SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. — The Labor Day weekend begins Friday, and domestic travel bookings are 9% higher this year compared to 2023, according to AAA.
For many Coloradans, that means spending time in the mountains to celebrate the holiday.
One of the main thoroughfares that visitors and natives alike use to get to their destination is westbound Interstate 70 through the Eisenhower Tunnel.
Driving through the tunnel, drivers pass not one but two runaway truck ramps. Most have never seen them used, but the most-heavily used runaway truck ramp in Colorado — and in the country — lies on that stretch of highway, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
And summer is when runaway truck ramps across the state are most often used, CDOT and tow truck company Mountain Recovery both confirmed.
"Labor Day is coming up, we definitely ramp up our team. We make sure we're out here right away when the sun comes up, all the way to 8, 9, 10 o'clock at night, as long as people are out on the roads... We make sure our team is spread out, that we're, you know, every other exit or so," Charlie Stubblefield, the owner of Mountain Recovery, said.
- Hear how runaway truck ramps – and what makes one particular spot on I-70 the most heavily-used ramp in the US – in the video player below:
It may seem contradictory since the snow and ice are often most associated with treacherous driving conditions.
But semi truck breaks more often overheat in high temperatures with extensive use, which is common on the steep hill coming out of the Eisenhower Tunnel as drivers naturally gain speed, according to CDOT.
"When you go down that hill, it's pretty steep. It's deceivingly steep," Tamara Rollison, the CDOT Communications Manager, said.
That steepness, paired with the high traffic volume along the I-70 corridor, is what makes the Lower Straight Creek runaway truck ramp the highest used, according to Rollison.
"They're going to come down that pass. And usually they're not hot enough, and their brakes haven't experienced enough wear yet to hit the upper runaway ramp, but once they get towards that lower runaway ramp, they've experienced total brake failure," Rollison said.
It's a phenomenon known as "brake fade."
"And what's happening there is there's friction between their brake drum and their brake shoe, and it's heating up so much that it can't actually hold anymore. That friction is gone," Rollison explained. "And at that point, a truck driver might realize, 'Hey, I need to stop this thing, and the only way I can do that is by going into that runaway truck ramp.'"
That ramp, along with the 12 other CDOT ramps, is meant for any vehicle that loses its brakes while traveling at high speeds on this terrain, CDOT said — not just semi trucks. The goal is just to prevent disastrous crashes if a vehicle's brakes fail.
"If you're driving your Subaru, let's say, and you're going down westbound, I-70, and your brakes don't work, you can use that runaway truck ramp. It's there to use in an emergency so you can make a safe exit off the interstate... You don't use it to pull off because you're tired. You don't use it to pull off for any other reason," Rollison said.
It may sound unbelievable, but Stubblefield said he's seen similar things many times.
"There are families in a suburban get out of the vehicle and are at the bottom of the runaway ramp. We're like, 'No no, you got to get out of here.' This is not the place to stop. I've seen people that ski or snowboard down the ramps. They'll stop at the bottom of the ramp. They'll hike up to the top, and they'll ski or snowboard down," Stubblefield said.
It's true the Lower Straight Creek runaway truck ramp is located along a beautiful, scenic drive, and there's limited shoulder space for drivers to stop.
So how is the decision made where runaway truck ramps are built?
"It is an engineering decision as to where these runaway ramps go," Rollison said. "We also take a look at what the traffic volume is like, what the use is like in in the need, and it's really based on the need."
Despite the need, there were concerns in the past of drivers not using the ramps out of fear of getting in trouble or having to pay astronomical costs. Rollison emphasized Colorado State Patrol does not issue a ticket for drivers that use the ramp and drivers are not charged for CDOT maintenance crews to clear the ramp for future use.
"They have to clear the gravel bed so that it's in good, safe working order for the next truck to use, so they'll go in there and make sure that it's safe and everything's cleared. They're not charged for that type of thing. The expense they would have is getting a third-party tow truck to get their rig out of the emergency truck runaway ramp," Rollison said.
One such third-party tow truck company frequenting the I-70 corridor is Mountain Recovery. This particular company gained more notoriety recently since Stubblefield started the business five years ago. The company finished filming season one of a documentary series last winter, and it's set to air on The Weather Channel this coming January.
Stubblefield and his crew of tow truck drivers said they recover lots of trucks out of the Lower Straight Creek runaway truck ramp every year.
