Winds Pushing Truckers Around - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Winds Pushing Truckers Around

Winds as high as 50 and even 60 mph hitting Bismarck cause some challenges for truckers.

Jon Schaeffer takes a look at how the wind is blowing them around today.

How do you handle winds that are blowing as fast as some motorists drive on the road?

Trucker Bill Steinmetz says, "I find just go faster. It seems to keep it upright slow down it seems to make it worse."

It's just another day on the road to Bill Steinmetz-- and the wind isn't slowing him down...

But for some truck drivers things could get a little dicey if they have a light load.

(Bill Steinmetz, "It's not too bad. It'll blow the trailer sometimes the trailer will be dog cracking pretty bad. Come out of it pretty good. I mean if you're empty it can throw you off the road sometimes."

With wind gusts reaching up to 60 mph truckers are having to deal with it not only on the interstate but also effecting their gas mileage and ultimately hurting them at the pump.

Calvin Schmidt, " It's gonna take a lot more fuel today cuz I gotta go to Williston and I'll be running right into it."

In response to how does this wind effect your gas mileage, Dustin Petersen says, "It brings it down about half."

Truckers haven't seen any relief from high gas prices over the last few weeks

Dustin Petersen, "They've gone up probably 40 cents over the last 2 weeks at least 40 cents a gallon."

With diesel fuel around 4.40 a gallon--this wind is helping to empty their wallets as fast as it is draining the gas tank.

Dustin Petersen says, "We don't get paid anything extra for that we're very rarely compensated for that and I don't know quite what to do to change that. It cuts into my living that's for sure."

Whether truckers are on the road or at the pump--these high winds will not be missed as they blow right on passed Bismarck.