FedEx Freight | I-80 question.

Dirt Pusher

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Taking a road trip from Ukiah, CA to Cheyenne, WY down I-80. Just curious as to how steep the grades as well as road conditions. I've never really driven in the mountains before. Any advice from my fellow Fed Ex freight coworkers would be appreciated.
 
Might still be snowing on Donner's lol. If you're not towing anything you'll be fine...if you are take it easy. There are only you a few major grades from CA to Cheyenne.
 
Taking a road trip from Ukiah, CA to Cheyenne, WY down I-80. Just curious as to how steep the grades as well as road conditions. I've never really driven in the mountains before. Any advice from my fellow Fed Ex freight coworkers would be appreciated.
What will you be driving? There's really nothing worse than the hill between Willits and Ukiah going east. What jumps up and bites truck drivers going west across Donner is that it is 38 miles of short downgrades that lull you into a false sense of security with the last drops being the worst.
Highway 20 between Clear Lake and I-5 has steeper grades than any that you will find on 80.
 
I used to knock it out of gear on three sisters in Wyoming back when I still ran the road. It's the only time I had a triple digit truck.
:17142:

We would unlatch on Dairy Hill and Key Largo hill on old 29 before I85 was complete
With a heavy load you could almost hit 62
Dick, are you familiar with those between Charl. and Concord?
 
We would unlatch on Dairy Hill and Key Largo hill on old 29 before I85 was complete
With a heavy load you could almost hit 62
Dick, are you familiar with those between Charl. and Concord?
Driving a 4 wheeler just passed Donner and no snow on the roads yet! I'm from the southeast and we don't have mountains LOL
 
I used to knock it out of gear on three sisters in Wyoming back when I still ran the road. It's the only time I had a triple digit truck.
:17142:
When I ran the west coast we used to roll off Cabbage and knock it outta gear once we rounded the last curve...of course once you rounded that last curve, you could see forever!!
:smilie93c peelout:
 
When I ran the west coast we used to roll off Cabbage and knock it outta gear once we rounded the last curve...of course once you rounded that last curve, you could see forever!!
:smilie93c peelout:
Parleys Canyon westbound in to SL can be a little dicey. If in a semi & have a Jake Brake use it & save on the brake pads. Donner's Pass the same way. Rule of thumb for descending a steep grade. Start out in the highest gear you would use to climb it. Always worked for me.The most dangerous pass in the country back in the 60 & 70's without equal was the drop off on US 95 going in to Lewiston ID. Many truck drivers were killed there. Back then this hill was the kind that if you lost control of your speed & crashed, they came with a body bag, not an ambulance. Here is a interesting link to that section of road. If you do a little research you can see the HUGE difference between the road then & now. Idaho DOT web page has some info on it.von.
https://www.truckersforum.net/forum/threads/runaway-truck-ramp.77349/page-2

A great video of the old road. Even with new pavement, you miss a turn, be distracted for just a second, & you can say hello to Jesus. On 2 lane mountain roads like this back years ago, you learned how to drive, or you had a very short stent in driving a big rig.
 
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Wouldn't go so far as to say that,you should have tried Fancy Gap on old 52 or Hickory Nut gorge on 74 back in the 4 axle days,
think you would have a different view.
I have to admit the steepest grade east of the Mississippi I ever traversed was I-80 in PA. I was fired from 1 & quit the other when I started to refuse loads east of Indy. 95% of my OTR in the USA was out west. Lived in SLC for 4 years & drove out of there. Delivered off road recapped tires to mines & farm tractor tire dealers. We delivered to 22 mines out west. The largest tire made in the world we delivered. About 10 feet tall without the rim. Recapped they weighed about 5,000 lb. Talk about off road trucking, that was it. Back then most roads leading to the mine area were gravel with an oil base to keep the road intact. Kind of like the Al Can before it was paved all the way to Alaska. Now days most are shut down due to the EPA. And most precious metals come from overseas, NOT the good old USA. The metals are still in the ground, but to expensive to mine under current regs. Companies overseas have no EPA to raise their cost. von.
 
Try US6 Loveland Pass with loaded twins grossing 80,000. Don't care how many times you do it, that seat gets up in there.
Are you saying that when you start to drop off the top of that mountain, your are focused? Thats when you stop, check your breaks, and say hail Mary mother full of grace. von.
 
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