Weather & Seasonal · Driver Training VideoTornado & Severe Weather Protocol

Start with the rule most drivers don't know. Under FMCSA's adverse driving conditions exception, if weather you couldn't have known about at dispatch time shows up mid-run, you can extend your 11-hour driving window and your 14-hour on-duty window by up to two hours.

Know the difference between a watch and a warning. A tornado watch means conditions are right — stay alert, keep the radio on. A tornado warning means one has been spotted or shown on radar — you act now, no debate.

Here is the one habit that saves lives: never shelter under an overpass. Wind speeds funnel and accelerate under that structure — it is one of the most dangerous places you can put your rig in a tornado.

High wind without a tornado is its own hazard. Empty and lightly loaded trailers catch crosswind like a sail — that's when rollovers happen on open highway, not just on ramps.

Hail and lightning: get off the road, park clear of trees and poles, and stay inside the cab with the engine running until it passes. That's the one time staying in the truck is the right call.

Your company standard: check the forecast before you're dispatched, monitor weather alerts through the trip, and call it in the moment conditions turn — before it becomes an emergency, not after.

And if the road ahead is underwater, you don't guess the depth. Turn around. Water hides washed-out pavement, and moving water can push even a big rig off the road faster than you'd think.