Driving in heavy wind tips

By the seat of your arse!
If there are high profile vehicle advisories and you haven't driven in these conditions before, take a break. Listen to or ask on the CB if anyone has been through the area in question, get their opinion, if it is relative(i.e. they're empty van.)

By the seat of your arse, I mean you have to feel and watch what the wind is doing to the trailer: if it's steady(not often) just steer into it and its usually not a huge problem, if it's really high gusts then the sometimes you'll have to steer away(with the wind) and if you can hold that before the road runs out great if not you'll have to slow down(a given in these conditions)more so you can get back in your lane. I guess it's kind of hard to describe.

 

Keep both hands on the wheel and drive closer to the shoulder line rather then in the center of your lane because your trailer will fishtail.Keep an eye on your trailer to make sure it stays in your Lane and not too close to the zipper.If you see vehicles havi,g to get over towards the edge to pass you that means you're too close to their Lane.

 

Either park it or if empty definitely park it. Otherwise hold on and haul tail out of there.

 

If a high wind warning, do not go out with that trailer empty. 60 is all it takes to flip you over. Park and wait a day.

If stuck in it, find a loaded truck and get it between you and the wind. It's not the best solution but gets you a brief break now and then until you clear the wind flow.

Otherwise park it and wait. update your appointments.

One more thing. Do NOT go onto bridges. Especially major ones if they have not already slammed the door in your face. For your own life.

 

These two are correct. It's usually manageable but the wind almost tilted my mirrors today in salt lake while i was empty. But if you're in an area known for really high gusts (60mph+++) you might want to park it if you're mt because those can make your truck take a nap on the side of the road.

 

Plus if you start seeing semis in the ditch that's a clear sign the wind is too strong to drive in.

 

Everything is situational and I'm assuming the roads are dry and not covered with anything that might be labeled "frozen". But in EXTREME CROSS or quartering winds, you simply can't drive in it empty. In high winds, you can try and use the crown of the road to "lean" into the wind. Obviously slower is better. 55, 45, 35 whatever it takes but if the wind is hard enough across the side, it's going to lay you over no matter what your speed. The higher gusts is what lays them over.

Use your GPS at night or in low visibility situations to help keep you aware of changes in your heading that lie ahead. A few degrees change in the relation between your truck heading and the mean wind heading can make a lot of difference, positive and negative effects of driving in high wind.

Keep aware of trees or terrain that may be lessening the wind and be prepared when you lose those trees or terrain. Terrain can be hard to read but often will focus and intensify and redirect winds. That initial "blast" is easier to deal with when your expecting it, then when it catches you unaware

In Wyoming, when the winds are a serious issue, if you're trying to wait on the wind to die down, you'll be in for a long wait.

When parking, try and keep the wind blowing into the trailer doors if at all possible to keep the cold drafts out of the cab as much as you can.

 

Many states (especially Wyoming) have a pretty good network of weather stations along major travel lanes. Leverage these tools to get a more accurate sense of what is going on. Trucker offering "reports" on the CB tend to exaggerate or misinform in many situations.

Here is Wyoming 511 map.

http://map.wyoroad.info/hi.html

Turn on "weather Stations" then click on them individually to get a broader view of what's really going on but just realize, if it reports wind speeds of xxMPH, with gusts to xxMPH, plan on gusts exceeding even this velocity.

Winds associated with major spring/summer storms are an entirely different discussion.

 

Speaking of Wyoming. Try and avoid if possible next several days. Also, WY I-80 between Laramie and Cheyenne is closed to light, high profile vehicles due to winds, as of 15:00 Thursday afternoon