My trip out of Minnesota was a Load of empty cheese containers (used in Cheese plants). It delivered in Gooding, Idaho and my routing was through South Dakota and Wyoming into Idaho.

Partway through Wyoming, I ran out of hours and had to stop at a truck stop. The afternoon was sunny and clear (see photo below) but by 8 pm that night, the truck stop was enveloped in a fierce winter storm. (see photo).  The next morning, Thanksgiving day,  I-80 was closed due to bad driving conditions, and we had a stay-in-place instruction where our trucks could not move until conditions were better.  While America was watching football, and anticipating the meal of turkey and pie as the delicious aroma, I sat in my cold truck waiting for the highway to open.    Finally, just past noon, the 'All Clear' came down, and I headed towards Idaho, passing through our terminal in Utah for fuel on the way.

That night, I parked near Twin Falls, Idaho and delivered my load early the next morning, which was Friday.  About 30 minutes later, the pre-plan for my next load came through, and I was to stay in place till next Sunday to get loaded for frozen food, headed to southern California, but I was to drop the load at our yard in Utah.  This concerned me because I was scheduled to go west for repairs to Bruce at one of our maintenance terminals.  I didn't see how I could go to Utah, and then back to our terminal for repair, and then back to the Denver terminal in time for my scheduled home time on Dec 2-3.  So I spent the next three days waiting at the truck stop in Idaho.

Early Sunday morning, I was at the shipper getting loaded, when I received a message that I was to meet another driver at the nearby truck stop and swap loads with him. My new load would take me to our terminal where I could have repairs done.

We made the swap, and I headed westbound for my new load's destination: Portland, Oregon. This required me to pass over Deadmans Pass, or Cabbage Patch Hill. When I checked the weather, it was forecast to be snowing.  However, there was a break in the snowfall around noon, so I tried to time my departure to cross over the pass to coincide with the break in the weather.  My hopes of making the pass without bad weather or chaining were crushed when I came to a sign which read:  Chaining required next 5 miles when lights flashing."  ---The lights were flashing.  I rounded a bend in the highway, and there was a big line of trucks pulled off to the side of the road for chaining.  I got out to begin the process, and another truck pulled in behind me.  The driver was a young guy, and he explained that he had never chained up before. I told him that I was new to the process also, and we agreed to help each other as needed.  I had just finished chaining up, when another driver approached me and said that he was new, and could I help show him how to chain. I explained that I was new as well, but I would be glad to try.  We got one of the tires chained up, and he said he could do the rest of them. I got back in my truck and started off.

Driving a truck with chains on, for me, seems a little bit like driving a tank.  The truck bounces and lurches and chugs along as the chains or cables scrape against the highway. Why we were being asked to chain up made no sense to me, as the highway had no snow or ice on it at all.  I had gone maybe 5-6 miles, with many other trucks passing me by going 50-60 miles an hour without any chains.  Finally, at the top of the pass, I pulled over into a chaining area and called my dispatcher and explained my dilemma. He said it would be okay to pull chains off and keep rolling.

Given the confusion about whether chaining continued to be required or not, the two trucks parked ahead of me in the chain-up area were actually putting chains on.  One of the guys came back to my truck as I de-chained, and he explained that he had never chained up before, and could I give him a hand.  I showed him how to chain up the 1st tire, and he said he could take it from there.

Never in my working career, had my inexperience and blind luck helped so many.