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With drought-defying snowstorms romping through the Sierra on a weekly basis, truckers once again are discovering how tough California’s Interstate 80 Donner Pass can be.

Winter Storm Jonas set snowfall records on the East Coast, wreaking havoc from South Carolina to Massachusetts, leaving truckers stranded and claiming 48 lives.

At trucking giants such as Covenant Transport in Chattanooga, Tennessee — which operates a fleet of about 2,700 trucks — entire departments are dedicated to monitoring weather and dealing with emergencies, snarls and re-routes.

Twenty-three states spent a total of more than $1.1 billion between October and April to pre-treat, plow or spread chemicals and other materials on roads to keep them open and safe this past season, according to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

Transport Topics is closed March 5 due to a weather emergency. While snow is sometimes viewed as the enemy of trucking, when it comes to moving goods over highways, trucks also are the primary weapon for state and local governments to fight winter’s blowing flakes.

Interstate 95, the freight artery through the states slammed hardest this week by record snowfall, is open now to all traffic at all points, with Massachusetts and Rhode Island the last states to lift their travel bans.

The New York State Thruway entered its third day of being shut down on Nov. 20 between Exit 46 in Rochester and Exit 61 in Ripley as snow continued to fall in the region.

In upstate New York, a western part of which is buried in snow depths of 5 feet, carriers said their trucks are still rolling, despite the continued closure of the New York State Thruway.