(KMAland) — While millions of Americans are quarantined or working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, truckers are working to keep the country supplied.
Across the nation, the country’s 3.5 million truck drivers have been working long hours to keep stores and shelves stocked. Steve Cabbage is Vice President and Operations Manager for Keane Thummel Trucking based in New Market. He says while truckers are isolated in their cabs, they still are doing deliveries to areas that are under “shelter-in-place” orders.
“We’ll be delivering into California and that’s a shutdown state, but the customers we’re working for are all people that are listed as essential businesses by the governments — the U.S. government and each state have essential businesses that are essential to day-to-day operations, so those have to go on no matter what,” said Cabbage.
Cabbage says perhaps the biggest interruption for their truckers has been finding adequate services on the road.
“Probably more than anything, is the difficulty our guys are having with finding simple things like places to park,” said Cabbage. “The supply chain people are doing a really good job like the travel plazas and places where we fuel up of having a good, clean shower every day and having a place to stock up on goods is pretty essential to going through something like this.”
Cabbage acknowledges the key role the trucking industry plays in keeping the country supplied during the pandemic. He points to recent examples of brewers and distillers switching to producing hand sanitizer. He says those new products still need to be delivered to be effective.
“Them stepping up does not do any good unless you have somebody willing to put it in a truck, put a driver behind the wheel and have him not be nervous or controlled by the fears that are widespread in these situations,” said Cabbage. “If you shut down the trucking industry, all these goods and all these things that people essentially rely on as they are quarantined, sitting at home or in some places where they are taking names to go get groceries, all those things come to an end without the supply chain people.”
In addition to the truckers moving the goods, Cabbage credits all of the other people involved in moving products around the country.
“People that are receiving these goods, distribution centers, fueling locations, people that are keeping showers clean and that whole supply chain,” said Cabbage. “It’s almost mind-boggling how big it gets once you think about what it takes to get a product like toilet paper — what everybody seems to be concerned about — what it takes to get it from the toilet paper factory out into the cupboard of your house.”
For Keane Thummel Trucking, Cabbage says they are in contact with their drivers daily, providing information on best routes, good business practices and good hygiene practices to stay safe. He says modern technology has allowed them to use texting and email to instantly reach their drivers.
“I really don’t know what it would have been like to do this 25 or 30 years ago when everybody tried to go to a payphone to get their information,” said Cabbage. “We’re going well with it. Our people here are doing really well. Everybody’s good. Everybody’s healthy. We’re real thankful for that.”
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced Friday that it is suspending all limits on daily driving hours and rest times for drivers hauling supplies critical to the coronavirus response.
