFFIC. And the state DOT just happens to be the controlling authority on their highways, with full jurisdiction to shut down all traffic.

DOT does not have authority to shut down the Feds. That would be pointless as it would defeat the purpose of declaring a state of emergency. If a road is shut down due to weather, Feds must still be able to operate on these roads. Same goes for emergency vehicles.

 

[Tazz]

The post office does not meet the standard of essential services. You will not die without the reams of junk mail being transported nightly. The Fingerhut Catalog and Sears Mailer are not needed when an ice storm is blowing despite what RR Donnelly has told you. Any one that thinks they are deserves the trip into the ditch.


There were no mail men running when the dykes broke in New Orleans. They did not run after the triple storms through Florida that year. Why? Because the State Government shut down their roads.

I have been on I-81 when they shut it down in VA. The Beam Brothers hauling your vaunted Federal Freight was right beside me. Guess he forgot to call the US Marshal to come straighten someone out on that matter.

Now yes Ice Trucks, Supplies, Medicines, Fuels are moved on declared emergencies. That is because the risk to life is greater withholding them than attempting delivery. That is why we get lifting of HOS, weight restrictions, and permitting during declared emergencies.

I have never seen any declared exemption for a mail carrier.

 

[THBatMan8]

As I said before:

Just because the stations are closed doesn't mean the mail isn't moving. Mail moves 24/7/365 to and from the stations.

The PO is essential. As I also said before, it's a reserve means of communication. And the PO hauls a hell of a lot more than just 'junk mail'. You'd be surprised if you found out what else gets sent via mail on a regular basis.

Declaring a state emergency activates different federal agencies to respond, such as FEMA, and they are typically rolling immediately.

 

[Injun]

I worked the disaster area after Katrina. The mail did not go into that area at all for about a week in most places, up to a month in some. It was held in the nearest large hub until it was safe. Hell, some postal codes had the post office washed away with everything else.

I didn't see any mail trucks at the SuperDome.

 

[Duck]

I guess Im a little hard on people because of where I work. If you have the "park it" mentality every time the weather turns sour, you won't last a day driving for the Feds.

Sure ya' will. It doesn't snow EVERY day.

Tonight my home state is under a winter storm warning. Even if a state of emergency is declared, I cannot shut down. You drive when you're told to drive, or you go home and don't come back. State DOT agencies have no jurictiction to shut down federal vehicles, and they won't even try. Why? If a state of emergency is declared, that's when the Feds get rolling into high gear. FEMA, the military, even the PO. Why the PO? Because the PO is a reserve means of communication if power gets knocked off. Maybe some of you old school people remember what it was like before the internet. Before email and texting, you sent someone a letter if you couldn't get a hold of them through a land line. Hands down, the PO has got to be one of the most under-appreciated federal agencies out there. Everyone wants to contract it out, but what people don't understand is that private contractors don't give a crap about emergencies. They shut down with everyone else.

There is absolutely NO USE for the USPS any more. None at all. Feds have any number of means of communication in an emergency. And if they didn't exist for delivering letters, UPS and FedEx would fill the void.
Government agencies have a whole list of radio frequencies that only government agencies are allowed to use. In an emergency, they have no time to wait for snail mail to move on roads that are impassible even if the local cops allow the moron in the 18 wheeler to go around the barricades. If there's a tree lying across a road, the mail man is no more likely to get past it than anyone else. Mail is a non-essential service anyway, even when there isn't a state of emergency. It used to be, before they invented radio.

I got a question for you though ... what would happen to you if you were to use the term "junk mail" around your supervisors?
I've hauled a lot of loads for RR Donnelley. They always have multiple stops at post offices. Every time I arrive at a post office, they ask "whatcha got for us?" and I say "junk mail". Most of the time they laugh & say "there's no such thing as junk mail" but sometimes they get rude when they say it. But they ALWAYS say those exact words: "there's no such thing as junk mail". It's like a mantra to them. Do they hypnotize you during job training and make you repeat those words while watching a spinning spiral or a pendulum?

 

[krelithous]

The post office does not meet the standard of essential services. You will not die without the reams of junk mail being transported nightly. The Fingerhut Catalog and Sears Mailer are not needed when an ice storm is blowing despite what RR Donnelly has told you. Any one that thinks they are deserves the trip into the ditch.


There were no mail men running when the dykes broke in New Orleans. They did not run after the triple storms through Florida that year. Why? Because the State Government shut down their roads.

I have been on I-81 when they shut it down in VA. The Beam Brothers hauling your vaunted Federal Freight was right beside me. Guess he forgot to call the US Marshal to come straighten someone out on that matter.

Now yes Ice Trucks, Supplies, Medicines, Fuels are moved on declared emergencies. That is because the risk to life is greater withholding them than attempting delivery. That is why we get lifting of HOS, weight restrictions, and permitting during declared emergencies.

I have never seen any declared exemption for a mail carrier.

wait that fingerhut catalog can be used as emergency TP . as they think there crap is made of gold

 

[Hammer166]

DOT does not have authority to shut down the Feds.

Let me know next time you plan on pulling into the scalehouse and telling the STATE DOT that you don't have to run a logbook. I want to sell tickets.

Not to mention the fact that technically the USPS isn't the Feds, but a separate freestanding entity.

 

[Duck]

Let me know next time you plan on pulling into the scalehouse and telling the STATE DOT that you don't have to run a logbook. I want to sell tickets.

Not to mention the fact that technically the USPS isn't the Feds, but a separate freestanding entity.

It's only a separate free-standing entity whenever postal workers are trying to say that they're not paid with tax money. Any other time, that much-feared postal worker uniform means they're also sworn Federal Marshalls with guns & can do whatever they want, with impunity.

 

[DubbleD]

wait that fingerhut catalog can be used as emergency TP . as they think there crap is made of gold

I' m still waiting for my 2001 edition to be delivered by USPS.

 

[Duck]

I' m still waiting for my 2001 edition to be delivered by USPS.

Don't make fun of their mascot! They'll send the Postal Inspektors out & they'll haul you off to Gitmo!

 

[Fageol]

Yes. But we don't have diamond-pattern zip chains. We have ladder-pattern cam chains.

The reason laying them out doesn't work as well is we run dual drives and dual trailer tandems where the axles are close enough together you'd be sitting on the end of the chain with your other axle or you'd have to fight with a filthy, nasty mud flap. Truck tire chains are too heavy to try to hold both ends up to clip them. I'd rather drape them before they're on the ground.

I use dual chains (rails) on my tractor and singles on the trailer. Use of rails has fallen out of favor, but I use them so I'm only chaining one axle. In most cases, it is advised to chain the front axle. However, I chain my rear axle because I'd rather beat up my $60 mud flaps than my $300 fenders. DOT doesn't give a crap which tires you chain, as long as the correct number of tires are covered.

It takes me 15 minutes to put on California max chains.

Here's the CA rule. So if doubles or doubles and singles are required, by this chart, the only places for three-railers are on the front sets of drivers:

 

[Injun]

Here's the CA rule. So if doubles or doubles and singles are required, by this chart, the only places for three-railers are on the front sets of drivers:

They've never hassled me about putting them on the rears. I don't think they give a crap as long as they're on. California cops (in my experience) are not as a**l about stupid s*** as Oregon. Even Oregon doesn't care, as long as you're wearin' shoes in the snow.

I don't think it's for us to keep from sliding so much as it's to break up the hard-pack so the scrapers can move it off the road.