As we were being rocked a bit by the gusty winds, I was reminded of our experience with hurricane Sandy last year. Our run from Tennessee to Laredo Tx is far removed from the Sandy landfall, however Schneider is very good at volunteering its hardest running/most dependable teams for Emergency Relief loads. We got volunteered appx 36hrs before Sandy hit the Jersey shore. We were told wed be out of there long before it hit shore--right! First load from Atlanta to a warehouse in Virginia went pretty well..some wind and rain, but not bad...only real problem was the delay when they decided to live unload instead of letting us drop the trailer--delayed appx 8hrs. Empty back to Atlanta to pick up next load going to east Pennsylvania, just across the line from New Jersey. This was a full load of emergency generators. We were given an official letter stating we were an emergency vehicle with full authority to travel even if highways were closed. We hit heavy rain and winds long before we got into Pennsylvania and only stopped at our Carlisle Pa terminal for fuel--we were then notified the Governor had shut the highway system down to commercial vehicles. I called our second shift operations in hopes of being shut down until the storm passed, but was told this load was critical and we had to get it there as the warehouse personnel were waiting on us. On we went. When we turned east onto I-78, we were the only vehicle headed east---everyone else was evacuating west! Along the way, I saw several trucks that had been blown off the highway and we were experiencing 60mph sustained side winds with gusts in excess of 90mph. Just to hold it in the road I had the steering wheel at appx 60degrees off center and when the gusts hit it would push us into the other lane and often lifted the left trailer tandem off the ground. Many objects blew across in front of us, lawn furniture, tables and chairs, road signs, trees and limbs, etc...a very fun ride. We arrived at our destination and were greeted by a security guard who was very glad we had arrived as the place had been evacuated and he was to lock up and leave as soon as he got us checked in. I told him I was bobtailing out just as quick as I could get it dropped! He said, no I couldnt leave, I had to stay with the load in case they needed me to take it for unloading at another location in the morning. I looked at him and the the six daycab trucks parked there and said, thats what your daycabs are for, my job was to drop it here and get the heck out! He said their drivers were sent home as the warehouse manager said it was too dangerous for them to operate in the storm!! Of course I said...its not too dangerous for me? I told him hed better contact his manager as I was not staying! I dropped the trailer, went back to the gate to leave, he came out to the truck and told me his manager said I could leave...so we left. Going down I-81 Mary Lynne still had the high winds and rain, but without the trailer it was more manageable. That is until she hit the snow and ice in Virginia....bobtail trucks have no traction on ice. There were many accidents and the interstate was shut down in a couple of places by jackknifed trucks, but she finally got us safely intoTennessee. Piece of cake...just a typical trip in the life of a truck driver!
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 04:24:03 +0000
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