Road Report: I was in Chicago today

[Tobin S.]

I woke up at 4am in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It had snowed and things were still pretty much a mess. I decided not to chance US30 and went the long way to Chicago- up I-69 to the I-80 turnpike. The roads were good up that way and I made good time.

I really didn't want to leave Fort Wayne because I knew what was headed to Chicago. I reckon they are getting hammered pretty good right now as I write this.

The blizzard was supposed to hit at about 3pm. My first appointment was a delivery in the city at 9am and then I had to run to another part of the city to pick up a load going back down to Cincinnati. I figured if everything went right I'd be out of there and headed south by noon and miss all of the bad stuff. But you can never be sure about loading and unloading and how long it's going to take. Just recently, I've been at places for as little as a half hour and others for 7 and 11 hours.

The thought of getting stuck in the city was weighing on me. There aren't too many places where you can legally park a 70 foot rig in and around the Chicago area, and the places that are available fill up quickly, especially in bad weather.

But everything went good for me. I was out of the first stop by 9:30 and I got loaded up at the second stop and hit the road at 11:30. It couldn't have worked out any better.

But I still got a little taste of that blizzard. I stopped in a truck stop in Gary, Indiana just outside of Chicago to weigh my load. As I was there the wind picked up and the snowed started coming down. I was in that high wind and snow for about 70 miles going down I-65. My gross weight is just over 77,000 pounds, but that wind was pushing me around pretty good.

I made it down to Lebanon, Indiana and decided to call it a day. I was fortunate to get a parking space and it was only 4pm. There were only 2 spaces available when I pulled into this truck stop. The sleet is coming down pretty good here and a little further to the south they've got a serious problem with some freezing rain. My fiancee called me from Richmond, Indiana and said that they were under a level three winter weather emergency which basically means that you have to stay home. Only emergency personnel are supposed to be out on the road. My dad called from Dayton, Ohio and said that there were all kinds of wrecks over that way. I guess I-70 is completely shut down all the way across Missouri.

I'm not going anywhere until I get word that the roads are clear. I've got until 11pm tomorrow to get this load down to Cincinnati. Even at that, if things are still fubar all day tomorrow this truck ain't going anywhere. My philosophy on driving when the roads are bad is that I'm sure the customer would rather have his or her freight late than strewn across a corn field somewhere. The freight on my trailer is not worth anyone's life.

[Jokerman]

1. You're just down the road from us.

We're getting freezing rain right now in Indy and the streets are a mess.

Stay safe!

[mucifer]

2. Chicago hospice nurse here. I'm planning on staying home tomorrow

Hopefully my patients will be comfortable and we can take care of their needs by phone. ( Everyone gets an emergency kit for meds to control symptoms.) I do worry about what might happen if people die in our program and we can't dig out our cars or see in the blizzard. They might have to wait a while til we can pronounce their loved one. I wish I had a garage.

[elleng]

3. Good to hear you're working and SAFE, Tobin,

in my 'old' neck of the woods.

Thinking of y'all west of here. DC area avoiding the bad stuff.

:hi:

[Auggie]

4. Interesting report

Thanks for posting (and glad to hear you're playing it safe and smart). From Lebanon to Cincy should take about 2-2.5 hours on clear roads, no?

[Tobin S.]

5. Yeah, about 2 hours when all is well and off peak hours in Indy

The sleet has stopped for now. I thought I saw lightening a little bit ago, but it could have been a transformer blowing up. I went to dinner and the sleet is so heavy that in feels like you are walking on sand...very cold sand. :)