New Truck Driver Loses Control Going Down Mountain Cause He Was To Lazy To Check His Brakes
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 เม.ย. 2023
- New Truck Driver Loses Control Going Down Mountain Cause He Was To Lazy To Check His Brakes
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Check your brakes!!!!!
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If you use your engine brake correctly and speed in check, you should never or rarely have to touch the brake pedal.
Fact. Proper gear is key
I remember one time going down a mountain and Prime driver in front of me had his brake lights on as soon as we crested the top. They mostly stayed lit up the whole way down. I was on the jake using brakes mostly never. I was at about 70k, what kind of training are these guys getting ?
True! 👍🏻👍🏻
Newer trucks brake lights light up when jake brake is being used
True, when you approach the hill or mountain right the brakes will not get hot
In New Zealand we grow up climbing up and down mountains, upto 18% grades. Slow down almost bog cog and ease over top, some places 30 mins to bottom. It's not a race, the idea is to get safely down. By the way we don't have the luxury of run off's so you have to be on it the whole way.
Never missed a brake check station in over 30 years of trucking. I sat in one waiting for a service crew once, found out the shoe was missing from one of my brakes. You have to stop & check or you could end up like this guy, or worse.
Thank you for your service 🙏🏾
Was there any symptoms prior to you checking?
@@jondemise131 No, when I did my pre-trip earlier on that day, everything looked fine. I didn't hear any brake squealing or have any air lose or lack of trailer braking power. I noted the pad missing when I did my walk around check at the check area at the top of the mountain. I wasn't going anywhere after that. Had to get it replaced first & get the brakes checked by a mechanic.
I agree. But, most of the new equipment no longer has drum brakes. The rotor and shoes are hard to check visually
A good rule to think of doing is cut your speed in half going down. If you went up at 40 keep at 20 or less going down.
When I started driving, a nice old trucker told me that you can go down a mountain many times slowly and once fast.
I learned my lesson about 15 years ago running random doubles and trips on steerable trailers thru Parachute, Meeker, Craig, and Rio Blanco, Colorado in the patch. I did alright but had to buy a new seat. My advice to a new driver: "You can go down a hill 1000 times too slow, but only 1 time too fast."
Lmao ..parachute ..yup .. they drag you up ..your on your own getting back down
Last month we were in Castaic, at the south part of the grapevine, at the flying j. Speed limit down the mountain is 35 for trucks.... long and steep. We're sitting in the truck parked, when this guy comes hauling in with his rear axle on fire. Flames and everything. Everyone stops to look and I holler to my hubby..... FIRE! My hubby was the only one to grab our extinguisher and go help this kid. Young guy. New driver. Had no idea what to do. My hubby tells him he needs to get his truck checked out before he continues but he says his company told him to make his delivery in LA. This is the kind of crap we see every day out here!
No load is worth your or anyone else's life.
I've had multiple arguments due to lack of maintenance and eneded up leaving the company. No one cares about your life more than you, no load is more important either.
Also left due to lack of organization, maintenance excuses, and flat out lies.
The 'company' per se, didn't force that driver; their dispatch did .. and they're "parked in their offices??" Jus' sayin' .. .
Hopefully gives some perspective.
Conscientious consideration; then there will be NO driver shortages.
I'm surprised he didn't pull over, use the fire extinguisher in his truck, then just keep driving.
@@djja8844 he knew the rules... Don't use the fire extinguisher or you will get a ticket
The CHP used to have someone parked above the check area (Hidden in the trees with binoculars), if you did not stop to do a proper brake check (they were watching) you were going to be pulled over shortly ahead of the check area by another Trooper! Don't know if they are still doing it, but I know that road well from over a thousand trips over that mountain. If you don't have 'Jakes', you should be down in a very low gear ... and take your time! Your life, your truck, and other lives may very well depend upon doing a proper check. IMHO ... if you don't have (and know how to use) 'Jakes' you should stay the hell off the mountains!
