Oh Monteagle... Me and this MT. Had our fair share from jan , 2019 through Aug 2019 Every monday for 8months. I would travel from chicago,IL to ATL,GA leave Chi at 6pm CST and arrive in ATL at 9am est. Went down one time overweight and lost all air pressure and began to smoke and smell. I never in my life ever needed God (my belief) to save me as I could not slow the truck. I made it down to the end using the grooved/ rumble shoulder and stopped and lit up a good ole newport menthol and did nothing but smile. On this day I finally understood " you can go down a mountain 1 million times to slow But one and only one time to fast!"

The worst part is all the 4 wheelers and the people that have big ass motor homes that drive insane and cut us off.30 yrs ago an old boy told if you leave early you won't have to speed. Great video stay safe brother Getting crazy out here.

20 years ago I was teaming with a young lady. She was driving down this grade when she decided to shift and lost her gear. To boot, the truck had no jake brake. (PST trucking). I flew out of the bunk and slammed it into 6th gear. The trailer tandems were throwing flames when we hit bottom.

Ah the memories. I did plenty of driving through those mountains. The one where I earned my real truck driver cap was Cabbage Hill, in Oregon. I was fresh out of truck driving school. It was my first trip with a driver trainer, there was snow on the ground, and I was sweating 🤣, made it down to the bottom without burning the brakes. I learned from that experience, that knowing how to prepare for the descent was crucial. Never took lightly a downhill descent. I always respected the road, and drove accordingly. That was 1998. 23 years of experience, with a clean record, well sorta of. Had an accident in 2019 due to both steers having mechanical issues, that my company decided to neglect. Thankfully I was the only one injured.

I've been down that grade many times. It was in a car, but stil, it's rather steep. The first time I remember taking that grade was in the early 80s. it as 4 narrow white knuckle lanes, in both directions. 2 each way. Trucks were back to back to back, with a few in the ditch on the right. Cars back to back to back, all bright red lights. Then the second time they were building the "west" bound lanes which are more NW in direction and quite a bit east of there, making a very large median. The trip today is nothing like it was then.

Omg!I got caught in a blizzard on that mountain driving the biggest Uhaul they rent!!I couldn't see anything...so I turned on my emergency lights&slowed down ...i prayed for Angels..out of nowhere comes 3 truckers like swish!swish!swish!!Laid down those tire tracks&opened the road up for me!!!Whomever those 3 were..i hope God blessed them TREMENDOUSLY with a beautiful life till this very second Amen.I am GREATFUL..i feel they saved my life!

As ignorant as today's drivers are I use my four ways to... The general public is not smart enough to drive safely. I want to give all the warning I can. And truckers to. Lots of cowboys still out there. I'm in the 3 million mile club.

I've been up and down this stretch many times but never thought anything of it until just now when I read on Wikipedia that it's considered one of the most hazardous stretches of interstate in the country, and also that it has one of the widest medians of any stretch of interstate. Neat.

it's a courtesy to the people behind that they know that we are going slow cuz they can see that we are not stopped been doing that for 40 years thanks for watching

It's places like this that make the United States one of the most beautiful most unique nations on earth.

Monteagle is deceptive. I was a new driver in 97 without a jake. I learned my lesson on I-8 eastbound out of Sandiego. El Cajon or El Centro, cant remember the name. I was a trainee, trainer in the bunk. I topped the mountain and put it in 5th gear with 36,000 pounds in the trailer. I was in trouble pretty quick. I woke my trainer up and asked whtat to do. He said letter go! I said I can't or I'll run offf the mountain. I was lucky and found a place that I could pull over just before my brakes totally gave out.d I had just enough room to stop the truck before I had to pull back out on the road.g When I was out on my own I was careful on a mountain. I went down Monteagle one day heavy. I stopped and did the brake check and headed down the mountain in 3rd gear in a 95 freightliner with no jake. I was doing about 25 and stab braking when a driver came past me doing at least 55 and yelling at me on the CB that I was creatin a hazard driving so slow. I passed by him at the bottom of the mountain and he was on the shoulder with smoke rolling off of his brakes all the way around the truck! Ha Ha. I blew my horn as I went by. Monteagle is not a long grade but it can be dangerous. I drove mostly in the east. I did a lot of PA, WV, NC, NY, TN, KY with heavy loads sometimes on 2 lane.

I go down this mountain multiple times a month, weighing 78k-79k lbs (dry bulk tanker). Normally, I set the jake on high, and put the transmission in 8th gear, 35-40mphs; I NEVER have to touch the brakes. The truck is a 2016 Freightliner Cascadia with a 10 speed manual. It's weak af going up the mountain while loaded lol, it takes me forever to make it to the top.

