Despite Some Struggles, Truckers Keep Delivering The Goods
April 2, 2020 at 10:07 p.m.
Despite Some Struggles, Truckers Keep Delivering The Goods
By Amanda [email protected]
“You walk into the food court and tell me what hot food is in there,” said Phil Shook, who drives from Cleveland, Ohio, to Pierceton every day, hauling a semi full of U.S. Postal Service mail.
Shook links up with Dennis Larocco, from Chicago, every day at the Speedway Speedy Cafe and truck stop at 2125 Ind. 13, Pierceton, to switch trailers full of the mail. Larocco then heads back to Chicago with the mail Shook handed over from Ohio.
For Larocco, he said working for the Postal Service has been a great thing.
“The post office isn’t missing a beat,” he said. “It’s on all of our minds (coronavirus), we definitely worry about it, but we know we have a job to do. We’ve been moving nonstop. The mail’s only stopped twice in our country – when Pearl Harbor was bombed and 9/11.”
Larocco said there have been a few confirmed cases of coronavirus at the main distribution he works for in Chicago, but it’s been handled well by his higher-ups.
Shook, who said he takes vitamins and wears gloves to touch anything, says he’s not worried about getting sick because it just “takes a little brains” how to protect yourself. But, Shook said there’s a problem for truckers when it comes to finding open rest stops, uncrowded truck stops and hot food available.
Shook also said that in Cleveland, “a lot of postal workers are starting to not show up.” He said USPS employees are able to accrue quite a bit of vacation time, and now they are taking it amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The USPS works around the clock, with employees who drive semi mail allowed to work 14 hours on duty, with 11 hours of drive time. Now, those hours are extended to 12 hours of driving and 16 hours on duty.
“We’re not starving,” Shook said. “But some don’t know where to go to the bathroom.”
James Beck, who lives in Tennessee and has been trucking since 1988, was stopping for a break at the McDonald’s on U.S. 30 in Warsaw. Beck was coming from Wisconsin with a load of dry goods and heading to New York, he said Thursday. For him, he’s doing all right.
“Our companies are trying to take it easy on us, so we don’t get sick,” he said. “Everything’s moving kind of smooth. It’s a lot less traffic, so it’s a lot easier that way.”
Dan Metzger, third-generation owner of Metzger & Son Trucking Co. in Silver Lake, said his 40 drivers have been experiencing some appreciation on the road and that they’re realizing how important their job is to keep America moving.
Metzger’s company is a freight company that’s been in business since 1944. They deliver equipment to farms so farmers can continue production, whether that’s poultry or eggs, for example.
Marcia Stanley, who’s been the traffic manager at DR Smith Trucking Inc. in Akron for the past 21 years, said they’re busier than ever right now.
“Primarily, 99% of our business is frozen-food related,” she said. “So we’ve been very busy.”
Their 20 truckers don’t go past the Nevada-Colorado line, but everything east of that is fair game. They’ve been hauling since the 1970s.
“Most of ours goes to distribution centers like Walmart, Kroger, Aldis and then they distribute to their areas,” Stanley said. “And we haul a lot of Edy’s ice cream and a lot of eggs for Crystal Lake Eggs in Warsaw, and then just a lot of other deep frozen foods.”
The drivers, she said, are doing “a heck of a job.”
“These guys are having a hard time finding a place to eat and facilities. I mean, most places are very good to them, but we’ve had a couple notices where one customer of ours is going to start taking their temperature every time they come. A lot of places have closed their restroom facilities to drivers, and I understand they don’t want anything to come in, but these guys are humans. They get to drive-up places where you can’t go the drive-up unless you’re in a car. They say it’s getting more difficult to find places to eat. It’s more like just going to mini-marts and getting a bag of chips or something.”
“Most places they go to, they’re not allowed to get out of their trucks,” Metzger said. “Bathroom breaks are a real struggle right now. Truck stops are so packed. Rest areas are closed. They’re just trying to find a place to stop and sleep for the night.”
Stanley and Metzger both said their drivers have experienced some appreciation on the road, though, with people buying meals for the truckers.
“I had one at a truck stop and someone just brought out food and started handing it out to the drivers,” Metzger said.
Stanley said several of her drivers have encountered a similar experience, where one driver had pulled up to a fast-food drive-thru and a lady in a car went through the drive-thru and paid for his order.
“So, there’s a lot of good people out there, too,” she said. “We stay pretty busy year-round just because it is a food product, but I would say it’s been a little more hectic. It seems to have slacked off a little bit this week, but there for about two weeks (ago) it was just mad. I think they were just trying to get the shelves filled, but it does seem to have gone back to a little bit more normal.”
Stanley also said that she talks to her drivers every day about washing their hands every time they touch something, but “nobody has asked to stay home. They’re just working.”
“In between all the bad stuff going on, there’s some really, really cool stuff,” Metzger said. “Driving truck is a thankless job, they’re out on the road all week, but now they’re having people say, ‘Hey, thank you so much,’” Metzger said. “There’s just been, in the past couple of weeks, some really neat stories. People are appreciating them more than they used to, which is nice.”