The thing I have learned in talking with drivers of automatic or auto shifting trucks. That they were never tot to put the transmission in manual mode and look what gear they are going up the mountain. Then, manually shift it down one gear before going down the mountain, of course, after they have done the brake inspection.
Most trucks will automatically switch back to auto mode after a set amount of time. The 2019 579 pete that i drive now wont shift back to auto mode on its own. That is only possible because this truck is not governed and does not have programmed parameters from a company.
I have driven cascadias, volvos, t680s, and internationals and they all would switch back to auto mode because of the company's programming.
If you have a 2019-2022 cascadia set the speed on cruise control and then with the engine brake go 2 down and 1 up. With loads under 38k the truck will hold the speed and apply the engine brake as needed.
Auto will downshift going down a grade. So you have no reason to even care what gear the truck is in. I fly down 7% grades in 12th doing 90 mph. Most companies will lock out manual mode anyway.
@@mike-sk2li there is no state in the US where 90 mph is a legal speed. Period. And I know of only two places where your allowed to do 85 legally. So I say your talking smack or your a high risk driver in search of an expensive driving experience. Unless your talking 90 kph, then that’s ok.
If I'm in Wyoming or Montana I'm doing 80 yes I can easily go 90 down a grade and have no problem especially when bull haulers are doing 100 and passing. Stop being a baby
45!! I go 30mph if I'm 42,000lbs in thr box I aint no hurry don't even touch the brakes going down the hill engine brakes the whole way
I usually do around 30 to 45 pull in break inspection stop take off slow put my Jake on high stay 6 or 7th gear and tap the breaks when I need to slow a little bit
Alex I think most of the problem with today's drivers is that the trainers do not have enough experience to be training drivers I've said it before and I'll say it again 5 years is 250000 miles or more that's 5 different seasons you've seen the cold you've seen the rain you've seen everything and you're more experienced and better qualified to be a trainer but somebody with one year's experience it's only seen the mountains once it's not qualified to be turning somebody how to do mountains snow or any other adverse
Yes yes you should not be allowed to train drivers unless you have at least adverse experience in different parts of driving and at least 10 years. Minimum
England trainers have to have minimum 6 to 9 months experience. If you see England truck, stay far away from it.
Shit some companies only require 6 months.
I agree Alex you are so right and he don't need truckdriver license he need to let it go For Real!
I've been down every big mountain in this country and I've never had to touch my brakes, my jake on high holds me back as long as I'm in the proper gear for the grade
A good rule of thumb is "go down in the same gear you finished coming up in"!
🤯🤯🤯
Or one lower
@@blauer2551 Exactly, this is what the books say
That was true years ago... trucks now have more power and are more areodynamic.. the gear you came up in is to big for going down... need to drop another
I check my brakes every time i get a new trailer, if not i do it weekly. Never had a brake failure. I don’t usually stop at brake checks, nothing like pre heating your brakes right before you need them. Furthermore, jake brakes and being in the right gear makes a world of difference. I have not had an instanc😂 where my truck was not able to effectively hold back even at 105,500 lbs.
They say not to ride the brakes going down the hill🤣 guess what’s taught in some of the schools…. Steady 15-20 psi on the brake application gauge to go down the hill (credit Stevens Transportation)
We were told that back in 1992 in truck driving school..to keep light steady pressure ..do not jab the brakes over and over..that makes them heat up faster..I've always went down in lower gear but kept light steady pressure and never had brakes heat up to where they were smoking..in 30 years haven't wrecked one either or went in a ditch..just saying
This is what I learned also. Never had a problem. My first truck with a Mercedes Benz engine had an exhaust brake that rarely worked. Still never roasted the brakes. Steady light pressure
Can you do a video on what to check for when stopping to check brakes. Would help alot of the newbies.
You pretty much nailed it all on the head..the only thing I would add is every truck should have a manual fan switch..the fan running will give you more resistance..