I had my share going up and down Monteagle and I always kept my speed down and took my time down the descent. It was scary at first but with my training kicking in, I got down safe. I'll never forget it.

I drove that and the gorge into Asheville, NC. The other side of Chattanooga driving in from I-75 is kid of steep. I never made it to Donners Pass or !-70 passed west pst Denevr , Co in my 18 wheelr. Fancy Gap, , VA is also steep. The 4th of July pass in Idaho was my favorite though. . My co driver had experience , but then realized I learned in the Mountains and finally he shut up. We made it. The steepest I have seen is a hill of 12% in around Kent /Seattle WA. It was about a city block long, . I -17 from Flagstaff, Az to Glendale , Az was a good trip also.. Thanks for the video and memories. Stay safe out there.

Can't believe how many people are shitting on this guy for using his flashers. He is a very safe and respectful of others around him. Can't say that for many veterans who are aggressive and dangerous to other motorists.. Especially those guys who have 30 million marker lights on their rig and horrid jock itch lol.

Jerry reed sang about mount eagle in Smokey and the bandit..

I don't envy the engineers responsible for planning this route. God bless

This mountain pass aint nuthin compared to when they allowed trucks down the "Ho Chi Mihn" trail back in the 60s and 70s. For the most of you that dont know where it is, it is PA209 connecting I80 and I84. Runs along the Delaware water gap. It used to be a 2 lane divided with no guard rails and around the mid 70s they increased it to a 4 lane divided with some guard rails and in the snow and ice, almost impassable. They closed it to truck traffic back around the early 80s I believe. Many deaths and accidents all along this route back in the day. If you fall off you have a 400 foot drop at its deepest. I remember hauling swinging beef from Hereford NM. to Milford NY. and then onto the Bronx. You aint never felt hair raising unless you have ever run down this route.

I've been down that mountain more times than I can recall. Alot of those times was without the benefit of a Jake break. The fun times. 🤣

My working area 22 years ago,beautiful area y some good country food and the best sweet tea and pork bbq down Chattanooga.

At my first over-the-road company in 1992 I'd deliver in Buena Vista, VA, and then go down to Lynchburg to pick up by way of U.S. 501. We had 45 and 48 feet long trailers driving cab-overs. Talk about a place to screw up if you weren't playing attention. On some of the switch back curves you could look out either window and see if your trailer doors were closed. Once I went through there bobtail and had a little 2 seater behind me. In one of the curvy areas I lost him but he caught me when the road straightened out. That sure was fun not having to worry about a trailer.

You took that hill in good shape. I have also driven semi down that hill. When I pulled into the “inspection area” near the top of the grade I always did a full air brake check. I never had a problem with my brakes howling or smoking. I much prefer it that way. Maybe semi’s will get disc brakes after I’m dead and buried. They’re out there, but they’re expensive and new so the industry is balking at the idea. Time will tell. I’m retired now, so I’ll just observe.

Always a lovely cruise down the mountain..nice view!

I remember back in 1975 that it was two lanes down and two lanes coming up no runaway ramps seen a few of them crash down through there

Been a few decades since I went over that mountain! Where I live we have a mountain that is 7% grade with a runaway truck ramp on a 3 lane hwy. 2 of those lanes go uphill. Another hwy we have here is 14% grade. I had my ex and his mother come that route to visit after they'd moved to AR and I gave them directions to my house. lol I did it deliberately because the old woman called me a liar when I talked about the mountains in AR. She said there weren't any mountains in AR, that a reliable source told her there wasn't. She apologized to me after she got to my house. LMAO! That was hwy 27 between Russelville and Marshall! Nice and curvy and steep and only 2 lanes!

I've been over that mountain many times. I think you can't go too slow going down the hill. It seem like every time I went down, there was at least one hot-shot trucker flying down the mountain, and I could smell brakes most of the way down. If you want a REAL adventure, try the old road, US 64. It drives like a Spirograph looks. :) Enjoyed the video! Greg in TN

Thanks for the clip. Johnny Cash had a song about this dangerous road.

I pulled over about half way down and took a hike in the woods, beautiful country!

I’ve been down it twice. It’s actually not that bad, as long as you keep your speed under control. As they say, you can go down a mountain too slow 100 times, but you’ll only go too fast down a mountain once.

He's going down a mountain located through Monteagle, Tennessee. The actual Mt. Eagle is located in Pennsylvania off of route 1006.

