I have decided after my first trip that California is not for me. A few things that have put me off are the regulations regarding weights, the Donner Pass when it has less than 1" of snow and the lack of parking.
I had to park in a side road the other night as the Flying J was heaving and although I have no problem with that,I do have a problem with the guy who thought it would be a good idea to park beside my truck,blast his horn then stand beside his car with his trousers round his ankles.
Luckily a trailer was preloaded for me at the customer so I hooked up and ran to the flying J to weigh off. 2600lbs over on the trailer axles and due to regulations in California you cannot slide the axles back to allow more weight to be transfered to the truck axles. So after 4 weighs I gave up and took the load back to the customer who had to reload it and put more weight at the front. Back to "J's" and I hit the scales, after I alteration I was legal to go.
On my trip back you drive through Sacremento and I was amazed to see how much litter and rubbish there is by the side of the road and by North American standards this was disgraceful.
As I mentioned in my last post snow was forecast for the Donner Pass so I was expecting to have to fit the "Jewellery"(snowchains) to the wheels. What I wasn't expecting was trucks strewn all over the road panicking to put chains on when the road was only wet, then overtaking each other at 20mph while dodging other drivers stood in the road fitting chains. It was one of the most dangerous situations I have witnessed and how someone didnt get killed I have no idea.
I never did fit the chains as there was no need, but having to avoid other drivers going at a few mph seemingly terrified of the conditions was a nightmare. I must admit when I first got here the importance of doing your mountain driving trip was a bit daunting to me purely because of the fear factor that was put upon you. I have driven over some of the biggest mountain ranges and demanding roads in Europe and for a country that gets severe winters I can honestly say I was appalled at the standard of driving. I believe that a lot of drivers here would refuse to tackle even Sutton Bank on wet roads. As things go at the minute I dont want to tackle the Donner Pass again in the winter, not because of the conditions but because of other professional drivers
1 comment:
calofornia is a joke. worst part about having to chain up there is they require so many axles. colorado has bigger steeper mtns. but they only require 1 drive axle and none on the trailer.
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