Common sense saves lives but sadly we are seeing less 😮
If you have a freightliner, there is no excuse whatsoever. At 45,000 pounds, 3rd not only gets me down the mountain safely, but also keeps me at the same speed, without touching my breaks, the whole way down. If a new driver cannot properly do down a mountain safely, they need to go back with a trainer.
I always go through brake checkpoints to check my brakes. If speed for trucks is 55 mph , I set my cruise control for 50 mph and use my engine brakes and put on my 4 ways.
Advice: Drop your speed as soon as you see the first sign that your coming up on a steep grade..if it says trucks 45..you drop to 40 & hit your jake as soon as you see your speed increasing…if you do it right you’ll go down with no problem..may have to stab brake a couple times depending on weight but hey..it’ll help. Just from experience..I burned my breaks in tn my first time & I learned from it.
Most lower 48 passes. You can do 7th gear 2nd 3rd stage brakes. Never use you brakes. This downhill in California is 45 50 mph. Most fly down at 60. You should be about 40 to 45 on your jakes and that's on a nice day.... Toss snow ice... I crawl
I always stop at the brake inspection. Also, engine brake, engine brake, engine brake. Engine brake and the proper gear. Also if the grade has a speed limit set for a truck, gear down and follow it. I've never over heated my brakes. Can't tell you how many so called drivers blow by me going downhill while riding the brakes. Had one of my fellow co-workers argue with me that stab braking works better than using the engine brake. Let's just say he learned the hard way. Lost brakes coming down a hill near Hazleton, PA. He went over an embankment and ended up on a set of rail road tracks. He said he tried using the engine brake after he lost his regular brakes. I told him, at that point it was too late. He learned his lesson. He could've died that day. The tractor was totaled and twisted and the tanker he was thankfully didn't spill the gas he was hauling and needed to be pumped out to another tanker.
You said it best about a hill sneaking up on you if you don't know the road. I made that mistake one time and it was scary because my mistake could've ended badly. I have no issues going slower than others down a hill I don't know just so I feel in complete control of the truck then. Good video and hopefully it helps people to be safe above all else
As a former OTR trucker, rule of thumb, use the same gear when going up a mountain, and when going down with your Jake brakes on,,,I just retired after 41 years as a independent trucker.
Try to avoid using the Jake Brake during wet conditions or snow/ice.
Using the jake brake in rainy, snow, ice or wet conditions can damage the traction on the drive wheel. This leaves the vehicle out of control and can cause serious damage.
However, in ice or snow conditions, use engine brakes only on steep or long slopes if necessary.😎
I’ve done it ‘million times’, it’s never happened to me and countless other professional cmv operators. Haste makes waste and sometimes worse!
Great quote !!!
@@MuthaTrucker Thank you.
Lot's of good advice here.
I have run mostly the intermountain west for twenty-five years, i learned like most of us that excessive speed on a downgrade and having to use a lot of brake is a bad thing!
Follow the posted speed, find a gear at the start that will hold you using the Jake, if you have to use your brakes to slow you down more than twice your going to fast.
Drop a gear so the jake does the work and let your brakes cool.
What if you have an automatic?
Exactly what I was gonna say, if it's more than 3 times, stab it, get the speed way lower and get that into a lower gear.
The Jake needs to do all the work, not the brakes.
Also in response to the auto, there should be a manual shift hold button, so it stays locked in a certain gear.
If the truck is going too fast, get it down and lock it in a lower gear.
You should be going downhill in the same or next lower gear, than you did to climb it.
@@DARKSEID007 I currently drive a Freightliner Cascadia, it a automatic and ninth gear and lower you can put it in manual. There is also a downhill Jake speed setting I can use in the proper conditions, check your owners manual, it's not the cruise control with it's+ -, you engage the Jake, with it operating you reach your target speed, (say 35) press the cruise set button and the Jake will hold that speed, if you go slower it will not accelerate, you can press the service brakes and reduce speed and this will set your new set speed.
