Hi All, Today was the day to ask myself, what am I doing out here. I drove 280 miles on sheet ice. The load I picked up in Indianapolis, Indiana was suppose to weigh 42 thousand pounds. That would put me at about 78 thousand pounds gross. When I got to the shipper, I was clean up on a load balance that would not fit on the other truck. Having a lot of weight helps you get traction and keeps you from being blown off the road. My load weighed 5000 pounds. That means no traction and I am a big target to the wind. It was a normal trip from indy, all the way till I hit Wyoming. I drove about a 100 miles into Wyoming and had to park for the night. When I woke up at 3am, everything was frozen. I decided to wait for the sun. There was gust's up to 40 MPH. I lost count of how many times my trailer tried to swing over to adjust my mirror. (jackknife) All day long I saw semi trucks laying upside down and twisted. I kept thinking that I should join the war. It seemed safer at the time. Between the 2 inches of sheet ice, the blowing ice and snow, lets not forget about the black ice. It was my first trip in a tractor trailer in the snow and one I will remember always. 2 drivers were killed and one lost his right arm and leg. It was a real wake up call to me. I'm just glad I had the mountain driving experience that I got in Oregon when I worked for Van's. It is a strange feeling when you are driving straight down the road and in one second, you are fighting with everything you got to get it back under control. On a bright note, I'm safe at our terminal in West Valley City, Utah. It's part of Salt Lake City. I will get up in the morning and deliver my load. I should be heading to Phoenix on my next load.

Still alive!
Jeff