Bitter cold has many dealing with car troubles on Monday

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The bitter cold is not only miserable for the people who have to be out in it -- it can be equally bad for their cars. Not everyone's vehicles started up on a frigid Monday morning!

For those folks who dealt with car trouble on Monday -- it was a pretty miserable feeling. It was bitterly cold, and all people wanted to do was get from Point A to Point B in their car. Instead, they found themselves stranded.

Steve Scudder was one of many who dealt with a dead vehicle on Monday.

"Come out to start my truck and she was dead as a doornail," Scudder said.

He waited in the cold for Eddie's Service to provide the jump.

"I'm freezing.  My toes are cold. Give me a bowl of chili and a fireplace. That's what I'm looking forward to right now," Scudder said.

The dangerous cold was even taking its toll on tow trucks Monday.

"The fuel's gelling up. It's starting to solidify a little bit," Paul Krauska said.

Krauska says pulling cars out of snowy ditches was slower work than usual on Monday.

"It takes a longer time cause the hydraulics don't work as fast," Krauska said.

Krauska was responding to non-stop calls in Ozaukee County since 3:30 a.m. Monday!

"You wear piles of clothes. The gloves get thick. You start sweating," Krauska said.

Krauska worked to pull cars out of snow banks, replace tires and jump start dead batteries -- but mostly, he helped people unlock their cars.

"People will come start their car, close the door, go back in the house.  Well, because of security systems the doors automatically lock after a few minutes," Krauska said.

In Milwaukee, people needing new car batteries have been swamping Remy Battery since last Thursday.

"We're doing about four to five times the volume of a typical day," Mike Moeller said.

Remy is extending hours, but expect their busiest days are still ahead of them.

"We expect once people start going back to work and back to school these next couple days, we'll probably see a lot more business throughout the week," Moeller said.

We're told the average life of a battery in this kind of a climate is four to six years. Experts say to help your battery, make sure it's fully charged, don't leave the lights on and let your car warm up a few minutes before driving it.