20 Steep Highway Grades That TERRIFY Even Veteran Truckers

Comments · 280

• KA

  @KatrinaLPate · 1 month ago (edited)

  As a driver of over 30 years, I had gone down most of these, and on about half of them I never had to use my brakes. I started out in the correct gear, had my jake on, and paid attention to the terrain. As long as you know your equipment, terrain, and ability, the rest is usually a piece of cake.

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• RE

  @redneckcowboy59 · 2 weeks ago

  46 years and still running, I learned the mountains in a 4070B IH 290 Cummins with no Jakes.  My policy then is the same today, start off slow go down slow, get to the bottom slow, but alive.  Know your equipment and your capabilities, remember this.... you can run down a mountain 1000 times to slow, but you can only go down once too fast!

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• FI

  @fific9571 · 1 month ago

  Drive Colorado to California to Colorado at least once a year, just in a regular SUV usually hauling a long utility trailer.  It never ceases to amaze me how many drivers of regular passenger cars get in the way of trucks on steep grades.  I swear I feel for those truckers dealing with inconsiderate passenger vehicle drivers.

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• KH

  @KHosea2 · 1 month ago

  He absolutely right the west is like King Kong of the mountains 🥺

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• KR

  @krash66 · 1 month ago

  State Route 28 Northbound in NY descending into Mohawk, NY drops 1200ft in 2 miles. There is a brake check area at the top and a runaway truck ramp with arrester cables and sand barrels before the last super steep grade right into town. Do NOT take it lightly, even in a loaded car. <br>Also, State Route 10 Northbound descending into Richmondville, NY. It drops from 2050ft to 1000ft in 3 miles. It used to have a runaway truck ramp before it was rerouted to a gentler slope around town, instead of directly into the center of town, like it used to be. It&apos;s killed many people. <br>Do NOT think that just because you are not out west in the big mountains that there are not dangerous hills in the East.

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• RE

  @Rebecky31 · 1 month ago

  I grew up in Colorado..my dad would take us fishing, we would travel over Loveland pass because the tunnel wasn’t built yet…I remember one time he hit a pothole and the hood of his truck flew up while we were on Loveland pass…I worked in vail, Durango…back then the highway barely had shoulders..terrifying!

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• BR

  @brentbraten6680 · 4 weeks ago

  I’m not a trucker but I I did grow up with my dad hauling horses up and down the mountains several times a year so I am at least aware of a few of these hazards. &nbsp;Three you missed that most truckers might at least want to be aware of are the last seven or eight miles on Highway 16 as it comes down out of the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming. &nbsp;On the east side it is a steady 7% grade with several extremely sharp turns. &nbsp;On the west side it is Tensleep Canyon. It is a long steep grade as well but this side is a switchback with several hairpin turns. &nbsp;The second is the Sunlight Basin side of Dead Indian Pass on the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. &nbsp;It;s a relatively easy drive (in a car) but it is another switchback. &nbsp;A friend told me about the third one. &nbsp;It is the highway heading down into Death Valley, California. &nbsp;As a bonus, I have always heard stories about Highway 14 &nbsp;as it descends out if the Big Horn Mountains on the west side. &nbsp;It is a steep switchback with multiple hairpin turns.<br><br>You got most of them, which is a good thing, but there are others that are less well known that truckers should be aware of.<br><br>Take care.

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• HE

  @Helismoke · 1 month ago

  I just retired after 13 years of trucking Coast to Coast. My was riding with me and we had a great game we played going down these grades <br>&quot; Watch an Idiot Go By&quot;. Too fast, smoking brakes, no clue.<br>They made me look smart.

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• DI

  @DixieDarling1020 · 6 days ago

  I never want to ride/drive those roads in car, certainly NOT in a 80,000 lb/53 vehicle ft semi. &nbsp;Those drivers have my respect and appreciation.

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• TR

  @truth528 · 5 days ago

  As a truck driver, I’ve driven every one of these passes. Out of all of them, love and pass has to be the scariest. Sharp corners, steep drops and no guard rails. However, if you happen to be traveling at dusk, you can get some amazing photos. That is if you survive it.

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• BR

  @brianhawkes4178 · 1 month ago

  The thing I learnt was Go down the hill in the same gear as you go up it in, with your Jake brake on. That way you won&apos;t need to use your brakes at all. In Australia it is against the law to use your service brakes on gradients that have a sign at the top that says ( trucks and buses must use low gear )

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• DA

  @darrylholcomb9076 · 1 month ago

  I&apos;ve ran nearly all listed with Yellow Freight Systems, Cabbage in the winter chaining tripples is an experiane on either side. Some not listed were Soldier Summit, &nbsp;Westbound I8 into San Diego, Tehachapi, &amp; one that I well remember one snowy winter night full of traffic from the ski resort is Parley, from Wyoming into Salt Lake City.

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