Starting with Roehl in February

Yep. I remember going over Flagstaff AZ in snow with Johnboy from Abilene Motor Express. I did ok, but was white knuckled I will admit. Johnboy had me pull over and relieved me. My first big snowstorm was with TransAm. Sunday morning, beautiful day in Amarillo TX. Was waiting at the Flying J for a load out of IBC a large meathouse for a two dropper to Anaheim and San Diego. Came back from my shower and poof! Load had been taken off of me. Now I had to beat feet to Holcomb KS for another meat load headed to New Jersey with a pending snowstorm. I got to Holcomb as the snow started, dropped and hooked and took off, then it really hit. Had no business driving that night, wipers couldn't keep up with the snow and really couldn't see the road but six hours later, I was at the Flying J in Salina KS on I 70 at 0330 and shut down there. Nothing but state roads as there are no interstates in Southwest Kansas. Lived to tell about that. I figured as long as I had traction, I was gonna run. If I don't have traction, I head to a truck stop or rest area. Screw the load.

 

Dispatch will push you to do as much as you can, in most cases. If you drop the load late, there may be a financial penalty to the company, in the contract. If you haven'the picked it up, yet, the load might go to a different carrier, and you/your company loses the revenue. I believe that the post office can (but does not necessarily) charge $10/minute, for late deliveries. They do make allowances for conditions, but they do so at their discretion - not yours, or you company's.

If you see that conditions are turning on you, bear in mind that just because you *can* continue, does not mean that you *should*. It gets harder and harder to find a parking space near a bathroom, shower, and/or food, the worse that the weather gets, and if you can't find a safe place to get the truck out of traffic, you can't stop and shut down, even if you want to. Plows often leave a wall of snow along the shoulder, putting parked trucks dangerously close to moving traffic, in poor traction conditions - and if you stop the truck on a layer of ice, on the shoulder, then you will likely not have enough traction to climb the shoulder to get moving again until the ice underneath you is cleared. Attempts to move will cause you to slide sideways off of the roadway, into the ditch, and potentially roll the truck over.

They should teach you how to chain up, in training, but one rule of mine is that if I need chains on, to continue, then conditions are already unsafe. Moreover, chains are rough on your equipment, so you have to drive very slowly, with them on. If I'm making, say, $0.50/mile, and driving 20mph, because I have chains on for the road conditions, then I'm working in dangerous conditions for $10/hr. It's just not worth the stress and risk, when I can park the truck, get a shower and a hot meal, wait a couple of days for the storm to pass and the roads to be cleared, and use those logbook hours a lot more productively with a lot less risk. Chains are good for getting out of a situation, when I'm stuck - but they're no way to operate.

Another bad weather rule, for me, is that if it looks like other trucks are starting to get off of the road, I do, too. They may know something that I don't (maybe the highway is blocked by an accident, ahead, or the storm is getting worse, or the snow hasn't been cleared, ahead?), and if I'm one of the last drivers to pull into a truck stop, there's a good chance that there won't be any place left to park, when I get there. I'd rather stop and be wrong, than not stop, and be wrong. If I stop, I can always roll back out - if I don't, I may not be able stop, when I need to.

If dispatch or anyone else gives me a hard time, I point out again that I'm the one driving. I also point out that I have no incentive to stop; nobody pays me for shutting it down, so if I'm willing to forgo being paid, it must mean that I believe in the danger. If they persist, I remind them that the load will not get there any faster from the ditch, and the truck is expensive to repair/replace. Finally, if they really press the issue, I suggest that they swap the load to a driver that is willing to come get it, and deliver it, in the conditions that I am facing. That last one always shuts them up. They usually try to do exactly that, and fail, because even if someone is willing to try, they won't be by the time that they get to me - or conditions will have changed, and I will have already arrived.

It has never come to this, for me, but the last lines of defense are to call your safety department, or if all else fails, involve a State Trooper. If your judgement wan't good enough for your carrier, however, then you will likely need to change employers, no matter how it turns out. Don't abandon the truck or the load (unless you are in imminent danger!), but don't drive it anywhere, until you feel confident that you can safely do so...

 

It's your LIFE, your CAREER and your CDL ON THE LINE. Nobody pushes me to do anything. You text your driver manager and tell them "I am stopping out of the name of safety. What part of that can't you understand??" The office people get to go home every night to a safe and warm place. We DON'T. That should end ALL arguments. Its their equipment and freight on the line too. If they are unreasonable, go above their heads to SAFETY. If Safety can't comprehend, you work for the WRONG COMPANY. Find out what Roehls chaining policy is. A company that says "we don't carry chains. If you have to chain, then we don't want you to drive at all." That is my kind of company!

 

Most contracts have a force majeure clause in the contract which exempts them from financial penalties due to delays caused by a act of god.

 

If I have to take it to Safety, then I need to change dispatchers, at a minimum - it means that the dispatcher does not trust my judgement, and if that's the case, then I should not be in his fleet.

Also, they call themselves "driver managers". I call them "dispatchers". They are not my boss. They are my assistant, at least until they start driving the truck. What they are called, has an impact upon their attitude and their perception of the expectations the others have, of them. In the same way that police cars say "zero tolerance" instead of "to protect and serve", and this has changed attitudes of police officers; the title "driver manager" changes the attitude of your dispatcher... and not so much in a good way...

 

Also... I want chains on the truck. I'll bring my own if I have to. They're good for getting me out of a jam. But I don't care what company policy is - if I have to chain up, in order to operate, then it's not worth operating...