Defensive Driving · Driver Training VideoSkid Control & Recovery

A skid does not start when the truck slides. It starts a few seconds earlier, with a speed, a brake application, or a steering input the road could not support. Traction is a budget. Braking, turning, and accelerating all spend from the same account.

Three skids, and each one has a different fix.

The most common is a rear wheel skid, usually caused by braking too hard, or getting on the fuel too hard on a slick surface. The drive wheels lock or spin, the back of the tractor comes around, and the trailer follows. The fix is immediate. Get off whatever caused it.

A front wheel skid is a different animal. You turn the wheel and the truck keeps going straight. That comes from being too fast for the curve, worn front tires, or too little weight on the steer axle. There is no steering out of it.

Then the trailer skid, the jackknife. The trailer wheels lose grip and the trailer pushes past the tractor. Release the brakes so those wheels can roll and track again. Never try to straighten a rig with the trailer hand valve.

Empty and light trailers skid easiest of all. Less weight over the axles, less grip, and brakes built for a loaded rig. An empty run in bad weather is not the easy trip. It is the one that puts you in the ditch.

Your company standard: prevent, do not recover. On a wet road, cut about a third off your speed. On packed snow, cut it in half or more. On ice, slow to a crawl and get off the road at the first safe place.

One more

If the road is past your skill or your equipment, park it. No load is worth the few seconds it takes to lose a rig.