Trucking industry, retail finally returning to normal as another winter storm looms

The trucking industry and the stores it stocks are finally returning to normal in regions of the country severely affected by last weekend’s winter storm, just in time for another winter storm to threaten a similar region. 

Trucking companies such as Wilson Logistics in Missouri say that they had drivers stuck throughout the southeast during winter storm Fern. 

“Really, the safety of our drivers is the biggest challenge of it,” operations manager Skip Wilson said to KY3. “We’ve had people staffed all 24-7 throughout the whole storm. Using the technology that we’ve got to make sure that we’re keeping our drivers safe is the first and foremost priority.”

Interstates in states such as Louisiana and Tennessee were forced to shut down, trapping hundreds of drivers in the icy conditions, resulting in delayed and even cancelled loads. 

“It’s tough because we want to make sure that the freight stays moving, making sure that the stores stay stocked the best that they can and the warehouses stay full,” Wilson said. “But at the same time, making sure that our drivers stay safe is the most important piece of it.”

“We lost days of utilization, and so now all the receivers and shippers have been closed for days, and they’re still trying to come back to work,” Wilson said. “So I mean, it’s going to be a mess for the next week or so that we’re going to have to climb out of.”

“And now, we’re seeing that all over the country right now, certainly all over the South,” Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said to Fox 13. “And because of that, it is disrupting some of the supply chains. So, we’re certainly seeing some of that here in our state and around the South.”

Grocery retailers like Kroger have announced that they are back to normal operations throughout the country, but acknowledged that some loads are still delayed.

Now another winter storm, this time a bomb cyclone, is expected to hit the northeast and parts of the south. States along the east coast will likely see several inches of snow, with North Carolina and Virginia expected to see the most snow. 

Parts of the south are expected to see freezing temperatures once again. This time, less precipitation is predicted in those areas, but the cold temperatures still have the potential to create hazardous roadways from Houston up through Arkansas, Missouri, and even farther north, spreading all the way to the coast, reported Accuweather.

“This winter’s a little more brutal than the last three or four,” one truck driver said to… “Last year was only a handful of storms, but this one’s already up there. But yeah, there were a lot of wrecks [the other] night coming through.”

“It’s really important that, you know, you just pay attention to the weather,” another truck driver said. “Because if you don’t, that can lead you into some problems.”