Beautiful pics of the smokey mountains

I’ve been driving for 8 months now and I went to Smyrna Tennessee to drop off a backhaul and that hill scared me to death! I had used my engine breaking 95% of the time

Lol ohhhh mt eagle. Molehill must be his first day. You want to see some hills go out west. Some grades out there are a hundred miles long.. back roads in some states like Pennsylvania, west Virginia, and out west have grades of 10 percent

I once drove a truck through the Colorado mountains and Utah I thought that was rough

The very first runaway truck ramp was built back in the 70s and it was on the right. What happened to it? I had no idea it was out of service. There was a scenic overlook on the westbound side of the mountain. It closed years ago because the bluff it was built on was determined to be unstable.

Just came down this morning. Nuthin to it.

Many Drivers lost their lives on Mt Eagle before they improved it. I cut my teeth on that one Red Irish Rose

"He left Atlanta back in '63 Haulin' him a load up to Tennessee He hit Monteagle in the driving rain So hard he couldn't even see the passing lane Well he started downgrade when he lost a gear He hit them brakes; found he had no air The Monteagle grade is steep and long And everybody that seen it thought the Bandit was gone Well his truck jack-knifed; turned completely 'round He was coming down backwards 'bout the speed of sound A lot of folks seen him and they all say He had his head out the window yelling "Clear the way!" Well he got to the bottom safe and sound Everybody asked Bandit how he made it down He said folks when the truck picked up too much speed I just run along beside it and drug my feet"

I remember when. Now Im thankful for Gods keeping all of us. If man had his way, the plan of redemption would be an endless and bloody conflict. In reality, salvation was bought not by Jesus' fist, but by His nail-pierced hands; not by muscle but by love; not by vengeance but by forgiveness; not by force but by sacrifice. Jesus Christ our Lord surrendered in order that He might win; He destroyed His enemies by dying for them and conquered death by allowing death to conquer Him.”

In 1971 there was a run off ramp on the right side of the road

Some guys go down it a couple times a week, some guys are empty, some guys don't give a shit, they're the one to stay clear of.

This stretch is nuts. It’s a rollercoaster

Been down this hill many times. You just got to be carful

so this is the infamous mt eagle that bandit lost his brakes on.

Watch out for swift

Had a 73 KW conventional 212 WB with a Double breasted Yamaha and a 4X4 with reversed aux box and a 42" Great Dane. A good rule of thumb was to never go down faster than you went up! Used to come down at 17 mph with 7lbs on the brakes and no jake. either side. I don't even recognize the road he filmed. We had 1 runaway ramp and a lot of rock on the left and nothing but space on the right. You could pull off in a couple of wide spots on the east side and during the fall you could look over the edge and see wrecks way down the mountain....a lot less wrecks on the west side cause it was a bit straighter and you didn't have that curve at the bottom. I've been over on 41 both ways and Alt 41 .. and they will make a man of you too.

It has been few years haven't passed that mountain going down the hill brings good memories those roads of Tennesse used to passed that inspection station too

Hauling beef out of Nebraska and Iowa never allowed me to go down Mt Eagle empty. The road you see now is nothing like what I remember in the early 80's. My first trip down I passed a wreck that was just pulled up and loaded on a flatbed. He didn't make it. I went over Mt Eagle many times and it was the scariest decent I encountered anywhere in the U.S. I was in a corn-binder cab-over with no jake. ish!!! Nothing made me feel better than seeing the bottom. I haven't driven for over 30 years and this still haunt's me. There's no comparison now to what it was then. I see drivers today acting like it's no big deal. They don't have a clue. My kingdom for a time-machine so I can enact a reality-check. Certainly white-knuckle stuff. Was that a deer or bigfoot? Clean your wind-shield bro. Ha!

Dude, it is Monteagle Mountain, Not Mt. Eagle. It is on 24 going to Monteagle, Tn. On the way north to Murfreesburo, or Nashville, Tn.

I remember when I went over this mountain the first time as an owner/operator I was nervous. I’m from the midwest and when I was a company driver I only trucked WI, IL and IN. I’ve been an owner/operator since February 2020 and been exploring other states/regions. Just last week I’ve picked up a load from Cedar Rapids IA to Salt Lake City UT which was scary going into Salt Lake but it was terrifying going from Salt Lake UT to Houston TX. That drive through Utah I will never do again. US 6 through all those mountains and canyons are extremely dangerous which I thought I was ready for. Nope I will stay away from the NW region which gets worse than Utah such as the mountains in CO, OR and NV.