Works great on 70 going west out of the tunnel dropping down to Silverthorne, they have lowered that speed limit to thirty five mph, if you have over forty in the box you need to be slower than that for sure.
@@TomAnderson_81 talk to your fellow drivers about your specific model of truck, fleet maintenance, read your owners manual.
I drive a Cascadia with an automatic, turns out this old dog can learn new tricks, find a speed that you Jake will hold you, preferably second stage, your truck may have to option to select manual in certain gears.
Take your time, every condition is different including the driver.
On long descents let the Jake and the gears do the work.
My trainer years back had freightliner cascadia with that controlled descent cruise control, but the problem is that touching the brake turned off the cruise control. Then you have to completely let off the brake and push "set" again on the cruise control. So you have to reset it after every snub brake, and if you didn't completely let off the brake while hitting "set" then the controlled descent didn't set and the auto Jake braking won't turn back on. It is better to pull the Jake brake handle by hand and snub brake until it kicks on and holds your speed.
DOT is just as guilty as this driver for this event to occur. This is happening more and more as they keep lowering the standards to obtain a CDL
You know you're supposed to flag that on your log book if you get pulled over down the hill somewhere down on the flats he wants to see your log book and he'll want to see where you flagged your brake check on your logs
1. Lock in to a lower gear
2. Turn on your engine fan (it cuts about 75 horse power from the engine and slows you down)
3. Use your Jake if you have one..if it's wet or icy roads DO NOT use your Jake, it can cause a jackknife.
4. Light and steady pressure (7-10 PSI) will not cause the brakes to overheat.
Man it’s so easy to use engine brakes. They are automatic in most trucks, just set it and you’re good. Brake inspections are way easy too. Too easy!!!
That almost happened to me maybe early 2000 pretty much a rookie on that same route of Donners pass and drivers was yelling at me on the CB saying I was on fire and luckily I was able to stop and put it out, pretty embarrassing!!😮😬
Lucky it was only embarrassing ✌️
U had a CB. That made a difference.
First of all, you should have been using the hand brakes which will only wear out the trailer brakes only. That's the main reason the brakes are smoking. Then you're left with only tractor brakes which will lead to loss of control and quick wear of the tractor brakes. O/O's and 'ole school' idiots are the worse at this and they swear by this. They believe that smoking trailer brakes is suppose to happen and if your trailer brake's not smoking, then you're not doing something right.
I need to make a correction. You should NOT be using your hand brake trailer control. You should be using the brake pedal which controls all your brakes as well as your engine brake when safe to do so.
No deadline on a load is worth the risk that comes with short changing your safety practices that you should have learned in school. Not only on brake check areas, but all parts of your brakes should be checked on EVERY pretrip, mid-trip, and post-trip. Bear in mind, some older trucks may not come with an engine brake, making frequent brake inspections even more critical. Look at my PFP and you see an example! Therefore, snub braking is crucial. There's a steep downhill on one of my regular routes with four tight curves that's strictly 40 mph. I approach at 30. You get to 40+ mighty quickly! Hold the brakes ONLY for as long as necessary to get back down to 35, release. Over 40mph again? Repeat the process. The key is that I am at my slowest speed at the start of each curve. Hitting or even riding the brakes on curves also increases the chance of rollover, especially when there's freight in the box. As my CDL school instructor told me way back in 2019, "You can descend a hill too slowly a million times--but you may only be able to descend too fast just once!"
Back before engine brakes we were always told to go down the hill in the same gear as you climbed the hill , I only had one runaway, back in the 1970s on monte eagle mountain in Tennessee, i made it without the runaway ramp but it was a scary experience! I had only been driving a few months.
Have a friend of mine that recently got a ticket for not stopping at the brake check area before dropping down the mountain
I always make sure that I'm playing with my phone when I'm going down a steep hill.
