Question:
How bout some tips from veterans on how to determine whether the road surface is slick or just wet looking. How bout when the snow provides some traction or none? Situation: 28 degrees, fog, rain / snow mixed, state has deice on sections, empty with doubles. Any trickes up the sleeve to stay safe?

Answer:
A big truck will go down a snow-packed road pretty good, so long as you completely understand the concept of following distances and braking. But NO rubber-tired vehicle has any business whatsoever on a sheet of ice. After a freezing rain event has coated the road with ice, you can just be going along and start sliding sideways for no reason, you don't have to steer funny or hit the brakes.
The best way I know of to tell you are no longer traveling on a wet road, you are now rolling on ice are these two signals:
Everything is QUIET underneath you
You are no longer throwing up spray.
Your road noise does in fact DISAPPEAR when running on ice. So turn down your radio's and listen!
And find a safe haven as soon as you possibly can. Remember, not only are you going to be mightily concerned over yourself and your load, you MUST be vigilant of those around you! Many 4-wheelers can't drive on a clear road: what are they going to do when they hit ice? Right answer. Do the speed limit.
And ice can form on roadways, especially bridges and overpasses, at around 38 degrees air temp. So if it's 28 degrees, there's fog and rain/snow mix, I could care less WHAT the state highway department is laying down on the roadway, I'm looking for a safe haven for my truck!
WHEN IN DOUBT....SIT IT OUT!!!!!
Head Warrior, TFBU
On The Mend.....

Answer:
SRJ sez:
You are no longer throwing up spray.
The old saying, "When there's spray, you're OK" doesn't always apply! There could be water ON TOP of ice already formed on the road.
SRJ has some dang good advice! Slow down, increase following distance and then park it at the first safe place you find! Until then, relax and stay alert! If you get nervous or too tense, that's an accident waiting to happen.

Answer:
Watch out for black Ice.
They're using some new chemicals on the roads now that make the road look wet or icy when it's actually dry at night, expecially on asphalt.
This makes it even harder these days to tell if the road is dry, or wet or black ice.
Watch your temperature gauge (get one of them and mount it according to the instructions) and watch for when it dips below freezing -- expecially in FOG!!!! If it's even slightly foggy out, and it's freezing, there may be a very THIN coat of frozen ice beads on the pavement from the fog.
Even the most experienced driver can be fooled by black ice sometimes, so be aware of the conditions you're driving in that might cause it -- like fog or high humidity in freezing temperatures at night.
Like Joe said, watch out for others around you. Keep a much longer following distance on ice/snow, especially behind 4-wheelers. They may freak-out and slow down faster than your truck can slow down.....most four wheelers can slow a lot faster on slippery roads than a truck can, due to it's weight and momentum. Keep lots of space up there.