How to get the truck out of mud
Muddy roads are always obstacles that drivers do not want to face on the road, especially when operating a vehicle as large as a truck. This kind of road can make the vehicle’s tires slip and the wheels will get buried in the slough. If you often have to drive a truck to move through these sorts of traffics, drivers must have essential skills to pass safely. Here’s how to handle difficult situations on the muddy roads that you definitely need to know.
1. Go slowly in low gear
The first and foremost thing when traveling on muddy roads is that the vehicle is controlled in low gear, usually the first gear. The speed of the vehicle also needs to be maintained at a moderate level, because if you go too fast, the wheels will slip, loss of grip, and it will prevent the driver from handling accidental situations.
2. Do not press the accelerator hard
If you feel that the vehicle has lost grip on the road, the driver should not step on the accelerator when the vehicle is going downhill, and do not hold the throttle too low when the vehicle is going uphill. Pressing on the accelerator pedal hard, sporadically and incoherently will cause the wheels to spin quickly and will make the truck sink even deeper.
3. Do not follow the tire tracks in front of you
If driving on steep and muddy roads, do not follow any pre-existing wheel tracks. Due to deeper and wetter areas on the road, it also means higher risk of the wheel slipping.
4. Minimize using the brake
Whether it is going uphill or downhill on muddy roads, drivers should use brakes as little as possible. Although vehicles may be equipped with ABS (anti-lock braking system), the car can still slip uncontrollably on the slippery roads. This situation will gradually lead the driver to bump the throttle again. Therefore, if you want to slow down, you should return a lower gear to brake the truck indirectly.
In case you must use the brake, press the brake pedal slowly, and release it flexibly (like the principle of ABS system).
5. Steer the wheel softly
If traveling on a steep road, you may feel that the wheels of the truck tend to slip or begin to deviate from the lane. In that situation, you must try to steer softly and slowly into the lane and use the brake to stop. If it’s so hard to stop the vehicle, you should maintain a moderate speed so that the wheels do not roll out.
6. Deflate the tires a bit/ Use soft tires
On concrete roads, the tires need to be inflated for delivering cargo conveniently and safely. However, with muddy roads, everything is completely different. The underinflated tires as usual are more suitable, because they increase friction and help the car grip the road more, so that the car is also easier to move. If you know in advance or forecast that you will enter a muddy road, deflate the tires a bit and use soft tires.
7. When wheels gets stuck in mud
If the wheel is under the mud, turn the gear lever back, lower the handbrake and get out of the truck to check. Then, depending on the settlement state of the wheel, the driver will get different ways to handle this kind of situation. If the tires do not sink too deeply, the driver can put wood, gravel and straws under the tires to make the truck easy to move. This gives the wheels more friction and can get out of mud.
In case the tires sink so deeply, the divers should call for rescue truck force as soon as possible so that the journey will not be interrupted.
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