Can you deliver a container in rain or snow?

Your driveway decides this, the forecast only starts the conversation

There is no single answer to this question because there is no single kind of driveway across Carroll, Grayson and Wythe counties, let alone the rest of Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina we run trucks into. A gravel yard in Hillsville and a grass slope outside Galax can sit a short drive apart and behave completely differently in the same storm. Rain and snow are the same for everybody. What that weather does to your specific spot is not.

Gravel, packed dirt and clay handle wet weather differently

• Compacted gravel: usually holds firm through rain and light snow, our first choice for exactly this reason
• Dry, packed dirt: generally fine, but reads soft fast once it has taken on water
• Clay soil: can look solid on a dry day and turn to a slick, sucking mess within hours of rain
• Fresh snow over any surface: fine on its own, the concern is what is under it once it starts to melt

A loaded truck and trailer weighs a great deal more than anything else that crosses your driveway in a normal week, which is why ground that carries a pickup truck without a second thought can still give way under a delivery.

How to pin down your own spot before a wet forecast

The morning after a storm, go look at the drop spot and the approach while they are at their worst. Standing water in the low spots, or tire tracks from your own vehicles that are still holding water a day later, tell you what a loaded truck and trailer would do to that ground. Send us a couple of photos when you book, especially if a storm is in the forecast for delivery week, and tell us what the ground is: gravel, dirt, clay, or something you are not sure about. We would rather ask a question up front than turn a truck around.

When we push a drop to another day

If the forecast turns severe, ice or a heavy, saturated storm rather than an ordinary rainy day, or if your particular ground has already told us it will not hold, we will call and move the date rather than risk a stuck truck or a sloppy, unlevel set. That is not us being cautious for no reason. A truck that gets stuck on your property becomes a much bigger job than the delivery itself, for everyone involved.