Update, 11:28 p.m.: The Oregon Department of Transportation has reopened Interstate 84 between Troutdale and Hood River.

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On a typical day, Ricardo Aguirre would be on the road by now.

It's before dawn, and the long-haul trucker is usually behind the wheel already. But on Thursday morning, Aguirre wasn't going anywhere. Instead, he watched the sun rise while standing outside his truck, motionless in a frozen truck-stop parking lot.

Aguirre and hundreds of other commercial truck drivers have been stuck in Troutdale for several days after ice, snow and freezing rain closed Interstate 84 through the Columbia River Gorge. As they wait for the primary east-west route across northern Oregon to reopen, they are losing time and money. Many say they have crisscrossed the country for several years and never encountered a delay like this.

Most have been stuck since the highway closed Tuesday afternoon. Others have been in Troutdale for nearly a week after stopping for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, only for the roads to close the next day.

They spend the days idling their engines for cab heat and going back and forth between nearby 24-hour diners and their trucks. They sleep on twin-size mattresses tiered like bunk beds behind the seats. They watch the news on their phones or TVs in their cabs, eagerly awaiting any sign the highway will reopen soon.

It's unclear when that sign will come. The highway did not reopen on Thursday and there's no estimated time for when it will.

Freezing rain is expected to continue in the central Columbia River Gorge through Saturday, the weather service said.

Aguirre passed the time watching Netflix on his phone and texting his family. He has been stuck in the Love's Travel Stop parking lot for 37 hours, he said at 7 a.m. The first 24 hours, he said, his company did not pay him. Now, he's being paid in eight-hour increments. Normally, he is paid by the mile, he said.

He heard rumors the highway would open Wednesday, he said, but it didn't happen.

"It sucks. I should be on the road making money," Aguirre said, gripping a jumbo cup of coffee against the pre-dawn cold. "I wish they'd open the roads today, but I am not sure."

The Oregon Department of Transportation closed the highway between Troutdale and Hood River after icy conditions caused numerous crashes, officials said. The National Weather Service put the entire gorge on an ice storm watch Wednesday and early Thursday morning as freezing rain pelted the area.

Maintenance crews are working around the clock to clear the 45-mile stretch between Troutdale and Hood River, said Don Hamilton, a spokesman for the transportation department.

About 35 employees are breaking up the ice with graders, plows and scrapers, while landscape crews are clearing fallen trees from the road, Hamilton said.

It's been a slow and dangerous process. The highway won't reopen until the road is safe, Hamilton said. And it's unclear when that will be.

"It's still very cold, very windy and very dangerous out there," he said.

Jerry Williamson Jr. has been at Love's since Friday after he stopped for the holiday weekend. During his 20 years as a trucker, he has driven through the continental U.S. and never been delayed this long by the weather, he said.

"I can honestly say I've never seen this," Williamson said. "Coming up here and getting in an ice storm was not what I expected."

Williamson is an independent driver, so he doesn't get paid while he waits out the storm, he said. Instead, he's losing money every day he's not driving. He estimated he's lost $2,000 while waiting. The winter is already a rough time for business, Williamson said, and this delay is making it worse.

"You think a lot," he said. "You think about all the things you could be doing instead of sitting here freezing."

Despite his frustration, Williamson understands why the highway is closed.

"It's probably a very good idea because of safety reasons," he said. "The fact that it may save a few people's lives, I think it's a benefit."

But Williamson can't wait anymore. He plans to leave Thursday and take an alternate route east, he said.

Michael Fisher, a driver from Tri-Cities, Washington, is also taking another route to get home, he said. He often drives between Washington and Portland for deliveries and has been delayed by other recent snowstorms, he said, but never for this long.

He nearly avoided this closure but stopped in Troutdale for lunch on his way home Tuesday afternoon, he said. By the time he was done with lunch, the interstate was closed.

Unlike Fisher and Williamson, Don Romero is playing it safe. Despite the urgings of his company, he is staying put until the road reopens.

"It's not even worth taking the chance," he said.

-- Samantha Matsumoto

503-294-4001; @SMatsumoto55