Tag: truck driving in snow

Cold Weather Safety Tips For Truckers!

Posted on November 2, 2021 by - driver safety, Driver safety improvement, driving in severe weather, winter weather

The holiday season is approaching, which means the temperature outside is dropping fast throughout the country.

As these temperatures continue to fall, it’s important to be prepared for difficult driving conditions. 

Here are some tips and tricks to help keep you safe and warm this winter!

Keep Proper Supplies At Hand 

In case you find yourself stranded in the cold, it’s important to have the proper supplies to keep you warm and get you back on the road.

Here are some important supplies to keep in your cab that may help you this winter:

  • Extra coats, jackets, and gloves
  • Spare Blankets
  • Jumper Cables
  • Snow scrapers
  • Flashlights

Inspect Your Vehicle Before You Head Out

Freezing temperatures can often be harmful to your truck and cause further issues. Because of this, it’s important to give your truck a quick inspection before you head out so you don’t find yourself stranded and cold on the side of the road later!

Check your tire pressure, engine oil, antifreeze levels, and any other parts of your vehicle that you may be wary of. No one knows their truck better than you do!

Avoid Black Ice If You Can

Black Ice is a layer of ice that forms on top of roads and is often hard to detect. Hitting a batch of this ice can result in your tires spinning or skidding across the road.

If you hit a patch of black ice, don’t panic! Instead of mashing down on the brake and locking up your tires, try to keep the steering wheel straight and don’t hit the brake. Only make subtle turns until you pass the patch of ice, or else you could find yourself spinning out of control.

Black Ice is typically seen in the early morning and late evenings when the sun isn’t shining directly on the road. So, if you’re on the roads at this time, try to keep an eye out and avoid driving over it if possible! 

If you think Black ice may be around, give yourself some extra space between other vehicles just in case they don’t see it and lose control!

Stay Safe And Bundle Up!

Everyone here at ExpressTruckTax wishes you safe travels during the upcoming season. As the demand for food and gifts skyrocket, we wish safe travels to all of our truckers out there!

Thank you for all that you do to keep this country moving forward!

How To Safely Navigate Winter Trucking

Posted on February 15, 2021 by - Winter driving

If you’ve been on social media this week, you’ve probably seen the scary footage of the icy interstate pileups in Texas and Iowa. Icy, snowy, and wet conditions can make winter trucking tricky, but you can’t just stop driving until Spring arrives. Instead, you have to drive through some wintery conditions, so do it correctly, and know when to stop. Here are some winter driving tips for truck drivers.

Prepping For Snow

Before embarking on a winter trucking trip, check the weather. Keeping your life and preventing accidents is more important than getting tons of skittles to Wal-Mart. However, we do understand the certain situations when a delivery of essential items needs to be made.

Pack a bag of emergency items. Include extra blankets, and warm clothes like a waterproof jacket, a warm hat, gloves, and boots, in case you have to get out of your cab and wait to be rescued. If you stay in your cab you’ll need those blankets to keep warm. A dead truck won’t fill the cab with heat.

Your emergency kit should also include food and water in case you get stranded, a flashlight and flares, a windshield scraper, jumper cables, chains or traction mats, and a bag of salt or sand.

When you’re getting ready to leave and at every stop, top off your gas and make sure your windshield fluid is topped off with fluid that won’t freeze. Also, make sure your truck has antifreeze and has been serviced for winter trucking. Your tires should be winter tires or all season tires to have deeper grooves for more traction.

Make sure that your heaters and defrosters are all working properly, along with your window wipers, which you should have a really good pair to wipe thick snow and ice away.

Defrost your windows completely and wipe all the snow away for the best visibility while truck driving in snow. Then wipe any snow from your headlights, tail lights, and blinkers away, so you can see and people can see you. Also, don’t forget to wipe the snow off the top of your cab! 

While driving, slow down. Don’t accelerate too quickly, don’t brake too hard, and don’t take turns too quickly. Keep a firm grip on the wheel, stay calm, and don’t make sudden jerky movements. Never use cruise control as it over spins the tires if you start to slip or slide.Keep extra distance between you and the vehicle ahead of you. If you’re whizzing past people creeping in the right line, slow down.

Watch out for black ice. When conditions are between 22 to 32 degrees, it’s actually the most dangerous because the snow and ice are very wet and slippery, and the road freezes in some places that can be hard to see.

Be careful when you approach bridges, as they freeze first and can be tricky. Plus, pay attention to all road signs, they’re pretty serious with winter conditions. If a curve should be taken at 35 mph don’t push it.

Should you start to slip and lose control do not slam on the brakes, especially if your trailer isn’t straight. Ease off the gas and gently glide to a stop while maintaining your steering.

If you have any doubts whatsoever, then it’s time to stop. No need to push it. Simply pull off at safe location and wait it out. In most cases snow plows have interstates and ramps cleared pretty quickly.

Happy Trucking

Winter has already been tough this year. Be prepared with the tools necessary to make it through truck driving in snow, be safe, and know when to stop.

For more winter trucking tips visit ExpressTruckTax and please share your stories about winter trucking in the comment section below.