Truckstop, Trucking Companies Hit in Southern Tornadoes

Tornados ravaged parts of the South yesterday, damaging some trucking companies and severely damaging at least one truck stop.

Severe storms and multiple tornadoes blitzed several southern states yesterday including Alabama, Virginia, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee, killing over 200 people. A truckstop along I-81 in Glade Spring, Virginia, was hit directly by one of the tornadoes. Nearly 40 tractor trailers were tossed around, some onto the freeway. The same storm killed four people in nearby homes.

The hardest-hit state was Alabama, where a massive twister left residential areas decimated in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Ala., but appears to have missed many major carriers in the area. The tornado dodged Ross Neely Truck Lines in Birmingham by half a block, yet the terminal received only minor roof damage. The storm, which hit around 6 p.m. yesterday evening, virtually wiped out a residential neighborhood directly behind the terminal.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Tommy Neely, president, describing the nearby devastation. "The sad thing about is that we are in a [poor] section of town." Neely said one of his drivers took refuge in a tractor yesterday and watched the twister go by.

At this point, Neely said downed phone lines and internet are his biggest headache. He said the company will be able to run normally today, but he is dispatching trucks remotely where he can find internet access.

Nearby, the Birmingham terminal of AAA Cooper was unharmed, but had a variety of debris, such as aluminum siding and blankets, dropped onto its facility by the tornado. "If you go out of our terminal and turn to the right and go to the top of the hill past Western Express, it looks like a war zone out there," said Terry Clouser, director of maintenance.

Davis Hauling of Tuscaloosa had another near miss -- just an eighth of a mile. Jeff Handler, operations manager, said the company was undamaged and they currently are trying to organize a relief effort.

Boyd Brothers was not as lucky. The company's terminal in Birmingham had its roof ripped off, said Darren Lee, vice president of Operations of WTI Transport, which uses the terminal along with Boyd. Apparently nobody was hurt, but it is unclear when the terminal will be back online. Boyd also suffered damage to some trailers.

WTI Transport's Tuscaloosa facility was safe from the storm, which passed about 3 miles south before moving towards Birmingham. An employee was able to safely capture shots of the twister. At least one employee lost her home, but was uninjured. WTI is helping her through the situation.

But while WTI was mostly safe, one of its large shippers, Tamco Roofing in Birmingham, a supplier of shingles and other materials, was destroyed.

"Tamco lost pretty much everything ... The area was totally obliterated," said Lee, noting that nobody at facility was injured. Lee was unable to say when Tamco will be up and running, but said that WTI will suffer some short-term losses due to the situation.