Also try this when you're trying to merge onto highway from entry ramp. Force traffic to get over.
I haven't been out West much but I'm out East pretty often. It amazes me how truckers fly through these mountains. Truckers doing 55 and 60 when cmvs are marked at 35 or 40. I usually try to stay under that speed limit with the Jake brake and controlled braking. I've seen some tires on fire and one driver on a runaway ramp years ago. Slow and Steady and I've never encountered an issue. Speeding with slow you down eventually
Right, I am surprised too ...I hate driving through Tennessee on the way to Kentucky,I'm driving down hill very slow with the engine brake on and will never understand why other truckers are passing me over speeding... I find that very crazy. On the top of that they look to me like I 'm doing wrong....
There's a major problem with companies not properly getting and or taking the time to train them correctly all they want is free money from the gouverment...
When I climb a steep mountain in 8th gear fully loaded, I use the same gear going down (engine brake) on 3 and never touch the brakes. Modern day drivers are lacking crucial training.
Glad no one was killed or harmed.
WTFX trailer. When I stop at brake check stations, they are usually empty except maybe 1 guy taking a nap, and I get passed by all the other trucks. No one ever told me what I was supposed to be doing there though.
You can go down Mountain to slow or take a a curve to slow a million times but you can take it too fast only once so slow down. if the driver behind you gets mad tell him to drive his truck and you drive yours. and always do a good per trip and check your trailer and tracker brakes.
Watch the movie Black Dog, it show a driver who misses a gear, and looses brake pressure. Always use the right gear down, and never try to upshift. Brakes are never an end result.
I don’t use the brakes period. I go down the mountain at a speed I know my Jake’s can hold without me touching the brakes
Ok, how many of you guys do trailer tug tests and brake hold tests while pre tripping your truck and hooking trailers? And how often have you found your trailers failed either the kingpin tug test or the trailer brake tug test? I had a few king pin tug test failures, but trailer brake spring brake and service brake tug test failures were not an uncommon event. The service brake test is an important test. Keep in mind, the service brakes and spring parking brakes are two separate brake systems and both need to be checked. At minimum, every time you hook a trailer. Better yet, every time you get back in your truck after you have been parked.
Brake check areas are not only for you to make a sandwich and grab a cold drink out the mini fridge…
If you're heavy you better stop! Take a break, 30 minutes to a hour and let them brakes cool! Get on the mountain in the lowest or 2nd to lowest gear on the high side, jake brakes on and go down the mountain! Turn on your 4ways, you'll be fine!
Seen the same thing happen on 10 in az. Smelled burning brakes for an hour then seen a guy pulled over with his wheels on fire. Next day I saw his trailer burnt down on the shoulder.
out of state driver who never experienced california 55 mph and 35 mph maximum downhill in his life. All he knew was just to drive flat and straight road.😢
What I usually do is use the max setting of the engine brakes when I see or feel if the gradient is much more than 3%
Give this man a raise
Fire him
Do break check, low engine break gear down mountain, if losing control and breaks fail look for runaway truck ramp, if none there are signs that say jump out of truck in pa
Brake check area: I get out , readjust all my brakes, log it on duty not driving, precheck,
Ugh what is so damn hard about mountains and brakes?! Even I as a new CDL operator knew to use Jake Brakes and lock it in 2nd when going down mountains 🤦🏻♂️
Im sick of the poor training of these ppl nowadays. I fear for myself and my family. These drivers think they are living in a video game. Look how they drive in truckstops!
All speed signs are for cars not trucks I was taught what ever the sign says you go slower then it says
The truth is, when going downhill if you touch your brakes you are going too fast. The Jake should be enough to hold you back.
Best psa ever. Great job!!
I do a pre trip...the only inspection needed. First of all if he was slowing down at least 5 MPH below the posted truck speed limit before he started down the hill and used the jake and snub braked he'd have been good. I can't count how many 8 and 9% grades I've encountered in these first 5 months of my career...that method hasn't failed me yet.
