If you’re reading this in the February issue, then that means you’re probably just as frustrated with old man winter by now as I am. But the springtime is almost in sight! Hang in there. One of the more admirable and respectable qualities of a professional truck driver is the ability to face all kinds of changing conditions with nerves of steel. The changing weather is a constant issue we must face and, if you think about it, many other motorists look at us like a guiding light in stormy weather. Ever notice a line of nervous drivers following a big rig through a blizzard? It’s like we are just another obstacle in their way at any other time, but in a snowstorm, they all line up like little chicks, following the mother hen. They feel a sense of security to be led by a professional. Just something to consider while you’re watching the weather take a nasty turn. The big rigs still roll along, and our professionalism (or lack thereof) is being noticed! Thanks to Art Czajkowski for all the fitting photographs of a blizzard he drove through on I-80 in late October 2019.
FACE THE WEATHER
By Trevor Hardwick
Here come the clouds…
They’re overtaking sunny skies,
I see them with my own two eyes.
They’re acting as a shroud,
Oh, here come the clouds.
They’re bringing on the rain…
I see it streaking from the clouds,
I wish, somehow, it weren’t allowed.
They’re rolling across the plains,
And they’re bringing on the rain.
The skies are growing dim…
The evening sun has given way,
Surrendering the light of day.
Along with gusty winds,
The skies are growing dim.
The temperatures will fall…
The rain transitions into snow,
I guess I should expect it, though.
Just when I’ve seen it all,
The temperatures will fall.
The roads are turning white…
There’s slush out in the hammer lane,
I’m hoping I won’t have to chain.
It’s gonna be a long, long night,
And the roads are turning white.
But the big rigs roll along…
Through clouds & rain & dark & cold,
The icy, slushy, snow gets old.
When the stormy nights are long,
The big rigs still roll along.