Stevens Transport aviary

I am. Hiding in the Pilot on Indy east side on I70. 3 inches on ground right now according to my handy-dandy Stevens log ruler. lol
Included a screen cap of the weather for where I'm at.
Woke up to snow and ice frozen to windshield, thought, "Hmmm," and checked weather sites etc.
I have a rail load I really should get to Chicago and then bobtail to get an empty then go pickup in Carol Stream for 1pm, but just not going to happen as much as I wish to. Called DM and got the 'well if you're sure, but how about it you call some of these guys who are in the area and driving and make sure?'
So I call, first guy has his 'don't bother me now' message turned on, and the second guy is like 'stay parked, I almost wished I was'.
Call DM again and he pulls several predictable phrases trying to shame me into moving.
'I have to get that load in Chicago today, so I'll have to send someone to pick up that trailer from you today and leave you an empty'.
Good luck, I think. Anyone willing to drive out here with an empty trailer is a guy I want to NOT learn from, so I want to meet him. lol
Then he goes, 'I'll also have to have someone pick that load up from Carol Stream.'
Fine, go ahead. I'd do that if I was there too. There isn't any snow in Chicago right now, and very little from this morning. The problem is the 200 snowy miles from Indy to Chicago, through the infamous Gary snow and wind machine.
Freezing fog and moderate snow on already slick highways here. And the Pilot is mostly full even at 11am local time. And this trailer has its ABS warning light on. I'm not taking it anywhere in this mess.
And then he tops it off with, 'This storm goes all the way to Chicago and it's that bad all the way there, and it's going to be like that until Saturday. So if you want to sit that long, go ahead I guess.'
I have mobile internet and a laptop, and Garmin MyCast weather on my phone, (which by the way is totally kick ###! It has radars, weather alerts and warnings, temps, wind directions and speeds and tons more all on your phone) and I know the snow is going to be the worst in the next six to eight hours, then taper off and by midnight then be mostly over. Then the winds hit the 30mph+ and temps drop to below zero until Friday about noon with windchills well below zero, then it should be over. Not Saturday, tomorrow about noon. And the worst ends this evening.
I have to give my DM credit for trying to keep a load moving, and for not trying TOO hard to make me drive in a near blizzard, but I'll be ###### if I take a trailer with bad ABS into a snowstorm that is about to peak out and dump 4-6 inches on me for the next almost 200 miles, then fight the Gary winter machine.
The real kicker is I'd have to bobtail 50 miles in this mess after dropping at the rail yard (where you can't stay) with Chicago's famous winds predicted to be in the 30mph range with snowy conditions to get an empty trailer to take another fifty miles to get loaded at a shipper where there is no room to stay if things do get really bad up there too.
I don't like missing out on miles and sitting, but I don't want to go play in the snow on I65 either. I65 is known to be bad in even mild snow, but when you're talking 4-6 inches, freezing fog, high winds and all blowing directly across the road, no thanks. I've just gotten past my first year mark without an accident, and I'm not going to ruin my second year in it's first month.
I'll wait for this supertrucker who my DM says he can get to drag an empty down here from Aurora Illinois (lol) to swap with me so he can take this load to Chicago. I'll let you know if it happens. lol Though it might, you never know. Maybe after a couple more years I'll be willing to drive in this stuff, but right now, I get butterflies in my stomach even thinking about it.
And I drove in 30 degrees with drizzle all yesterday morning to get this loaded up. I'm no winter weather wuss, I learned to drive in January in Chicago in 1982, which was a doozy! And 83 was a record bad winter. And 84 was not much better either. And I never had an accident despite going to school and work everyday, and working weekends, plus driving around with friends and doing doughnuts and power slides in a 73 Plymouth Satellite. Oh, and my job was pizza delivery in Chicago suburbs. LOL I'd drive in bad weather in my car, because killing someone wasn't likely at 35mph or less and being careful. But driving on the interstate with 77,000 lbs is a whole different goose.
When I don't feel good about driving, I know I shouldn't drive.
The problem is I'm losing bucks. And I haven't been home since Christmas. BLEH. Probably won't be sent home this weekend either at this rate. double bleh.
But at least I'm not putting permanent finger grooves in the steering wheel. Just wish this Pilot had a movie or two I'd buy that I haven't seen, or there was something on Hulu worth watching. Instead I have to pass time making long posts on forums and writing long emails.
lol
You all be safe!