I'm betting not one of the Kentucky big wigs is stuck on that road

[malaise]

where no one has moved for 17 hours - the backup is only 35 miles. Great work ReTHUGs. Love the planning.

[njlib]

1. Of course not! They would've been on their way 16 hours ago!

I have to work tonight and can't imagine being stuck like that. The woman CNN was talking to is stuck in the car with 3 kids!

My usual commute is 1 hour & 15 minutes, so I'm giving myself 4 hours. Even if I have to only go 15 mph the entire way, I should still be on time.

[malaise]

2. There are four buses with students from a Michigan marching bands

Where are you??

[njlib]

13. I'm in NJ

I'm a nurse in a nursing home, work the 11p-7a shift. My commute is a little over 50 miles one way, but now I see the blizzard warning is extended to the entire state. I'm in northwest NJ and we just had an advisory here, no blizzard warning until a short while ago. My supervisor tried to find coverage for me yesterday, but no luck...so I gotta go....

[longship]

3. Link? Context? Thx. nt

[malaise]

5. Here

http://myfox8.com/2016/01/23/traffic-backed-up-35-miles-in-kentucky-8-people-dead-nationwide/

[In_The_Wind]

6. Very sad.

[SamKnause]

4. ???

[Vinca]

7. Hey . . . salting the roads costs money.

You think the new Republican governor wants to foot the bill for something that just melts and goes away?

[avebury]

8. And if Kentucky is using private contractors instead of

state forces, the cost of snow & ice removal can be a whole lot more expensive. The fewer contractors bidding on a contract, the higher the cost. And it can be a pure crap shoot because a state may not know if they will have a lot of snow events or a light winter. If you put a lot of the risk on the contractor to have the required equipment their pricing will go up. On top of that so many states are cutting their budgets. If you live in a high snow impact state, this is one area that you can really get hurt if the Governor and Legislature is on a budget slashing agenda.

[bklyncowgirl]

9. The problem with private contractors is that they are not reliable.

I town I worked for had decided to 'cut costs' by outsourcing the clearing of parking lots to a private contractor. Along came a blizzard. The town's public works guys all showed up for work (Public Works guys love blizzards and the overtime they bring) and did a great job clearing the streets but the parking lots, which fell under the private contract remained covered with snow for days.

This of course did not make the businesses who relied on those parking lots, the same business owners who had pushed for the town to hire this contractor, happy. They wanted the town to clear the lots but under the contract they couldn't.

Apparently many of the workers employed by the contractor decided not to show--hell why should they. Many were seasonal or hourly employees and the contractor had not required them to be at work ready to go before the storm started. The contractor of course was hired under the New Jersey State Contracting laws--low bid wins and unless you can prove that the bidder is not a "responsible" bidder the low baller gets the job.

Privatization sounds great until you have to rely on it.

[avebury]

10. Another problem with contractors is that, if they do not perform

the work as required by the contract, you need to file vendor complaints. Failure to document ligitimate problems with a contractor prevents you from being able to eliminate them from being awarded future contracts. I have no patience for people who complain about a vendor yet don't bother to file vendor complaints.


You can also include penalties in your contract and you need to exercise those penalties if the contractor failes to perform.

I can tell you that, contrary to what Republicans will tell you, privitizaiton of state functions does not save the tax payers any money.

[B2G]

11. When they say don't go out

they mean it.

This is why.

[malaise]

12. Get back to me on this one

after you find out who are on the road

[B2G]

14. The people they interviewed to start with.

This was not a surprise storm.

These people had no buisness taking their kids out in it. Sorry, that's how I feel.