Bad weather and trip planning. Impassable roads. What to do?

parking on the side of the road, during a snow storm, can be fatal.

for any 4 wheeler that slides into you, or a snow plow truck, that could hit you. get off the road.

when in a truck stop, yeah, you could make an attempt to get pout, but if you can't, yu also stand to lose your parking space as well.

once you are AT a truck stop, or even a rest area or service plaza, you are already "out". from there, you monitor the weather/road reports as best you can. this is where a scanner comes in handy. my portable weather radio (actually i have 2) one is 100% weather only, the other is a police/fire/Ham/ airport/weather scanner.

i carried that one, even for my "local" jobs, as i needed to know I-95, from VA to MA.

all you have to do is..."COMMUNICATE with dispatch" on the situation. from there, he/she will make arrangements to either swap out your trailer, call the customer, whatever else they NEED to do.

best you NOT call the customer yourself, as a company driver, and talk with the customer regarding your situation. the company people will do that, maybe cut the price of the delivery if need be to satisfy the customer.

 

I was planning to roll out of Dallas heading up to Muskogee at noon. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I figured that getting out of town early (I usually leave on that run in the evening) before the snow got heavy would be okay.

Then my dispatcher called me at ten am and told me that if I didn’t want to run today, I was cleared to wait until tomorrow. Works for me!

 

True, but most safety departments at companies will back the driver up. So if you run into being pushed by dispatch. Ask to get safety on the call. It "usually" can nip that issue in the bud. From my understanding.

 

Crazy you used that example. I was coming from Boise City, OK to San Antonio today. No way did I want to take I-10. There were already two wrecks by 8am, and who knows how many by the time I got there. (I left Boise at 3:20am)

Anywho, I called my wife and had her get on the computer. She found me a new route of back roads. I left 83, and took 29 to 281. Once she set up the route, she pushed it to my phone from the computer.

I don't know if you have a woman, but that's what I do. Makes it so I don't even have to stop to adjust my route.

 

Don’ worry. Be happy.
Only one you need to call is DoorDash.

 

If you don't think that it's safe to drive, then you tell your dispatcher that you are not driving. Period.

If they try to lean on you, stand firm, and suggested they repower the load if they have another driver who is willing to take it. If they threaten you, notify the Safety Dept. Do all of your communication with dispatch via the Qualcomm that way there is an electronic paper trail; do not let them call your cell phone.

As for your proposed route, I can promise you that you will not make it to Kerrville if it is icy, in fact you won't even make it to Comfort. The road starts getting really hilly just west of the 537 mile marker.

 

YOU and ONLY YOU are the captain of your ship... You have to make the call as to whether or not you go. And every driver has thier own skill and comfort level.

Myself, I rarely stop for weather... Aside from very high winds, and freezing rain. But MANY others will stop before I do... Each situation is different, and I have to feel it out. Type of weather, time of day, geographical location, traffic, and even my mood all have to be taken into account. If traffic volumes are high during a bad weather event, I am MUCH more likely to park it.