After more than three months of this pandemic and a seemingly nonstop flurry of reactions to guidance, regulations, and daily procedural adjustments for those of us working in the Essential Business Critical Sector of Food & Agriculture, things appear to be slowing.
While we are far from finished dealing with the impact, everyone at ACS has worked tirelessly to implement all of the CDC and FDA guidelines relating to the virus. However, looking back, there seems to be one group of professionals that has been overlooked for what they accomplished.
So this month, we would like to thank our country’s truck drivers.
These men and women who master the highways and byways of Florida and beyond have been challenged with extraordinary obstacles, changing rules, and compressed timelines to deliver the thousands of food products we have all been purchasing in record quantities. And they have done it with class.
Here are some of the things that truck drivers faced in the past few months:
- Truck stops out of toilet paper, bottled water and sanitizer due to families stopping at the locations and emptying the shelves (and the restrooms);
- Truck stop rule changes made it difficult to find a place to wash up or find suitable restaurants: have you ever tried to take a semi through a drive-thru?
- Changes in safety rules sometimes made it hard to find a place to park;
- Often, they had to use outside port-o-lets instead of indoor facilities;
- Dock personnel restricting or prohibiting access on the dock and each location seemed to follow varying procedures;
- Often, the driver was unable to witness their loading or unloading — yet the driver was still responsible for that process.
And yet, time and again, they handled each shift, each variance, each hardship with a positive attitude. They knew that at the end of the day we were all working toward the same goal — to get their shipments into the hands that needed them: the American public.
The men and women who haul all of the things we take for granted are on the road 24/7. They are still dealing with revised hours to deliver, building traffic, and product shortages; and yet they press on with professionalism.
So at this time, let’s all take a moment to thank these “road warriors” who keep us all rolling.