… who are one of the most vital parts of our supply chain!
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It’s easier for truckers to stay healthy because of their isolation. They can avoid restaurants and limit their contact with people.
That is a problem right now. Truckers gotta eat and the drive thru window is not really an option for them. Walk-ups are not allowed by many fast food chains. Truckers have asked that this policy be rescinded for the duration. McDonalds has complied.
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Sure there is. I don’t know too many truckers, but I do know sales people who are on the road all the time. They rarely eat at restaurants. They buy groceries daily and plan their meals - storing them in coolers in their car. Just because they all ate at restaurants before, doesn’t mean they have to keep doing it that way. Hell, some of those trucks have refrigerators and lots of storage in the cab. It may be less convenient for them, but they can do it.
I had an uncle who pulled his truck over to the shoulder on I-40 in Oklahoma and died. A fellow trucker recognized that he had passed the stopped truck the day earlier and went back to find the driver dead. As an owner operator there wasn’t much contact with anyone beyond the range of a CB radio at the time. It was a very isolated life 40 years ago.
I wonder what they’re doing for showers. Are the truck stop rent-a-showers still open?
I’m not a “real” truck driver. I’m a city pick up and delivery guy who happens to drive a semi.
I’m home every night, usually working 8 to 10 hours a day. Trust me being a real over the road driver is tough. Especially now.
Yeah you can park in the Walmart lot and go in and get groceries. Too bad they’re sold out of the things you need. Can’t just jump in the truck and drive around to multiple places finding a few things here and there until your shopping list is complete.
I’ve been on my route 17 years. I know almost everyone I run into and they know me. But I can’t use the restroom at most places now. Sorry. New policy. A few make exceptions because they know us local guys. But very few.
One bright spot was a Pilot truck stop a co worker went to had hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes available for drivers only. Looking out for their core customers.
On a positive note there’s a lot less traffic for us to deal with.
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At least there no traffic, even at rush hour. Deliveries are much more efficient than they were a month ago.
I stop at Pilot quite a bit when we drive cross country and they have had sanitizer all along. I still always carry my own though anytime I stop at a rest area, ever since that time . . . oh never mind. I want to forget, but I always use sanitizer as soon as I’m out the door.
My BIL drove all over and once a month or so would call when he was passing though and we’d have coffee at the truck stop. I thought I was the only one but when my dad went with him for a couple weeks after he retired, turns out he had people all over the country he’d call and have coffee with. It is a lonely life though. You can’t hardly get fuel though without running into people in the truck stops. Weather you sit down or not, there are still bunches of people around.
If you think it was lonely 40 years ago, try 50 and 60 years ago, before the CB radio. You carried a heavy wool blanket with you so you didn’t freeze to death before traffic started up in the morning if your truck broke down.
Um, no. They have to exchange paperwork at the beginning and end of every trip, they have to shower and eat and buy fuel, and filthy truck stops are where they do most of those activities.
There is no way for a truck driver to isolate himself or herself like those of us who get paid to work from home and can get groceries delivered.
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In order to make a grocery run, a company driver has to get permission to leave the trailer at a drop yard or truck stop, find grocery store parking that can fit a bobtail truck with a sleeper cab, and trek miles out of his way logging that time in his log to stay legal, losing an equal amount of paid drive time.
It’s really a lot harder than you think, particularly if you haul high value cargo.
While I agree with Whitey on the difficulty for truckers ( I have a lot of respect for them), as much as I complain about Walmart, most of the stores welcome truckers and have ample room in their lots. Usually close to main roads and a good place to stop and shop or even stay over-night. Not an easy life.
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My local Walmart has signs posted barring big rigs from parking in their lots. There is often one parked there and maybe it’s a store stock truck but possibly store management isn’t watching too closely.
My local Walmart allow’s truck parking but when I was on the road still working I seem to remember it was about 50/50 across the country weather Walmart’s allowed truck parking or not.
Grocery stores and wallmart are now making deliveries to people in their cars or trucks. The truckers wouldn’t have a problem at all getting their groceries from any of the large grocery stores or wallmarts around here.There’s plenty of parking for truckers.
And in a typical office environment or factory environment people are in contact with dozens if not HUNDREDS of people a day. How many people a day does a cashier at a typical Grocery store see.
While a trucker does have contact…their contact is far far less then many other professions. Every time I deal with someone at a grocery store or when I go to pump gas…I wash my hands. Easy to do because of the few times I have contact. A grocery store worker, or a fast food worker…and let’s not even get into the health workers has contact all the time. So I stand by my original statement that a truckers job is far more isolated then most and the more isolated you are the less likely of contacting the virus.
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Heh heh. My wife decided to try the order on line service at a local chain. I think she ordered on Monday or Tuesday. Said it would be ready today (Sunday). They e-mailed to come between 9 and 10 to pick up. I said great you need to get out of the house. She said no, I’m not leaving, so I went down to pick it up. That’s life in middle America. My hats off to the poor truckers, clerks, and others working. There was a Police car parked in the lot, don’t know if getting supplies or making sure the Gov’s orders were being complied with.
Walmart always talked about how great their inventory management was. Their computers knew when something was sold and the replacement went on the truck right away. Even before all this mess, I thought it was a big lie and I am more convinced now they have a &(^& poor inventory management system. So good luck pulling up in your truck to get supplies for the next 1000 miles.
WallMarts inventory management system is by far better then 99% of any other company in the US. They are having other problems right now. For one…one of the local distribution centers near me has a good 10% of their workers out because of the virus. The average time a product stays in one of their warehouses is 45 minutes. It goes in, gets categorized and inventoried, then on a truck 45 minutes later.
Your local chain must be doing very well. Most of ours aren’t. I can call up and get an order waiting for me in under an hour. Sales are down over 90%. We only eat out on weekends, and have had zero problem getting an order from our favorite restaurants. Hopefully more people will do takeout and help these businesses. That is if they can afford it. A lot of people are out of work. We’re fortunate enough be able to work at home.