Self Storage call center meets major winter storm

Hello from self storage winter storm central in Columbia, Missouri

Winter storm closes everything in Central Missouri…even The PhoneSmart Off-site sales force.

The last time we had a winter storm with this kind of impact in central Missouri was in 1995. It shut down everything.

Well everything is shut down again today. The University of Missouri cancelled classes this morning for only the 4th time in its history. The local courts are closed. The Missouri Book Service, MBS, one of the largest text book exchange services in the nation has cancelled its first and second shifts. MFA Oil, one of the Midwest’s largest gas station operators and gasoline distributors has closed its corporate office. And PhoneSmart, the off-site sales force dedicated to self storage owners, could not open.

Interstate 70 even had to close for several hours early this morning.

I had over a foot and a half of snow at my house. Even my four wheel drive pick-up high-centered in the snow in my driveway this morning. No one else was able to get out of their driveways either. So all incoming phone calls are going to the voicemail systems for the individual stores we service as their sales back-up.

Last night we had to close by 5:00 PM central time as the roads had been treacherously iced over with a layer of freezing rain, topped with a layer of sleet, and then another layer of snow. We were concerned that people would not have been able to get home safely. At the same, the people on the evening shift had been unable to get away from their homes by the building ice and snow.

We will have to see how fast the road crews are able to get the main roads cleared. We will evaluate the situation again early this afternoon to see if we can answer phones later today. In the worst case scenario, we will not be able to answer phones again until Saturday morning.

I will let you know as things develop. I guess if we lose a day to the weather once every 10 years, that is not a bad record.

Thanks,
Tron Jordheim

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Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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