Delivery services and truckers both large and small are scrambling to figure out how to make their deliveries. New Hampshire Public Radio's Raquel Maria Dillon reports.
Interstate 93 will be closed 4 P-M until midnight from Monday through Thursday, from Medford, Massachusetts into Boston.
BROWN :04 my biggest concern is getting out of Dodge before they start shutting the roads down.
Steve Brown is the president of Ross Express, a trucking company based in Boscawen, New Hampshire.
BROWN :15 it's a guessing game. If we leave at 1 we don't know how much traffic we'll hit trying to get out of city, trying to give ourselves buffer zone, by time city closes down, but who knows?
Massachusetts highway officials and police are getting the word out – don't bother trying to get into Boston next week. But companies like Brown's don't know exactly how bad the traffic will be. Like many other shippers, Brown is dispatching his 75 drivers in the wee hours of the morning. He's talking with his customers about their needs ahead of time. Brown is worried his trucks will be mostly empty and he's going to lose money.
BROWN :13 I might be going into Bsoton with 25%, with fuel at a buck-79 a gallon. I don't know if I'm going to have revenue to cover driver and tolls. I don't know.
Brown guarantees his customers next day deliveries. Larger shippers are bracing for the road closures too. Itz-Ohlson Transport picks up containers from the ports of New York and Boston and delivers them across New England.
ITZ :13 We're gonna stage as much cargo outside of the city, additional labor so we can avoid I-93 when it's closed.
Charlie Itz says he'll incur additional labor costs because many of his drivers decided to take next week off. He's also expecting the worst.
ITZ :08 Probably like the blizzard of 78 where the road will be effectively shut down for at least 8 hours a day, probably more like 10 or 12.
According to the New Hampshire Motor Transport Association, 95% of all goods that arrive in New Hampshire – everything from groceries to gas – come by truck. Bob Scully is the organization's president. He says Massachusetts highway officials and police are keeping operators up to date on the latest closures. But shutting down just one lane of I-93 is going to be a nightmare.
SCULLY :15 they're going to take one lane on I-93 and make it an emergency lane. 2 lanes going into boston. That shutdown will back traffic up for 14 miles, equivalent to 2.5 hour delay, and that's if nothing else goes wrong.
Scully's advice to the members of his organization is to avoid Boston at all costs.
For NHPR News, I'm RMD.
