Weather-Related Policies and Procedures
Late Start: If lots of snow or ice comes in overnight, drivers may start later, after it’s light out and the plows are out. Full runs will be completed, but the schedule will be off a few hours.
Adjust Routes: In the case of a road closure, drivers may need to adjust a route and miss a few libraries.
Large System: WRLS covers over 5000 square miles. There can be bad weather in one part of the system and the sun will be shining in another. Additionally, storms that first look like they are going to miss us, hours later swing north or south and enter our territory during a delivery run. We can’t cancel delivery every time it looks like it might snow, so we have to rely on our drivers (and the rest of the staff when on the road) to make the call based on the weather where they are.
Drivers Make the Call: As mentioned above, the weather can look good in the morning and turn as the day goes on, so we rely on the judgement of our drivers to determine the safest course of action. This sometimes means turning around to head back and missing some libraries further away.
Monitor: Dave and Kristen also monitor weather, road closures, and alerts. If we become aware of something that might impact delivery, Dave makes contact with the driver to make a plan or adjust.
Notifications: We will notify libraries when we are going to miss a delivery.
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