America’s truckers face increasing challenges
on front lines in war against coronavirus
The Kansas City Star,
by
Judy L Thomas
Original Article
Posted By: kreeger,
3/26/2020 9:02:22 AM
Shantell Pablo heaved a big sigh and shrugged as she headed back to her 18-wheeler during a break at the service plaza along Interstate 70 Wednesday morning between Lawrence and Kansas City.
“I’m just ready for everything to be over,” said the 27-year-old trucker from Metairie, Louisiana, who was hauling a load of dry goods from Chicago to Colorado and then on to Texas. “During this time, it has been very difficult for all of us, especially us truckers. It’s put a lot of stress on all of us.”
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 3/26/2020 9:10:37 AM (No. 358438)
When this is over, go to your nearest truck stop and hug a few truckers for keeping our supply chain moving. We owe them bigly.
14 people like this.
Truckers, doctors, nurses, lab workers, grocery store workers, teachers, restauranteurs....
People we have taken for granted, but now appreciate so very much.
17 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Ida Lou Pino 3/26/2020 9:27:21 AM (No. 358449)
Sure - - truckers deserve our admiration - - but - -
- - what about the entrepreneurs and investors who took big risks to buy those trucks - - find clients for the business - - and sweat to meet the payrolls? Without the business owners - - there would be no truckers.
Three cheers for truck owners and investors!
22 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Mass Minority 3/26/2020 9:48:44 AM (No. 358472)
I read an article a few years back talking about americas food supply. It was actually trying to show why food aid to third world countries rarely gets to the people who actually need it but I digress. The point was that without a viable distribution system most food aid rots in warehouses at the port of entry. To contrast that the article described food distribution in the US. Its both fascinating and scary.
The article stated that at any given moment in any city in the US there is only a 3 to 4 day supply of food. That 3-4 day supply is constantly replenishing because of our roads and independent trucking operations. This is why you always have fresh fruits (which will rot in less than a week on the shelf) and meat and fish. The corrolary of course is that any major disruption of that distribution system would be catastrophic. We are talking Mad Max levels of desperation within 1 to 2 weeks. And don't think that its any better in the rural areas, its actually worse because the supply chain is longer. If you live in central Kansas in January, you live in a food desert without that supply chain.
So anything that affects our truckers affects you directly, not in any abstract way but directly. They deserve some respect for the adversity they are overcoming right now.
14 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
kreeger 3/26/2020 9:51:19 AM (No. 358476)
I learned alot about long haul drivers when my friend became one. Longs lines at inspection stations. Cops looking to pull you over for minor violations. A ridiculous DOT Duty hours regulation. Trouble finding parking spots. Taxed in multiple states.
Just keep that in mind next time you see a Trucker signaling to change lanes.
11 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
john56 3/26/2020 9:58:21 AM (No. 358483)
Obviously more important that quarter-of-a-million-dollar-or-more-salaried-and-tenured-diversity-coordinators at our state and federal bureaucracies and universities, all funded by tax dollars paid by those truckers. And the rest of us.
8 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Namma 3/26/2020 10:00:19 AM (No. 358488)
I have often wondered why football players, basketball players, base ballplayer, and other non-essential entertainers make so much money, when its the people that actually can save our lives, work harder, and are paid a lot less. An EMS person could save your life.
A policeman, and nurse, and yes truckers, who get the equipment needed for a person to live. Teachers, who are teaching kids to be able to support themselves in their adult lives.
So many many more dedicated people who work hard at their jobs are so under appreciated. But gosh, big mouth labron, who cant play basketball unless the arena is filled with fans, makes millions. I think sometimes we have our priorities have azzed backwards.
11 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
hurricanegirl 3/26/2020 10:02:35 AM (No. 358492)
Perhaps this DEMpanic will make us all more aware of how fragile our food supply is--and prompt us to prepare as best we can.
I think about the idiot on another site who a while back was suggesting that all truckers go on strike to protest what the government was doing. At the time, I pointed out how shortsighted and utterly foolish his idea was. Perhaps now he's seeing that firsthand.
And last, but certainly not least: Thank God for truckers. As for the owners of the trucking companies, tell me . . . are they out driving day and night to get us food? Right! Didn't think so! I'll focus on appreciating the people actually doing the work--the truckers!
7 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
DVC 3/26/2020 10:28:44 AM (No. 358516)
I despise the evil KC Red Star, and it doesn't like my ad blocker. I'll make do with just the intro.
3 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
MDConservative 3/26/2020 10:57:31 AM (No. 358544)
I'll bet none of these heroes is working as a volunteer. They're getting paid and on the job in a line of chosen work. I'm not ungrateful...neither am I particularly impressed. The roads are near empty. These are earnings salad days for truckers and lots of others.
2 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Vaquero45 3/26/2020 12:26:58 PM (No. 358672)
I had a hunting buddy who was a long-haul trucker for almost 50 years. He started when he was about 16 (illegally, of course). He had about a million stories of his adventures on the road, hauling everything from mattresses to livestock to nitroglycerine. I told him once that, although he’d never set foot in a college classroom, life on the road had made him a psychologist. He lost two wives while on the road; one left him, and the other died. It’s a hard life, and toward the end he told me that watching the white line disappear under the left front fender was about to get the best of him. He passed away a few years ago, and I still think of him every time I see an 18-wheeler.
God bless every one of them.
5 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Heil Liberals 3/26/2020 12:49:32 PM (No. 358717)
Insanity is ruling our days. Everyone likes to rag on truckers, almost as much as attorneys, until they need one.
2 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
chumley 3/26/2020 1:25:39 PM (No. 358776)
Yes I am glad they are there and working, but I will not put them on a pedestal and worship them. They are regular guys and I've seen as much bad behavior from them as good. They are well paid for their trouble and they can quit any time they want. I cant even have the CB on in the car if I have kids with me because they seem to have a vulgar contest going.
Lets keep this in perspective.
2 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Corndoggies 3/26/2020 10:10:29 PM (No. 359286)
My dad taught me to be respectful of big trucks cause of their size and the drivers because of their hard work. Then 10 years ago I met my husband and we started a small trucking company. That gave me an entirely new perspective on the lifestyle. It takes a special breed to do that job. There is a new crop of foreigners that don’t do the profession any favors.
1 person likes this.
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Comments:
Probably the most underappreciated line of work in America.