Winter storms shut down truckers across the country - KOAM TV 7

Winter storms shut down truckers across the country

Winter storms have shut down truckers across the country.  Conway Truckload officials say more than 60 of their drivers are down because of the weather.

In some cases fleet managers can reroute drivers around a storm but that's a call left to the customer if willing to pay extra mileage.

Officials say drivers themselves make the decision to shut down if they don't feel road conditions are safe but it's one that can cost them and the company.

"If the drivers can't move we're not making money, they're not making money, so that's the other impact," says Saul Gonzales, the President of Conway Truckload.  "Another impact is our deliveries, if we can't move our customers are not getting their product picked up and they're not getting their product delivered."

Last week during the ice storm in Joplin the company shutdown all local drivers.

Another cost is trucks forced to idle when stuck in a storm, using fuel even though not running their route.

Conway does pay layover pay depending on the number of days trucks are shut down.