@Ayin Production depends on the hill really....of it's a nice steep straight away I don't even touch the jake at all. And that's mostly because if the next climb comes up that truck won't get above 25 mph. But if it's steep and twisty... especially of there's big signs saying to lower your gear etc yes before the hill. Then there's spots like on I-81 N just after RT 93 (Conyngham /"mall" exit....I live in Hazleton so it's local to me lol) it's a down grade and a curve at the bottom...I Jake it a little after I pass the on ramp down to about 60....let it get up to 65 and Jake it down and get on the pedal a little bit....let off both at 60....just do that till the curve....bring it to 55 then once thru the curve let it climb back up as fast as it's gonna go cuz I got another long ass hill to climb till I get to I-80(this one local to me is an example.....there's others like this too).
I agree that a trucker should always use an emergency truck ramp if they need to. That being said, there should be no fines or tickets for using one.
Please get the REAL truckdrivers out here these truckdrivers today 2023 are dangerous!😱 That's the best answer for this stupidity!🤨
Looks like that driver was trying to make roasted ice-cream. Just ain't gonna work!
Prime example of Not using his Jake bake and checking his brakes before anything, Jake brakes keep the engine down while going down a incline especially a mountain…
It may be different with an automatic transmission I don't know cause I've never gone down the mountains in an automatic I've always gone down with a shifter and I do not shift on any mountain going down great I don't care if it starts going up hill I stay in that gear that's the suggested speed for that weight they should know what they're talking about by that suggestion if you do seem to go faster than you want you can't step the bricks and take about 5 miles off continue to do that all the way down the mountain you should be OK . But you should check your breaks that's what it's therefore do you have any cracks or your brakes are worn Need to call and have somebody put some breaks on before you go running down that hill and getting killed or killing somebody else
That’s crazy !!!
I've never had to drive Colorado type mountains but I drive from AZ to CA everyday and there's definitely mountains there and I got those no problem. A little engine braking and stab braking and I'm good. The same thing for PA where there's a ton of hills. Never driven in snow yet though.
I'm up there twice a week, I stop and I use my engine brake to control my speed. Imagine taking your time and using your engine brake.... you'd get to your destination....
Use your engine brake system plus use your transmission to down shift and pull over safely in a safe area and call company to fix the brake problems!
The main thing is. Do the speed limit and slower? Don't get over the speed limit the faster you go. It takes twice as much to stop you
Yup definitely have to watch those mountain grades coming down.
Over use of brake’s instead of gearing down and using the engine brake.
Even mal-adjusted brakes can be a culprit but majority of the time it’s over use of the brakes.
The issue (in my opinion) is two fold. One, you have drivers blaming equipment for something that is 100% user error. His brakes didn’t randomly fail for no reason. He over-heated them going down the grade and caused a fire. It’s not the truck or the trailer’s fault that he doesn’t know how to descend a grade properly.
Second issue is a serious lack of effective training, particularly when it comes to mountain driving.
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with automatic transmissions in trucks, but drivers need to understand their limitations when it comes to driving in the mountains, as well as how to use them correctly. I’ve met many drivers who don’t even know how to use the “Manual” mode of their automatic transmission. They don’t know that they should be manually selecting a low gear prior to descending the grade!
Most of them also don’t know that the RPM governor will OVERRIDE the manual gear selection if the RPM’s go too high. So if your jakes alone aren’t doing the job, you need to know how to stab brake.
Most drivers don’t get good training on this kind of stuff.
Unfortunately you have these mega carriers disabling many of the features, including the manual mode. Anything to try and save pennies, it disgusting.
@@scottcpan68 I’ve driven for one of the mega carriers before and the manual mode worked just fine. If any of them are actually disabling it then that’s arguably a case for criminal liability in an accident.
The brake buddy tool is your buddy at the brake check station and anytime!
