Experienced Drivers Are First Line of Defense Against Weather Hazards, Carrier Execs Say

As winter approaches — and with some parts of the country already being subjected to an early taste of seasonal traffic problems — carrier executives and drivers have said experienced people behind the wheels of the tractor-trailers are the best defense against the hazards caused by the weather.

They also said that both companies and drivers must be flexible and vigilant during winter months.

Don Osterberg, senior vice president of safety and security for Schneider National Inc., said one of the keys to preventing accidents, especially for longhaul companies, is matching “the driver’s skill with the load complexity.” That means being certain that drivers who spend most of their time in Texas aren’t asked to drive through bad weather in Philadelphia until their driving skills indicate that they are capable of doing so. He also said failing to heed that strategy can lead to an accident or increased driver turnover — or both.

“We never want to hit what . . . I sometimes . . . refer to as ‘the terminal anxiety point,’ where you’ve just essentially sent the driver to the bridge too far,” Osterberg said. “You send an inexperienced driver domiciled in the Southwest on a multistop load into New York City during winter weather, you would be setting yourself and the driver up for failure.”

Schneider National, based in Green Bay, Wis., ranks No. 6 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada.

Nate McCarty, an America’s Road Team member who has achieved 1.4 million safe-driving miles over 19 years in the industry and drives for ABF Freight System, agreed.

“I think it’s important that you know your limitations, and you don’t overdrive your abilities,” he said.

ABF Freight System is a unit of Arkansas Best Corp., Fort Smith, Ark., which ranks No. 14 on the TT for-hire list.

America’s Road Team is a group of drivers specially selected by American Trucking Associations to serve as ambassadors for the industry.

Among the most difficult — and important — winter driving decisions is when to park a truck in bad weather, and the consensus of those interviewed is that drivers must be trusted to make the call.

Dean Newell, vice president of safety and driver training for Maverick Transportation — a unit of Maverick USA, Little Rock, Ark., which ranks No. 96 on the TT for-hire list — said he considers drivers “the captain of their ship” and empowers them to decide when to get off the road.

Osterberg said he can’t make decisions for Schneider National drivers who are hundreds or thousands of miles away. What he can do, he said, is make sure relevant information about weather and road conditions is available to them so the drivers can make the right decisions — and then support them afterward.

Osterberg also said he’s not worried that some drivers will abuse the privilege. Given the realities of the way drivers are compensated, the company more likely has to encourage them to park their vehicles, he said.

“I can’t tell you that I’ve heard of us having kind of a counseling session with a driver saying, ‘Boy, we think you shut down prematurely,’ ” he said. “Generally speaking, there are far more conversations perhaps on the other side that say, ‘In light of the weather conditions, it would have been prudent at that point to simply shut down.’ ”

Road Team member Joe Allen Boyd said that when he is hauling a load for Walmart Transportation, a unit of Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores, which ranks No. 4 on the Transport Topics Top 100 private carriers list, he won’t hesitate to park in bad weather, knowing he’ll have his company’s support.

“Wal-Mart’s got a great big billboard on the side,” said Boyd, who drives out of Bedford, Pa.“They don’t want their trucks lying in the ditch somewhere.”

For Steve Davis, director of safety and security at Houston-based intermodal hauler W.W. Rowland Trucking Co., winter weather is an irregular problem, but it can be a big one — especially when it strikes warm-weather cities that aren’t prepared to respond to snow and ice.

Davis said drivers are instructed to operate their equipment based on the current road conditions and, if the weather is bad enough, they are encouraged to park their trucks on their own initiative and communicate all delays to company personnel.

“We all have heard the saying that there’s no load that’s so hot that it can’t cool off in the ditch, and I believe that companywide mentality has definitely minimized the frequency of winter weather-related crashes involving our drivers,” Davis said.

Winter weather also can force haulers into difficult routing decisions that add miles and extra costs.

Maverick’s Newell said that if the situation requires it, his company will take an Interstate 40 route to Nashville or Knoxville and head northeast instead of traveling up Interstate 44 across the Midwest.

John Ripley, UPS air network planning manager, said his Atlanta-based company, which sits at the top of the TT for-hire list, is prepared to change its flows based on weather — sorting some of its 16 million packages a day at Louisville, Ky., instead of the Northeast, for example, and flying instead of driving or vice versa.

The U.S. Postal Service, on the other hand, does not change its routes, according to Dean Granholm, vice president, delivery and post office operations. Instead, routes are planned with winter driving in mind, with longhaul drivers expected to average only 45 mph, even in good weather.

Road Team Captain J.W. Ray offered an example of how important it is for drivers to know their route — and to be aware of the passenger cars that share those roads.

Ray, who drives for Werner Enterprises, Omaha, Neb., said he knew a particular stretch of highway well, so he was prepared for the swirling wind and snow that would drop visibility to near zero. Nevertheless, he was surprised to see how several passenger-car drivers reacted to it.

“They just stopped in the middle of the highway, and a big truck ran into the back of three or four of them,” said Ray, whose truckload company ranks No. 11 on the TT for-hire carriers list.

