Atlanta to truckers: Stay away

Tractor-trailer drivers are being asked to steer clear of metro Atlanta as the region braces for an icy shellacking.

Two weeks ago, jackknifed trucks became a major headache for state transportation officials, jamming up roads as work crews were trying to clear them.

The message issued to hauling companies Monday was to avoid sending trucks inside the Perimeter. By Tuesday, truckers were being told to avoid metro Atlanta altogether, said Natalie Dale, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Transportation. Meteorologists were predicting up to a half-inch of ice accumulation in metro Atlanta by Thursday morning and up to an inch of ice in Augusta along the I-20 corridor.

“It’s just not conducive for truckers,” Dale said.

GDOT had yet to issue a statement asking truckers to put on snow chains before entering metro Atlanta interstates as of midafternoon Tuesday. Dale said chains are a last resort, since they tear up asphalt. “So we would rather them just not come into the city,” she said.

The Georgia State Patrol required all commercial vehicle drivers to pull into weigh stations on Monday and Tuesday, where they handed out educational materials. They also partnered with the Georgia Motor Trucking Association to relay information about weather conditions and travel advisories.

Among those materials given to truckers was a reminder that commercial vehicles are not allowed inside the I-285 perimeter unless they have a scheduled pick-up or delivery there or are going to or from a repair facility located inside I-285 for service.

Ed Crowell, president and CEO of Georgia Motor Trucking Association and member of Gov. Nathan Deal’s newly formed Severe Weather Task Force, said that most truckers who travel primarily in the Southeast are not equipped with snow tires. If the state issues a directive that snow tires must be used to travel on certain roadways, those trucks would simply pull over and wait in a safe spot until conditions improve and they are able to resume travel without them.

When the Jan. 28 storm hit, truckers did not get their first weather advisory from the GDOT until 1:30 p.m., Crowell said. By that time, he and many other Atlantans were already sitting in gridlock.

This time, notices started going out on Monday and not just from GDOT, but from Deal’s office and the Severe Weather Task Force, Crowell said.

As a result, local trucking companies and those from as far away as California were keeping tabs on the weather Tuesday in case there was a need to reroute.

Crowell said when the January storm hit, many people pointed their fingers unfairly at truckers, blaming them for the gridlock. He believes the real cause was hundreds of thousands of cars hitting the roads at the same time and he pointed to the jammed arterial roads as evidence.