DE PERE, Wis. — It’s ten below zero and freight is moving by truck all over Wisconsin.

Drivers like Lue Khang from Green Bay are making sure those loads get from point to point regardless of the weather outside.

“It’s trying to get it started and trying to stay warm. Once you get it started, you just keep it going” he said while fueling up in De Pere. “The hardest part is getting it to start.”

For truckers, there’s little escape from winter weather right now in many parts of the country.

“You go down south, and you have to battle with the weird weather, ice and rain or whatever storm they have down there,” Khang said. “Up here, it’s just cold. Wherever the money is, you go.”

Matt Bongert spent an hour working in windchills pushing -30 to get his load of plastic ready to transport. He said just about everything takes a little longer in these conditions. 

“It makes things a lot more difficult. Dealing with frozen caps, frozen brakes, and the DEF tank, I’ve got to worry about that freezing up,” he said. “It makes it a lot more difficult. It makes my day a lot longer.”

Sam Eustice teaches students at Fox Valley Technical College in Grand Chute the ins and outs of winter operations.

He said that includes everything from checking the fluid levels and tire pressures to keeping the air brake system running properly.

 “Anything that would normally be fine, as far as a part or anything on the vehicle, when it gets cold out, everything is susceptible to breaking,” Eustice said. “That’s one reason why in the colder climates trucking companies run newer equipment, so there’s less chance of breakdowns.”

(Spectrum News 1/Nathan Phelps)

The coldest of the cold is expected to lift in the coming days. Things may even feel relatively balmy by the weekend with temperatures in the 20s and 30s.

Khang said he’s OK with that.

“Above freezing,” he said. “If it stays above freezing, that’s the main thing.”