I was only saying the other day about a storm we got caught in a while back; Vicious, heavy rain/hail, wind, almost zero vision. Not very pleasant when on a road with single lanes each way and triple road trains (trucks pulling three trailers) hurtling along in both directions. Pull over and risk getting taken out by a wayward vehicle, keep motoring and the same...Not a good moment.
It's often difficult to know the best course of action...I think lights on and slow speed was the way to go, seems many truckers disagreed as they didn't slow much.
I've always found that the best course of action, unless the road is completely blocked and impassable, is to push on through, unless you know you're going in the same direction of the storm, which means you could be stuck in it far longer than you might otherwise. If you can outrun it great. Otherwise, might want to pick a different direction if at all possible, or wait it out a bit.
Other than that, I'd rather be moving and taking my chances than sitting on the side of the road totally dependent on the driving abilities of others, especially multi-trailered trucks when visibility is low.
I think the truckers think they have so much weight that it will keep them on the road, and for the most part, I think they're right. But at some point, speed over comes all, and then the weight becomes a huge detriment when it comes to trying to stop. I generally trust truckers over normal drivers but in a heavy storm, not so much.
Exactly my thoughts. If I had a car park to pull into then maybe, but I kept moving, full lights on and hoped those around me saw me. Like you say, truckers are generally better on the roads than most but they probably feel a certain safety through size, height and weight; Justified mostly, but not always.
In the northern parts of the country they haul 4-6 full sized trailers: Cattle, ore, fuel, diesel, gas, pipes, mining stuff and sometimes grain. They do 140kph and don't stop for anything. They can be frightening for people not used to them, especially on a single lane (both ways) outback strip of bitumen. It's a matter of getting waybiff the road before they get there as they cannot stop or deviate. It's interesting times for sure.
re: 4-6 sized trailers
That's massive. The most I've seen at once is three, and that's plenty. I'd hope that accidents are infrequent, even if it's out in the middle of nowhere because the carnage and cleanup would be unbelievable.
They're monsters yeah! Accidents are pretty rare although when they happen it's often some tourist who has no clue what 180 tons of stuff going 140kph can do when a collision occurs. Reasonably rare though. Those drivers are very skilled.