TEXARKANA - This week's winter weather has proven challenging to moving vehicles, to the point where some local truckers decided to halt operations until things had cleared up.
Darrel Livingston, owner and operator of Duane Livingston Trucking, tried sending his trucks out initially, but it became quickly apparent that that was not a good idea.
"Our trucks were getting stuck out there," he said Thursday. "We do have some out there, but they weren't moving. So we cancelled and intend to resume operations Friday (today)."
Duane Livingston Trucking is based out of Liberty-Eylau, a community of the southwest side of Texarkana. They have a team of 70 drivers and 65 trucks. They typically haul products related to the animal feed industry as well as hazardous material. They halted most trucking operations on Monday, though they have some heavy haulers they were going to use to haul equipment that could help clear trouble spots of snow and ice.
"It became clear conditions were too slick for them to do that run," said Livingston. "But, since the distance was not too far, we took the the equipment off the trucks and just drove them as is out to the sites in question."
The situation and response has been similar not only for local and area truckers, but also for truckers all across Arkansas and Texas as well as other parts of the United States dealing with heavy ice and snow.
"It is not just local haulers," said Matt Peterson, account manager for B4 Logistics, a truck industry logistics broker based in Vancouver, Washington. "Trouble areas like Texas is experiencing right now will generally be areas avoided by truckers all across the U.S. until the situation improves. For emergency situations, a run can still be made, but the price will be higher, as it is at greater risk for both truck and driver."
Peterson says these kinds of situations are not at all uncommon in the winter.
"It is just that all eyes are on Texas," he said. "And these sorts of situations are very uncommon there."
The Chamber of Commerce said Thursday that many local business were still closed, though many showed intention, even eagerness to open, some as soon as today.
"It's tough to see businesses be affected by something they can't control. The recent snow storms have hit area businesses hard," said Natalie Haywood, chamber director of events and communications. "We made a social media post (just like we did during quarantine shut down) asking for anyone to comment if they were open. Crickets. That's tough to see. Just today, I saw a post from Pecan Point Brewing welcoming patrons back to their restaurant on Friday. That's encouraging to see."
In situations like these, sometimes you have to squeeze out the good, she said.
"We've encouraged community kids to draw a picture of their favorite Texarkana business," Haywood said. "We'll close the competition on Friday (today) at 5, and announce the winner on Monday. One lucky artist will win a gift card to iJump. We look forward to thawing out, and getting back to supporting our local businesses soon."
(For more about the drawing competition visit the Texarkana Regional Chamber of Commerce's Facebook page.)