"This year's not over yet. 2023 we responded to, I think, 12 trucks in the runaway truck ramp out here on Straight Creek Eisenhower Tunnel," Stubblefield.
The few people who have caught a glimpse of a truck using one of the state's runaway ramps know how quickly it can stop such a large, fast-moving vehicle.
How does the runaway ramp stop a semi truck barreling down the highway?
The Lower Straight Creek runaway truck ramp is lined with what's called clear stone, Stubblefield said.
"Clear stone is like little gravel, probably like half an inch to three-quarters of an inch round," he explained. "There's no fine [stones] in there, which means that that stone is kind of like a ball pit, right? When you jump in as a kid and it just sucks you down in, and it's hard to get out of."
But each runaway truck ramp is a little different, based on when it was built and the type of stone used, Stubblefield said. The ramps at Straight Creek, Vail and Lookout Mountain, for example, were built at different times. The Lookout Mountain ramp, Stubblefield said, uses more fine stone but has still proven successful.
"We've seen it a few times now doing a really, really good job of just sucking trucks right in and really getting those buried and making sure those don't go any further," he said. "The Eisenhower Tunnel grade, that's a little bit bigger stone that was put in a little bit longer ago, and then Vail is kind of in the middle of that. So over the years, the engineers have seemingly learned what works and what works better, and they're moving towards the best solution."
The Lower Straight Creek runaway truck ramp is also quite steep.
"We always run the risk of that truck coming back into us," Stubblefield said.
When Mountain Recovery tow truck drivers respond to a semi truck that used the Lower Straight Creek runaway ramp, Stubblefield said they work as a team with one person at the bottom of the ramp looking for any more possible trucks needing to use the same ramp.
How does a tow truck get to a semi truck stranded on the runaway ramp?
Oftentimes, Mountain Recovery doesn't have to go onto the runaway truck ramp to help clear the semi. Stubblefield said there's an access road next to the Lower Straight Creek runaway truck ramp that his tow truck drivers can use and maneuver their equipment onto the ramp to remove the semi.
"Now that's not to say that we don't have to get into the ramp. We sometimes do have to get into the ramp and we'll back one of these trucks up," Stubblefield said. "To get to the base of a semi that we need to get to, we've got to be going [about] 50 miles an hour to make it up there. So we have to launch ourselves into that ramp, go through that clear stone, and get up in there to recover that semi."
He said time is always of the essence to clear a scene quickly for its next emergency use.
The more quickly the team of tow truck drivers can clear it, the less risk there is of someone else needing it at the same time, and the less time traffic backs up on that stretch of highway — also posing a threat for more crashes. Stubblefield cited stats from CDOT that indicate I-70 is closed for as much as 64% less time now than it was before Mountain Recovery's inception in 2019.
For Stubblefield, there's one simple thing drivers can do to stay safe.
"We want trucks be going 35 miles an hour once they hit this tunnel. We want trucks to be going 45 miles an hour once they crest over the top of Vail Pass," Stubblefield said. "If they're doing 65 miles an hour coming out of that tunnel, their brakes alone can't stop them."
That can go for drivers traveling in their personal vehicles as well.
"The speed limit's there for a reason. It's not just to be boring, right?" Stubblefield said. "It's different from a passenger vehicle on a truck. The main thing that holds a truck back on a steep grade, or even coming to a stop, is its engine brake and its transmission. And if they're not in the proper gear, and if they're not going the proper speed, they have very little control after that point.
"What their brakes do is only supplement their engine and their transmission from holding them back," he continued. "Their brakes are not capable of fully stopping an 80,000-pound semi going down this grade. So a lot of people don't realize that they can't just hit their brakes and come to a stop. That's not true on a truck, and that's not how they're designed."
But not all travelers are prepared for the challenges that come with driving through the I-70 corridor and Rocky Mountains.
"90% of the trucks that use escape ramps, they're out of state," Rollison said.
CDOT recommends all drivers educate themselves on what to expect and how best to handle it.
"Along I-70, we have a network of cooling stations, brake cooling places where trucks can pull off and make sure that their brakes are in good shape, or their rigs are in good shape. And then we also have areas in which they can chain up as well too," Rollison said.
You can click here for more tips on mountain driving, whether you're a semi driver or not.
For more details on CDOT's Mountain Rules campaign to enhance safety for drivers traveling through the state's mountainous areas, click here.
Denver7's team of digital journalists has been working during the summer of 2024 on a series of stories geared toward keeping Colorado's roads safe. See more Digital Originals here.
