I've been going down this Mtn for 5 years and never had the first problem, I love when truck's blow by the mandatory stop and see the trooper waiting at the end for them. Use lower gears and jake break on high and you don't have to even touch the breaks
I've been over that mountain quite a few times but one time particularly stands out. We were going south (family car, not a truck), late at night and the fog was so thick I had to open the door to see where the lines were. One of the most nerve wracking trips I've ever had. Scared to death the whole time down that something was going to come up behind us.
My father was a cross-country trucker I'm not sure if he ever traveled the Monteagle but this video reminded me of the handful of times I was able to join him on his rides...
i have fallen down that hill many a time, grossing 80thousand, in an old Mack cabover going to Atlanta. BEFORE it was four lane. the old two lane road was a real pleasure!!
I went down that very same road a few weeks back, I seemed to be the only truck driver obeying the speed limit. A flat bedded with a coil flew past me, brakes smoking, I lost sight of him. A mile or 2 later I saw a huge cloud of dust, yep he had to hit the runaway ramp.
An old truck driver once told me, "You can go down every hill too slow for the rest of your life, or you can go down one hill too fast for the rest of your life."
When I was young working in the forest industry in British Columbia I saw loaded logging trucks crawling down steep hills with what I thought were smoking brakes until one of the older hands pointed out that it was steam, not smoke. The trucks and trailers were equipped with water tanks that dripped a continuous stream of water on the drums to keep the brakes cool. Never saw a runaway there. My wife's uncle had a low bed to haul his D8 around the province where he built roads for the logging companies. His tractor had both a Jake and a transmission retarder and needed both to avoid a runaway on some of the steepest roads I've ever seen a tractor trailer on.
Went on a school trip in 1960 London to Austria by coach it was a General Motors Bedford with drum brakes. One of the day trips while staying there was up the Grossglockner mountain for which a local coach had to be hired in. Coaches had to have secondary braking, IE an engine brake.
Thats monteagle, i-24 eastbound, bout an hour west of Chattanooga. That amazes me because averitt has a terminal in Nashville. They shouldnt have any problems with this.
I've been going down this Mtn for 5 years and never had the first problem, I love when truck's blow by the mandatory stop and see the trooper waiting at the end for them. Use lower gears and jake break on high and you don't have to even touch the breaks
As I remember it's "the engine is for slowing, the brakes are for stopping"
You can go down a mountain 1000 times too slow,.... but only once too fast.
I've been over that mountain quite a few times but one time particularly stands out. We were going south (family car, not a truck), late at night and the fog was so thick I had to open the door to see where the lines were. One of the most nerve wracking trips I've ever had. Scared to death the whole time down that something was going to come up behind us.
My father was a cross-country trucker I'm not sure if he ever traveled the Monteagle but this video reminded me of the handful of times I was able to join him on his rides...
i have fallen down that hill many a time, grossing 80thousand, in an old Mack cabover going to Atlanta. BEFORE it was four lane. the old two lane road was a real pleasure!!
I went down that very same road a few weeks back, I seemed to be the only truck driver obeying the speed limit. A flat bedded with a coil flew past me, brakes smoking, I lost sight of him. A mile or 2 later I saw a huge cloud of dust, yep he had to hit the runaway ramp.
An old truck driver once told me, "You can go down every hill too slow for the rest of your life, or you can go down one hill too fast for the rest of your life."
When I was young working in the forest industry in British Columbia I saw loaded logging trucks crawling down steep hills with what I thought were smoking brakes until one of the older hands pointed out that it was steam, not smoke. The trucks and trailers were equipped with water tanks that dripped a continuous stream of water on the drums to keep the brakes cool. Never saw a runaway there. My wife's uncle had a low bed to haul his D8 around the province where he built roads for the logging companies. His tractor had both a Jake and a transmission retarder and needed both to avoid a runaway on some of the steepest roads I've ever seen a tractor trailer on.
Start at
7TH Gear and Jake brake on high at 1700 rpm. You will never need to touch your brakes. I run that hill twice daily 5 day per week.
There is no excuses for smoking your brakes on a 6% grade
What would he do on Alt 14 in Wyoming...16% downgrades?
could have had a smoke break waiting for the smoked brakes. lol
Go to
Went on a school trip in 1960 London to Austria by coach it was a General Motors Bedford with drum brakes. One of the day trips while staying there was up the Grossglockner mountain for which a local coach had to be hired in. Coaches had to have secondary braking, IE an engine brake.
Every time I drove this route and got to this mountain I thought about the song "the Legend of the Bandit" from "Smokey and the Bandit"
Thank you for posting this video . I'm sure people are on CB radios trying to get the drivers attention this is so dangerous
Incredible scenery. God bless
Thats monteagle, i-24 eastbound, bout an hour west of Chattanooga. That amazes me because averitt has a terminal in Nashville. They shouldnt have any problems with this.