Cleanliness Is Next To Profitability

With five states issuing stay at home orders and store shelves being emptied just as fast as they are filled, the nation is now beginning to see just how crucial a job truck drivers have. I being one of over three million other drivers on the road, have seen some drastic changes in the past week.

Traffic in and around the larger cities has decreased to almost weekend traffic levels all week long. It could take as much as an hour to travel from the South portion of Austin to just North to get back up to speed. Los Angeles and the entire basin saw unprecedented decreases in highway traffic during this last week. But as California is one of the five states which has ordered people to stay home, it is likely that the 405, 10, 60, 605, 710, and the 91 parking lots again fill to capacity once people get back to their daily routine.

In the meantime, that means to drivers like me is we can get from point A to B much quicker than before. And as we are regulated to driving eleven hours a day, traffic and accident delays are the bane of drivers everywhere.

But the cost of what you see in the local market is nothing compared to what drivers see at the truck stops throughout the USA. That dollar menu at the fast food joint does not exist. We get to pay $1.39-1.69 for the same thing. I was in Tuscaloosa yesterday and the price of a taco was $2.19. The nearest place inside town to where I live was $1.49 for the same taco.

And now the price gouging truck stops have found a new way to squeeze a few more dollars a day from us. Most of us use refillable mugs for coffee and other beverages. This has come to a sudden stop, and at times you can not even access the area to get a coffee or fountain beverage. I myself was threatened with having police dispatched for using my own coffee mug. Given that by using a refillable container you help the environment, it is also more sanitary than something which is handled by others, and at times dropped on the ground and put back.

But given that there are over three million drivers out here right now trying to keep the supply chain moving, the restriction of no outside cups is giving these truck stops a minimum of $3,000,000.00 of increased profits daily. I would venture to say more along the line of $4,500,000-6,000,000 daily, as most refills for drivers are free to begin with.

What used to be a thank you from these truck stops for spending $200-400 to fill up our tanks has now disappeared. So very few times our jobs are appreciated by anyone for what we do in working fourteen hours a day to keep delivering what everyone needs for their daily lives, and now we can’t even get a cup of coffee the morning.

Arriving at the destination can also have its hurdles. Most times for food and beverage deliveries, there is a strict appointment set for incoming and outgoing loads. The wait to be loaded or unloaded averages about two hours. Some places are notoriously slow. I have experienced as much as an eighteen hour wait. The driver in this video also expresses his observations to the current crisis.

Driver Frustration

And then there are times when people and businesses go out of their way to help us out. As many restaurants have only drive through or take out service, most of them are out of reach for drivers across the country. We can not fit into drive through windows, and they do not allow walk up service which is for their own security.

Others have come forward to open their doors and even set up roadside to help us out.

To those who are doing things to help, you are Keeping America Great!