Safely Hauling Your Trailer Through the Snow

Even with snow on the ground, work has to continue, and for anyone who has a hauling business, that means driving over snowy roads with your loaded trailer in tow. Because of winter weather conditions, you’re going to need to exercise more caution while driving and also equip your trailer with some useful accessories to make your hauling easier and less dangerous.

True Value Trailers & Power Equipment, with locations in Penrose and Florence, is your Colorado trailer dealer. We’ve gathered up some of our top tips for safe hauling in the snow to help you with your work this winter.

Swap Out Your Tires

The tires on your trailer are likely standard-issue tires that aren’t necessarily designed for heavy snow driving. You can swap them out for special snow tires to improve your traction and make driving in slush easier. You’ll likely want to install similar tires on your towing vehicle for the best traction and handling possible. You can also use chains instead if you prefer.

Install Trailer Brakes

Your trailer may or may not have come with its own set of brakes. If it has no brakes, then you’ll need to install some before you drive with it in bad weather. The full weight of your trailer and its cargo will be very difficult for your towing vehicle’s brakes to bring to a full stop, so having separate brakes for the trailer that activate when you brake your towing vehicle is important for driving safety.

Be aware of the manual override function on your trailer brakes. This squeeze bar or button will let you activate the trailer’s brakes separately to help you regain control when fishtailing.

Bring Emergency Supplies

Being prepared for any eventuality is a huge part of planning to drive in the snow. When you’re hauling a trailer behind you, it’s possible that you could get stuck or waylaid somewhere by a severe storm, so it pays to have the tools and supplies with you that you might need at that time.

Some things we recommend you carry include additional warm layers of clothing, blankets, an ice scraper, a snow shovel, rock salt, tire chains, flares, water and food, a first-aid kit and a tool kit for making small repairs to your trailer.

Drive With Extra Caution

You’ll need to be even more vigilant than usual when towing a trailer in the winter. Fishtailing (where your trailer swerves from left to right due to loss of traction) or jackknifing (when your trailer and vehicle jut at a sharp angle at the hitch point due to poor reversing) are more likely to happen when the roads are slick with sleet, ice or snow. This means you’ll need to take every turn slowly, keep your speed down and apply your brakes gently. If you feel yourself starting to lose control of your towing set-up, accelerate a bit to straighten it out and then very softly apply the brakes.

Make sure that you’re also watching other traffic on the road and looking at the conditions up ahead so you can be prepared to stop in congestion or move to one side to get around an accident. Other vehicles may fishtail without warning, too, so be prepared to stop at any moment in bad weather.

One more part of good winter road safety is having a trailer that’s in good condition to begin with. Visit one of our Colorado locations in Florence or Penrose to take a look at our new and used trailers for sale. If you need some professional trailer service or parts, contact our maintenance department to schedule an appointment. True Value Trailers & Power Equipment serves the cities of Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Colorado.