Ottawa truck driver stranded over 12 hours on Virginia highway

An Ottawa truck driver was among the hundreds of motorists stranded on Interstate 95 in Virginia Monday as a blizzard piled nearly a foot of snow on the region and wreaked havoc on highways. 

The Associated Press reported multiple tractor trailers jackknifed along the highway, creating an impasse that stretched more than 100 kilometres and left some drivers stranded over 24 hours. 

“As soon as I crossed the Virginia line, I knew this wasn’t going to end well because there was no effort at all to plot the snow,” said Matt Marchand, a long-haul truck driver from Ottawa who spent roughly 13 hours immobilized on I-95.

Marchand says he crossed the state border between Maryland and Virginia just after 8 a.m. Monday morning, but only travelled about 35 kilometres in seven hours before he was brought to a halt. 

“The problem is we were driving through a lot of slush yesterday and then of course it got to about minus-8, so take a wild guess what happens, it all started to freeze up. There were some drivers that were, you know, now they’re frozen to the ground,” Marchand noted. 

He says he spent the day digging out several cars from the snow, even offering supplies to those stranded on the highway. 

“Two hours in, someone’s knocking at my door. I opened the door and it’s the driver of a Tesla. He says his battery is running low and he’s got the kids in the car. I grabbed a spare blanket and I took it over to him so at least him and the kids could be reasonably warm,” he said.

A number of drivers reported on social media fears of running out of gas or power, along with concerns about food. 

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine was among those stranded. He reported a friendly driver passing out oranges to the surrounding vehicles.

“I’m always willing to help people, but I’ve never found myself in that situation at all,” Marchand said. 

Stranded for hours, some drivers reported watching movies to pass the time, while Marchand says others found ways to entertain themselves. 

“Someone built a snowman, generally hanging out in cars, I could see people walking their dog, things like that,” he said.

Marchand says he finally began moving again around 7:30 Tuesday morning, but progress was slow. 

“Once we got going the roads were still in really rough shape because they didn’t scrape them, they just applied a lot of sand. Presumably because it was so hard-packed,” he noted. 

Marcie Parker, an engineer for the Virginia Department of Transportation, tells the Associated Press the agency expects to finish clearing the interstate by Tuesday evening, with the highway reopened in time for Wednesday morning’s commute. 

“I knew there was a storm but I didn’t think anything of it. I had no idea that it would add, like 18 hours to the day,” Marchand said.