It could be a messy weekend for much of North Carolina and DOT officials already have crews on stand-by.

Preparing for slick conditions means paying close attention to the most dangerous surfaces.

Shannon Daniels travels major roads for work daily and he takes the warnings seriously.

"They get icy a lot quicker than the roads will but most people in general know that's going to happen already if they've been out here in North Carolina long enough," he said.

That's why transportation crews treat bridges and overpasses as a priority when planning for winter weather.

Jason Dunigan of the DOT explained, “All bridges on major highways and the highways are what we're hitting first, then secondary roads."

DOT officials blame air circulation on the extra slick surfaces.

Wind is able to travel under bridge spans as well as on top. The additional cold air causes the temperature to drop on bridge surfaces, sometimes resulting in ice when roads are just wet.

Transportation officials said sometimes bridge surfaces can drop as much as ten degrees lower than ground temperatures.

And the DOT isn't taking any chances.

Some counties spent Friday pre-treating roads and bridges. After that, it's up to Mother Nature.

"We don't have any control over the weather as far as how fast it comes, and then the traffic that's on the roadway, there's no controlling that traffic, so we'll do the best we can," Chris McGee of the DOT stated.

Daniels is already planning a weekend off the roads. "The best way to deal with it is stay at home," he said.

Transportation officials said when driving in slick conditions and you begin to slide do not use your brakes. They suggest steering into the direction you're sliding and ride it out.