Well like you said use Jake brake and put in a lower gear to keep you back and depends how heavy you are as well depends on what gear to use.
Damn Western Flames Xpress🔥
In the province of British Columbia it is the law you have to use brake checks. Most brakes are now automatic slack adjusters. So just make sure you reset the brakes and look to see how much pad is left to take the mountains. Better to take that minute then lost a life
Pfft, I never check my brakes unless I’m doing a pre trip/ post trip because I never really use them to begin with. As long as you keep up to date with your maintenance and do pm’s than you should never have to check them tbh IF you barely use them, you set the right gear or in an automatic just level your engine brake and don’t rush. Unless I get stuck behind someone I never use my brakes going down the hills, even weighing 40 tons. It’s all about taking your time
Went down that stretch for years. Retired from driving years ago but.... the brakes..... yeah, ya better check your brakes.
Whe I learned to drive, we didn't have engine breaks. Use one less gear than it took to climb the pass before going down.
Donner Pass is NO Joke . Take your time and stay safe.
Good Stuff Alex.
Appreciate you
Yep you said it Alex been there done that life.
The heavier the load , the hotter they get. Downshift and full engine brake, you stab at the brakes then let off, speed increases, Stab brakes again but never ride the brakes. You let it drift, the brakes will cool.
I went by him not that long ago he wasn't on fire then.there was a lane closer on the down hill lots of traffic..hard brake blind corner...Donner
I have a f350 now that i pull a 13k trl and when i go to my tractor show there is a "steep" hill ( its not that bad but it is to be noted) i slow to about 40-45 and lock my transmission down a gear and i rarely touch my brakes but if i do i have to slap the throttle as my trks torque converter unlocks when brakes are applied and wont relock unless power is applied. I make the same run every year with same rig and load. I dont care about the line benind me. I dont run mountains in the big rig but i know how to treat them as i used to run pa and tn and such but now i stay in mi area
The sisters on I-81 can definitely catch you off guard, because of the slow steady slope of that mountain set. Also baker's pass can definitely get a little hairy in bad weather.
Depending on the weight throw that thing into 7th or 8th gear engine break on high and never touch that pedal unless u stab break to lower rpms and let it cruise
Tips? You hit the nail right on the head Alex
I idle off the top of the mountain. I take it slow and use my engine brake. If the speed limit is 35 then DO 35 I see too many guys pass me going 50-60 mph riding the brakes. SLOW DOWN. Start slow and take it easy for cryin’ out loud!
I just did a load through Colorado. Nothing but mountains 🏔️ and snow ❄️. I promise you I had my hazards on for 3 hours going 25 miles. It was my first time experiencing riding through mountains and I wasn’t taken any chances 🤷🏽♂️🤷🏽♂️
And they wonder why they are hated!
I've seen drivers in Tennessee more times than I can count not stop at the mandatory brake check area just keep on going and not stop and I've seen so many trucks wreck or on fire many times across America because they didn't stop and they won't stop because they don't care
Scary stuff
How many times are companies going to keep going to steering wheel holders for drivers .
I haul Superloads. Loads that weigh over 200,000 pounds. I never use brakes downhill. Brakes for me are for stop signs. I pick a gear that allows the Jake to hold the load by itself. That means sometimes rolling downhill at 15mph.
Speed is KING
1 or 2 gears lower gear that pulling the mountain. Steady even pressure on the breaks (2 to3 lbs) run your Jake’s if equipped and to hell with the super truckers. I ran the mountain in the PNW daily for over 30 years seen a lot and survived.
What gear used going up,use 1 lower going down with full engine brake unless adverse weather is current.
In Tennessee is same thing Alex going down on I 24 between Nashville to Chattanooga many pass but is police who wait u
Gear down prior to going down hill and engage the Jake brake and allow it to do most of the braking
They always taught us to be doing the speed at the top that you want to be doing at the bottom.
Plus I worked for a company that was on top of maintainence always.