Corona Daily 088: Truck Drivers Wanted. Pay $100,000

Many of us visit the nearby supermarket or mall to buy dozens of different items. We don’t see their journey from the factory to the supermarket. In large geographies like the USA, Canada, Australia; truck drivers drive thousands of miles to bring the products closer to the household. In the USA, more than 70% of goods hit the highway at some point before they reach the shopper. Coca-Cola, the world’s best distributed brand, owes its success partly to the trucks that distribute the drink. (One may add distribution of vaccines now. With few manufacturing plants, vaccines travel long distances.)

Driving an 18-wheeler truck requires a special license and prolonged training. Working hours are long, some of them not paid for. In many countries, when loaders are loading the truck, the driver stands next to it, or helps with the loading. However, his clock and payment generally starts only once he begins to drive. He may have to drive for days alone, stay away from his family for weeks. A cigarette may be his only companion on the journey. Truck drivers suffer from sleep disorders and sleep deprivation. Their eating habits are poor, irregular, the food junk. With no exercise, a sedentary lifestyle and lack of access to care, 86% of American truck drivers are overweight or obese. Despite all this, they are treated like dirt and are the lowest rung in the economic caste system.

It is also an ageing profession in North America, because the young are not willing to join it. 94% truck drivers are male. Desperate young men from Eastern Europe, some staying illegally in the US, work as truck drivers. Because the shortage is huge, and continued, the pay is good. $73000 per annum is the average, but $100,000 is possible for the Class A drivers.

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Last year, most driver schools were shut since the first lockdown. As a result, the new inflow stopped. As luck would have it, just before the pandemic, in January 2020, USA had fired 60,000 truck drivers for drug or alcohol violations. Since April, many aged drivers opted to retire instead of driving in these challenging times. In April 2020, turnover of drivers was 70%.

The Pandemic forced them to work longer hours. The scheduled truck stops became very crowded. It was difficult to find food. Though the driver is isolated most of the time, when he comes out of the truck, he is using common public bathrooms and restaurants. Because of poor health and obesity, the risk of catching the virus and taking it home was high. Drivers were no longer allowed to use personal mugs for coffee, but use disposable cups. Lounges where drivers typically gather to watch TV were closed. Sit-down meals were banned. The driver, after a long drive, had to sit in his truck and eat the takeaway.

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Carrying gas (petrol) in America has been a bigger issue. Now 20-25% of the tank trucks are idle for want of qualified drivers. Many drivers left the business when gasoline demand ground to a near halt during the shutdowns. Some transport companies shifted their drivers to work for Amazon, simply to not lose them. The elderly drivers were not keen to follow what they considered draconian shutdown protocols.  

Some of the drivers who worked during the first months shared their stories. One driver said somebody came up alongside, blew the horn, and asked him to roll the window down. Then he was asked whether he was carrying toilet paper in the truck.

Another driver, who has been working for 40 years, had a few people thanking him for working during the pandemic. Truck drivers had made sure people locked up home were able to get all essential goods.

Driving trucks for thousands of miles was termed a patriotic duty. The pandemic was the first time many truck drivers, in their long career, received thanks for their thankless job.

Ravi