To Everything Turn Turn Turn.......

I was recently asked a Truckin Question... (Thanks Sally, always fun to enlighten the masses!) So here I will begin the Q & A portion of my program..

In your response to your question, I can only offer my opinion...

UPS Semi Truck spinning wheels at the top of the exit ramp.... Hmmmmm. As disappointing as this may sound, the driver really had no options at this point except to call for someone to pull him forward out of his predicament.. Once a Big Rig loses traction, it is very hard to regain it without substantial help.. Some minor endeavors to alleviate the problem could have included #1. Snow shovels and salt.. Ultimately digging his way out of the slippery situation... #2. Rolling backwards in an effort to find more traction. This attempt seems to work occasionally, but only if there is no vehicles behind him... I feel pretty confident to say that He should not have attempted #2 on an exit ramp in traffic... I will also add that when rolling back and forth (to gain more traction) you have limited attempts to make it work, because the heat from the tires melts the snow and quickly refreezes into more ice... So typically, if traction does not present itself within 3 attempts, you will be forced to move on to plan B. Usually a tug from a tow truck!!

I myself have been in similar situations in the past.....

Last year, I was spinning wheels on an exit ramp in Virginia.. With every attempt to roll back and find more traction, I seemed to be sliding a little closer to the edge.. The edge was about a 4 foot downgrade, which would have surely resulted in an overturned Big Truck!! So after a few attempts, I gave up!! With microphone in hand, I began to plead for assistance over the CB radio.. Now, it was roughly 2-3am and traffic was very light at the time. Of course my fellow Truckers had put the word out that " There is a truck stuck on the Exit Ramp! Don't get off there!!" So they didn't.

After a long wait, one brave soul finally came to my rescue. He proceeded to pull past me on the ramp and found dry pavement at the top. Setting his brakes we then hooked chains to the front of my TRUCK... The first two attempts were futile... The chains snapped loose and my truck inched closer to the brink of disaster... Determined to help me, he wanted to try again... Third time was definitely the charm!!... He managed to get me to dry ground..

I thanked him profusely and was on my way!! But not before he told me that he had heard my pleas an hour earlier while heading north. After making his delivery and returning southbound, he had once again heard about the Truck stuck on the ramp...

Thank you!! MR TRUCK DRIVER!! You are my HERO!!!