(The following story by Eric Anderson appeared on the Florida Times-Union website on June 30.)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Truck drivers at Hill & Markes Inc. saw plenty of back roads and alternate routes in the past two days as the distributor of office, restaurant and janitorial supplies sought to avoid flooded highways and washed-out bridges.
Of the company’s 16 trucks, only one, heading to Binghamton on Interstate 88, couldn’t get through, said company dispatcher Nick Sampone.
The flooding that cut rail service and closed major highways has been a headache for shippers, distributors and retailers. In many cases, trucks were able to get through, although Sysco Food Distributors in Halfmoon reported some delays on inbound shipments.
“We had trucks due Monday that came in today,” Ray Schiffer, executive vice president at the distribution center in Halfmoon, said Thursday.
He said the warehouse had adequate inventory, so deliveries to stores and restaurants weren’t affected.
Price Chopper had to close five of its supermarkets in the Southern Tier and neighboring Pennsylvania because of the flood. But by Thursday afternoon, all but one had reopened, company spokeswoman Mona Golub said.
The store in Owego, Tioga County, remains closed, she said, and the area has been evacuated. Rotterdam-based Golub Corp., which operates the supermarket chain, hopes to reopen the store today.
Price Chopper has a dozen stores in affected areas, Golub said.
“There are different issues in different stores, from power outages to access issues,” she said. The company also saw disruptions in arrivals at its distribution center outside Schenectady.
“A good bit of product comes in from the West, and the West was closed off” Wednesday, Golub said. “At this point, we are working very hard through our transportation and distribution departments to restock the stores.”
At United Parcel Service in Syracuse, spokesperson Courtney Quatrino said deliveries were being made on time except where areas were inaccessible.
The company ships some of its trailers by rail, but UPS was sending trucks to get the trailers off trains that had been blocked by flooding.
And in some cases, UPS was using its aircraft to get packages past the flooded areas.
CSX Transportation, meanwhile, was moving equipment and materials into position to begin repairing tracks in the Mohawk Valley that have been under water for two days.
CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan couldn’t say how many freight trains have been delayed by the flooding, but the railroad hoped to reopen at least one track by this morning.
Amtrak, describing the track damage as “severe,” said it was canceling service west of the Capital Region at least through Saturday.
Hill & Markes’ Sampone, meanwhile, said the situation was improving Thursday as highways, including the state Thruway, reopened.
But reaching Binghamton was a problem after heavy rains washed out a section of Interstate 88 near Sidney.
“There was no other way around Sidney,” he said. “We had to call him back.”