That 100+ vehicle pile up you mentioned did not close the highway for near a week. It happened on a Sunday and the road reopened on Wednesday or maybe even late on Tuesday. This catastrophe happened 15 miles east of Wamsutter, in the westbound lanes for the most part, but there was also a smaller pileup in the eastbound lanes. I know this, because I used to travel this route every day except Sunday pulling Fed-Ex trailers from Denver to Wamsutter and back. I swapped trailers with the Salt Lake Fed-Ex driver. If I-80 was closed. I traveled on I-70 through the mountains to Grand Junction and swapped out there. Wyodot pushed all the wreckage and debris onto the shoulders and further on both sides. It looked like war zone It took about 5 to 6 months to clear the area of all the debris. I started that route in mid December of 2019 till September 2020, I had a minor injury which took me off that route for good thank God. The worst part of driving a semi truck on I-80 were the other semi trucks in inclement weather with slick roads. These drivers not use to driving in these conditions would group up with other scared drivers, driving between 25 to 40 mph. When going up hill someone inexperienced would spin out, jackknife and the trucks following him or her would plow into their trailer and cause a chain reaction. I never followed these groups, I always went around them. I drove relaxed, driving tensed up will cause drivers to react to quickly and over compensate. The biggest danger on a slick road is lack of visibility, the main reason that pileup was so severe. I saw video of a east bound driver that stopped and caught some of the mayhem on camera. He was basically at the end where the cars and trucks had just joined the pileup as more vehicles approached going 40, 50, 60 mph. that couldn't stop. They slammed on the brakes when they froze up in desperation careening into the other vehicles that just went through the same experience. A semi with a loaded trailer slammed into another semi trailer, its momentum caused his trailer to disengage and the nose of the trailer went straight up before it came crashing down. I'm amazed that only 4 people lost their lives that day. My advice is, if your involved in a situation like this be very alert first off,, if you come upon a bunch of cars and trucks all tangled up, facing different directions other than the way they should be, get off the road if possible, it doesn't matter if the terrain is rough and has deep snow. Get out of the way the lives you save may be your own and your passengers.
Nothing quite prepares you for the wind in Wyoming. I moved there to work the oil fields and had heard the stories but damn, when I heard on the news that two semis had blown over and they closed I80 it really sunk in. Seeing a porta potty rolling across a drill pad was a memorable experience and Im damn glad I wasnt inside it at the time.
I lived and worked in the Hanna coal mines for several years. Always saw trucks blown over on I80 - and heaven forbid they were hauling a modular home - they loved to catch the wind. When it snowed, we always joked that the snow didn't hit the ground until it got to Nebraska!
I grew up in Rawlins, went college in Laramie, now live in Cheyenne. I've traveled coast to coast and border to border in years of welding and still will ALWAYS take 230 around if there is weather
Really enjoyed the video! I could have sworn the wind was trying to blow my car off the road the first night I drove through this terrifying stretch of road. The moon and the stars have to align justtt right in order for me to take this route again in winter!
Wyoming History Channel, if this was truly trucking industry that pushed this route, then the next year, in 1971, a bypass route, along the original route, would have been built. Yet here we are years into this mess, 2023, and no bypass is built.
Constantly on the CB ["How Bout that Elk Mountain?"] Ahh...Double Nickel all the way thru, Lil Slick with some gust...not bad. How bout them Three Sisters? [EASY Up and Down]
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Sam, Well done. Thanks for putting the history in perspective.
That 100+ vehicle pile up you mentioned did not close the highway for near a week. It happened on a Sunday and the road reopened on Wednesday or maybe even late on Tuesday.
This catastrophe happened 15 miles east of Wamsutter, in the westbound lanes for the most part, but there was also a smaller pileup in the eastbound lanes. I know this, because I used to travel this route every day except Sunday pulling Fed-Ex trailers from Denver to Wamsutter and back. I swapped trailers with the Salt Lake Fed-Ex driver. If I-80 was closed. I traveled on I-70 through the mountains to Grand Junction and swapped out there. Wyodot pushed all the wreckage and debris onto the shoulders and further on both sides. It looked like war zone
It took about 5 to 6 months to clear the area of all the debris. I started that route in mid December of 2019 till September 2020, I had a minor injury which took me off that route for good
thank God. The worst part of driving a semi truck on I-80 were the other semi trucks in inclement weather with slick roads. These drivers not use to driving in these conditions would
group up with other scared drivers, driving between 25 to 40 mph. When going up hill someone inexperienced would spin out, jackknife and the trucks following him or her would plow into their trailer and cause a chain reaction. I never followed these groups, I always went around them. I drove relaxed, driving tensed up will cause drivers to react to quickly and over compensate. The biggest danger on a slick road is lack of visibility, the main reason that pileup was so severe. I saw video of a east bound driver that stopped and caught some of the mayhem on camera. He was basically at the end where the cars and trucks had just joined the pileup as more vehicles approached going 40, 50, 60 mph. that couldn't stop. They slammed on the brakes when they froze up in desperation careening into the other vehicles that just went through the same experience. A semi with a loaded trailer slammed into
another semi trailer, its momentum caused his trailer to disengage and the nose of the trailer went straight up before it came crashing down. I'm amazed that only 4 people lost their lives that day. My advice is, if your involved in a situation like this be very alert first off,, if you come upon a bunch of cars and trucks all tangled up, facing different directions other than the way they should be, get off the road if possible, it doesn't matter if the terrain is rough and has deep snow. Get out of the way the lives you save may be your own and your passengers.
Nothing quite prepares you for the wind in Wyoming. I moved there to work the oil fields and had heard the stories but damn, when I heard on the news that two semis had blown over and they closed I80 it really sunk in. Seeing a porta potty rolling across a drill pad was a memorable experience and Im damn glad I wasnt inside it at the time.
I lived and worked in the Hanna coal mines for several years. Always saw trucks blown over on I80 - and heaven forbid they were hauling a modular home - they loved to catch the wind. When it snowed, we always joked that the snow didn't hit the ground until it got to Nebraska!
Excellent piece, Sam!
I grew up in Rawlins, went college in Laramie, now live in Cheyenne. I've traveled coast to coast and border to border in years of welding and still will ALWAYS take 230 around if there is weather
Really enjoyed the video! I could have sworn the wind was trying to blow my car off the road the first night I drove through this terrifying stretch of road. The moon and the stars have to align justtt right in order for me to take this route again in winter!
That's funny " We will keep it open all the time."
Wyoming History Channel, if this was truly trucking industry that pushed this route, then the next year, in 1971, a bypass route, along the original route, would have been built. Yet here we are years into this mess, 2023, and no bypass is built.
Constantly on the CB
["How Bout that Elk Mountain?"]
Ahh...Double Nickel all the way thru, Lil Slick with some gust...not bad.
How bout them Three Sisters?
[EASY Up and Down]