I work for a large carrier who only provides automatic transmission. Do you put auto on manual gear and what gear do you want? I typically run light Amazon loads. Moving to Tennessee this winter.

A lot of dumb comments here about 4 way flashers,my wife and I were driving in Tennessee and she was behind the wheel and all over sudden she ask me a question why the trucks in front of us were had their 4 ways on, before I could even tell her what was going on I could hear the screeching sound of the tires since she hit the breaks so hard. She learned that day about 4 way flashers

I been down that hill and up the other side many, many times. Want to see the monster hills out west.

so what gear did you use going down ? Thanks

spelled: Monteagle

very nice

I love Monteagle when you get a thick layer of fog on you. Can't see the front of your hood.. Fun times!

Nice to see you using four ways... proper lighting. Could someone explain to me why too many truckers now on cloudy foggy rainy snowy days use park lights only. Used to be all trucks had multiple lighting which not only is great for road safety purposes but looks good.

Love it wish i was there !!!

I-24 is awfully familiar to me. It's about 3 miles from here but in KY. Scarey stuff on the end U drove through....runaway 18 wheeler....glad I never had to go there!!! Yikes!!

I used to find Monteagle intimidating, but a REAL nightmare is taking Colorado 92 over Independence Pass through a cloud bank. The road was narrow, twisty, and not in good condition at all, combined with almost no visibility. YIKES!! Fortunately for truckers, there's not much reason to come through here, Plus, it's closed during the winter due to avalanche danger.

monteagle isn't really bad at all been down it with 120000 pds the real scary mountains are in Pennsylvania on the two lane roads with all the s curves

Is there any way around Eagle Mountain? how did you get down before the interstate was developed?

I've been down that Hill how many times back in the days when I was driving the truck

Nice video, stay safe 💯

Hi sir. Do truckers use their engine brake when going on a downgrade when is snowing and they are using chains. Thank you very much

3 miles of 6% down hill, hell I could eat a bowl of cereal doing that, come off Donner in the snow, cabbage in the snow even the grapevine on black ice that are really test your nerves

He is literally "eastbound and down". But the trip on US 41 out of Monteagle is much more hair raising.

I've run up Monteagle.Got dropped off at the bottom and ran up to my hotel.I forget the exact distances.Its been almost 2 decades.I ran up the Nashville side not the Chattanooga side.Never got around to that side.I believe the Nashville side was something around 6 miles.It also seemed more doable because unlike the Chattanooga side it wasn't as straight up.Its all straight up but it's straight up'ness varies over the miles.Took me 54 minutes to cover the 6 miles.And of course as an Atlanta area (Canton) truck driver for decades I've drove over it gazillion times. I don't see it much less run it anymore.Its too far from Chorpus Christi.

How many feet of descent is that 6%? Anyone know of an instance where one of those runaway ramps was used?

Been down that route many times

Monteagle is nothing now compared to what it was before I-24 was built. I-70, I-15, I-5 and other interstates ruined REAL truckin' when they were opened.

I was in 8th gear thanks for watching and be safe

Beautiful, indeed ! Are you east or west bound?

This place is a thirty minute break cluster at night lol

This is good practice for those monsters out west

Going Up and Down Monteagle Hill Once up, Once Down per year.

Old times truckstop. Stayed there a few times.

To check brakes and spread out the trucks

My ole pete got a set of 8"..she will talk to u love running west!!

It amazes me how many people don’t get out and check there breaks or do nothing just continue down the hill

We have a runaway truck ramp going down mount hood on us 26

I've been down this road.

Nice to use the 4 way and keep to a lower gear. But, in BC, you would have failed the brake chack whick requires you to do the brake preasure checks in a standing position.

Look lije it was a nice view, couldnt see it window or camera wasnt clear.

Not a bad grade, you notice trucks bypass the station right

So did someone actually check your brakes in that inspections station or did you just have to stop to read the signs??

Second gear an trailer breaks. You will make it.Red Irish Rose

which gear do you use here ?

I did that in a 26 foot Ryder, pulling a car on a trailer. Just took my time and never gave it a chance to build speed.

Is this where the Bandit found out he had no air!

it looks rather deceptive more dangerous when you actually drive a rig down it

Sweet

Coool

The dot doesn't give warnings they are in there.

been up and down that many times in 35 yrs

Well if your brakes give out you are probably in the passing lane!!!!

I know for a fact that I would be pissin all over my self if I was to ever drive this road in a truck..

that was my first mountain run solo. haven't been back for sometime now. good video !

What happened if you don’t exit for radar mandatory exit for truck inspection?