No one was killed or seriously hurt, but the accident underscores the challenges for drivers and trucking executives as they prepare for winter weather.

Randall Dee Briggs, a Road Team captain who drives out of Salt Lake City for YRC Worldwide — headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., and No. 4 on the TT for-hire list — said that once cold weather arrives, a good pre-trip inspection is a must.

Briggs said days of low temperatures can cause moisture to freeze in air tanks, so he checks them vigilantly to make sure they are oil- and water-free. He also said that after an overnight snow, drivers should clean the snow off drivelines, from between dual tires and out of the jaws on the fifth wheel. An ignored chunk of snow or ice there, he said, will keep a trailer from locking and result in a dropped load when the driver hits a bump or pulls away hard from a dock.

ABF’s McCarty said he visually inspects his tire chains before each trip to make sure there are no broken links. Colorado road crews use not only salt to melt off snow but also magnesium chloride, which can be greasy on windshields, so he makes sure his winter blades are in good working order and his washer fluid container is full.

An equipment manufacturer said successful winter driving requires planning that starts long before the weather gets bad, including preventive maintenance. For instance, transport temperature-control systems manufacturer Thermo King Corp, Minneapolis, has a checklist of pre-winter procedures that includes replacing the heater fuel pump screen on its auxiliary power unit (APU) systems and inspecting and cleaning the fuel pre-strainer on its refrigeration units. Those can get plugged with particles, particularly in cold weather when fuel can jell and flow less freely, starving the engine and perhaps causing a nuisance shutdown.

The Postal Service said it undertakes a full review of its 216,000 vehicles, the largest civilian fleet in the world, before the onset of the winter season. Vehicles are stocked with shovels, sand, scrapers and appropriate antifreeze and window-washing fluid. Puzzle Weights, or interlocking sand containers, are installed in the back of rear-wheel-drive vehicles to reduce sliding in mountainous areas.

The trucking ambassadors also said they try to take care of their health this time of year because of the stresses of driving in winter, when hauls can carry them from pleasant weather through a blizzard and then back into pleasant weather within a 24-hour period.

ABF’s McCarty said drivers need more rest during the season. And Ray of Werner said he consumes extra vitamin C and milk, stays hydrated and tries to stay showered and clean.

As for the hauls, the America’s Road Team drivers said they bring changes of clothes and extra sets of gloves, which can get cold and wet if a need arises to drop trailers or chain up. Blankets and sleeping bags also should be stored.

Ray, a native of Idaho, said he brings along a shovel and 50 pounds of cat litter in case he gets stuck in snow or on an incline. (It’s also good for cleaning up oil spills.) He said two lit candles are surprisingly effective at heating up a cab.

The Road Team captains also advised drivers to bring extra food in case they get stuck on the road — particularly nonperishables such as beef jerky and food that can be heated without a microwave. Cans of soup, for example, can be warmed up quickly on an Espar heater or an exhaust pipe.

Among the biggest challenges for this time of year is unpredictability. Boyd said that, because winter storms can strike unexpectedly, road crews may not be prepared to sufficiently clear highways and streets in a timely manner — especially when the season begins.

As for winter precipitation, a consensus of drivers and executives said that snow is better to drive on than ice, and black ice is the worst. Ray said he will run his hand up the side of his rearview mirror to see if ice is forming. If it is, that means the road might be freezing as well.

Boyd said he will stop at rest areas to test the road to see if he can continue.

Larry Bizzell, senior corporate safety adviser for FedEx Corp., Memphis, Tenn., said his drivers are advised to watch the vehicles in front of them.

“If that spray all of a sudden stops and the road’s still shiny, you probably have black ice, and you need to adjust your driving habits for that,” he said. FedEx Corp. ranks No. 2 on the TT for-hire list.

Of course, no preventive measure is more important than driver preparation. UPS’ global fleet safety manager, Emilio Lopez, said safety is stressed from the time drivers first put on their brown uniforms — even before then, in fact, because most drivers come from the company’s package-delivery ranks.

And although winter weather produces challenges unique to the season, so does autumn driving.

Dan McMackin, a spokesman for UPS, said that when he was a company driver, he was reminded  often in safety meetings that wet, falling leaves can be hazardous. “Remember, they’re just like grease. If you don’t plan ahead, you’ll skid on those things,” he remembers he was told.

While there’s no way to ensure that drivers are always safe and that loads always get delivered on time, Osterberg said companies do have many tools at their disposal. Schneider National publishes copies of a 52-page winter driving guide each year for its 15,000 drivers — all of whom undergo skid simulation training on one of the company’s more than 50 simulators. Any time day or night, the company’s drivers can call for advice and speak to experienced drivers.

“You try to layer as many imperfect solutions as you can,” Osterberg said. ”The net effect of multiple layers of imperfect solutions tends to have a positive effect.”

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the winter months of January through March consistently see the least traffic fatalities — 7,539 in 2009, for example, compared to 9,094 in July, August and September of that year. But that’s because the streets are less crowded, according to NHTSA statistics.