US News
Truckers Face Challenges as Their Jobs Remain to Be an Essential Service Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
While the majority of the country stays at home during the coronavirus pandemic, American truck drivers continue to move most of the freight.
Sean McNally, spokesman for the American Trucking Associations (ATA), said: “If you’re a carrier engaged in grocery deliveries or in the medical supply chain, you have been busy. If you’re a carrier that hauls primarily fuel or to manufacturing centers, you are seeing anything from a slowdown to a cratering of demand.”
“We keep America moving. That's just how it is going to be out here,” said Ron Round, a Maine-based truck driver, who starts each day at 5:00 a.m.
“This is our work from home,” Round then added. “The cab of the truck is this home for a lot of drivers. So their working from home is going down the road.”
However, due to shutdowns and economic uncertainty, doing their jobs has become much harder. It is difficult for truckers to find where to eat and park nowadays.
“You go by a rest area at night and there are all the trucks. That's where they stop to park. What are we supposed to do now?” Round further stated.
Trouble for Truckers
https://twitter.com/Rparkerscience/status/1252780823851474944
According to Fox News, semi-trailer trucks are not even able to go through drive-thru lanes.
“These drivers aren't going to have a sit-down meal until they're home,” said Round. “They're stocking up, carrying food with them, if they can.”
Despite the challenges that truckers encounter, their job remains to be an essential service. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) says that majority of American communities rely on trucks for freight transportation needs.
“’Do you have any toilet paper?’ ‘No.’ ‘When's the truck coming?’ ‘Well, tomorrow.’ Can you imagine what people [would] do, [if] the answer was: ‘The truck ain't coming. The trucks are shut down,'” Round then added. “People would just go in a ridiculous frenzy and it wouldn't be safe to go shopping.”
Round also says that “on a high note, there's way less traffic than what it normally is.”
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