The massive snowstorm that has gripped the East Coast in its frosty embrace has given an unwelcome hug to trucking as well.

The storm started dumping snow on the region Friday, and by Monday, some areas had received several feet of snow, media sources reported. Even Central Park, which was hit with a relatively paltry 14 inches, received more than half its normal yearly total snowfall, National Weather Service officials told The New York Times.

The storm affected all of New England, New York, New Jersey and went as far south as Virginia. Officials poured tens of thousands of pounds of salt on roads in an attempt to keep land routes open; Mayor Michael Bloomberg told The Times 80,000 pounds were laid down in New York City alone. Law-enforcement officials asked motorists to avoid driving if possible.

In New Hampshire, the strain of the effort to overcome the storm was starting to show. The Concord Monitor reported that some state DOT plow operators and other road workers had worked 36 hours straight without sleep. The state is 70 short of its preferred number of road crew workers, the newspaper said.

In New York City, Bloomberg told The Times that 1,700 snowplows had made city streets usable. But even with similar efforts throughout the region, trucks and other vehicles were having a rough time of it. The Journal News in New York reported that two jackknifed tractor-trailers less than 200 yards apart, which became immobilized separately, clogged traffic on Interstate 95 Saturday.  

New York State Department of Transportation, in an attempt to keep traffic moving, offered several reminders to drivers trying to make it through the storm’s aftermath.

• Keep your headlights on when it's precipitating. It's the law;
• Do not follow a snowplow closely or attempt to pass one;
• Bring a cell phone if available; and
• Do not venture from your vehicle if you become snowbound.