Better Roads

I found this out the first time my instructor purposefully jackknifed the trailer behind the school's specially equipped F-250 4x4 as we approached a 90-degree downhill righthander on the trailering road course. Instinctively, I went for a counter steer born of racing on mud tracks. Wrong. My corrective steering action only served to fold the pickup-trailer combination even further. Once I had the trailer back inline and the truck stopped, my instructor walked me through the correct response to such a trailer event: Accelerate to get the trailer back in line and then brake to regain control. He also pointed out getting around corners with a trailer in icy conditions is best done by "boxing off" or "V-ing off" the corners. In other words, brake in a straight line before entering the corner, get all of the steering done at once while the trailer is responding, then accelerate out of the corner in a straight line. We spent several hours going around the course again and again while he locked the trailer's brakes and I practiced the cornering and recovery techniques. It wasn't long before I could keep the trailer under control no matter how hard he tried to make it jackknife. I passed. The beauty of training on an ice track is learning to control of pickup/trailer combination under safe, slow, controlled but real - conditions with an expert in the passenger's seat. NOTE:There are also courses for drivers of trucks and cars without trailers. The Bridgestone Winter Driving School designed a special trailer for snow-tow training behind the school's F-250 4x4 diesel. The truck has a manual brake controller that is operated by the instructor from the passenger's seat. The trailer, loaded with several thousand pounds of water in a tank above the axles, is equipped with stabilizing cables on giant coil springs attached between the tongue and mid-frame. The system was designed by the school to limit the amount of jackknife on the pickup-trailer combination. This custom setup saves the tow vehicle from damage and helps students learn corrective driving skills quicker. –LW Check out the school at www.winterdrive.com. Trailer classes set up by arrangement - email team@drivingsciences.com. Better Roads March 2013 17

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• APPLICATIONS & INNOVATIONS: Ice, Ice, Baby : Winter work never ends, be it road work or snow clearing. A Colorado school has lessons for pickup drivers hauling equipment loaded trailers over ice and snow.
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