“You walk into the food court and tell me what hot food is in there,” said Phil Shook, who drives from Cleveland, Ohio, to Pierceton every day, hauling a semi full of U.S. Postal Service mail.
Shook links up with Dennis Larocco, from Chicago, every day at the Speedway Speedy Cafe and truck stop at 2125 Ind. 13, Pierceton, to switch trailers full of the mail. Larocco then heads back to Chicago with the mail Shook handed over from Ohio.
For Larocco, he said working for the Postal Service has been a great thing.
“The post office isn’t missing a beat,” he said. “It’s on all of our minds (coronavirus), we definitely worry about it, but we know we have a job to do. We’ve been moving nonstop. The mail’s only stopped twice in our country – when Pearl Harbor was bombed and 9/11.”
Larocco said there have been a few confirmed cases of coronavirus at the main distribution he works for in Chicago, but it’s been handled well by his higher-ups.
Shook, who said he takes vitamins and wears gloves to touch anything, says he’s not worried about getting sick because it just “takes a little brains” how to protect yourself. But, Shook said there’s a problem for truckers when it comes to finding open rest stops, uncrowded truck stops and hot food available.
Shook also said that in Cleveland, “a lot of postal workers are starting to not show up.” He said USPS employees are able to accrue quite a bit of vacation time, and now they are taking it amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The USPS works around the clock, with employees who drive semi mail allowed to work 14 hours on duty, with 11 hours of drive time. Now, those hours are extended to 12 hours of driving and 16 hours on duty.
“We’re not starving,” Shook said. “But some don’t know where to go to the bathroom.”
James Beck, who lives in Tennessee and has been trucking since 1988, was stopping for a break at the McDonald’s on U.S. 30 in Warsaw. Beck was coming from Wisconsin with a load of dry goods and heading to New York, he said Thursday. For him, he’s doing all right.
“Our companies are trying to take it easy on us, so we don’t get sick,” he said. “Everything’s moving kind of smooth. It’s a lot less traffic, so it’s a lot easier that way.”
Dan Metzger, third-generation owner of Metzger & Son Trucking Co. in Silver Lake, said his 40 drivers have been experiencing some appreciation on the road and that they’re realizing how important their job is to keep America moving.
Metzger’s company is a freight company that’s been in business since 1944. They deliver equipment to farms so farmers can continue production, whether that’s poultry or eggs, for example.
Marcia Stanley, who’s been the traffic manager at DR Smith Trucking Inc. in Akron for the past 21 years, said they’re busier than ever right now.
“Primarily, 99% of our business is frozen-food related,” she said. “So we’ve been very busy.”
Their 20 truckers don’t go past the Nevada-Colorado line, but everything east of that is fair game. They’ve been hauling since the 1970s.
“Most of ours goes to distribution centers like Walmart, Kroger, Aldis and then they distribute to their areas,” Stanley said. “And we haul a lot of Edy’s ice cream and a lot of eggs for Crystal Lake Eggs in Warsaw, and then just a lot of other deep frozen foods.”
The drivers, she said, are doing “a heck of a job.”
“These guys are having a hard time finding a place to eat and facilities. I mean, most places are very good to them, but we’ve had a couple notices where one customer of ours is going to start taking their temperature every time they come. A lot of places have closed their restroom facilities to drivers, and I understand they don’t want anything to come in, but these guys are humans. They get to drive-up places where you can’t go the drive-up unless you’re in a car. They say it’s getting more difficult to find places to eat. It’s more like just going to mini-marts and getting a bag of chips or something.”
“Most places they go to, they’re not allowed to get out of their trucks,” Metzger said. “Bathroom breaks are a real struggle right now. Truck stops are so packed. Rest areas are closed. They’re just trying to find a place to stop and sleep for the night.”
Stanley and Metzger both said their drivers have experienced some appreciation on the road, though, with people buying meals for the truckers.
“I had one at a truck stop and someone just brought out food and started handing it out to the drivers,” Metzger said.
Stanley said several of her drivers have encountered a similar experience, where one driver had pulled up to a fast-food drive-thru and a lady in a car went through the drive-thru and paid for his order.
“So, there’s a lot of good people out there, too,” she said. “We stay pretty busy year-round just because it is a food product, but I would say it’s been a little more hectic. It seems to have slacked off a little bit this week, but there for about two weeks (ago) it was just mad. I think they were just trying to get the shelves filled, but it does seem to have gone back to a little bit more normal.”
Stanley also said that she talks to her drivers every day about washing their hands every time they touch something, but “nobody has asked to stay home. They’re just working.”
“In between all the bad stuff going on, there’s some really, really cool stuff,” Metzger said. “Driving truck is a thankless job, they’re out on the road all week, but now they’re having people say, ‘Hey, thank you so much,’” Metzger said. “There’s just been, in the past couple of weeks, some really neat stories. People are appreciating them more than they used to, which is nice.”
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