Every year at this time, trucking magazines carry articles on how to winterize your truck. We'd like to take a different approach. We suggest you winterize your driving. Things happen differently on ice, slush and snow. And the transitions from bare roads to icy patches can alter vehicle dynamics suddenly and drastically.
Attitude
The first step to winterizing your driving is to adjust your attitude. Be aware of how quickly conditions can change. Vehicle dynamics like steering, braking, accelerating and resisting crosswinds all depend on the contact patches between tires and the road. For most of the year, tire friction is steady and predictable. In winter it may not be. Not only do you need to worry about ice and snow, but also the chemicals used to minimize their build-up, which may cause traction problems. Calcium chloride, used with other chemicals to delay ice formation, draws humidity from the air and leaves a thin slippery film on the road. It can break traction.
Sometimes snow is not much of a problem. Tires with deep treads, especially lug-type patterns, can bite into deep snow to maintain excellent traction. But shallow snow can suddenly lose its grip with the tires. Ice is always unpredictable. Just as tires ride up on a film of water to hydroplane in heavy rains, ice melts from pressure under the tires and the water film acts like a lubricant between the tires and the road.
Speed and Anticipation
Naturally, you need to adjust vehicle speed to existing conditions. But you should also control the tempo at which you react. Any sudden change in your input for braking, steering or accelerating can break traction more easily when the road surface has lost much of its coefficient of friction.
Slowing gradually before making a turn will probably get you through in good shape, but approaching it the way you would in summer could cause a break in traction. That could make the turn exciting and memorable, but an excess of adrenaline is the last thing you need for winter driving.
Smooth equals successful in all winter driving. Apply brakes as gently as possible. Try to avoid any movements of the steering wheel that could create under-steer, which feels as if the vehicle were plowing forward, unable to turn. Accelerate as if a raw egg were between your foot and your accelerator pedal. A jackknife can happen when traction is lost through either braking or acceleration. It occurs when drive wheel traction is broken.
Engineers have a saying, "The wheel that skids wants to lead." Lose traction at the steers, and the truck goes straight. Lose it at the drives, and the drive tandem wants to swing past the steer tires. As it pulls out, it pulls the trailer with it. That is the classic definition of a jackknife.
Anticipating any maneuvers you'll need to make gives you time to do things gradually. Get in the exit lane long before you would in summer. Slow gently for the traffic light way ahead. And always look for escape routes just in case something happens.
Practice
Since trucks behave differently on ice and snow, you have to be familiar with those differences so you'll know how to react.
Locate an open area, a freight yard, parking lot or a stretch of road that will be fairly open at least part of the day. When the weather turns bad, go out to these open areas. You may have to get up at 3 a.m. (assuming you aren't already driving at that hour) to find those places empty. Once there, test the limits of your vehicle dynamics. Get the feel of the way your tractor and trailer ABS work together, if so equipped. If not, practice is even more important. Professional athletes fine-tune their skills through continued repetition. Why shouldn't professional drivers do the same?
