Truckers are facing a unique set of problems as they fulfill their duties of moving goods along the lifelines of the nation.
Coronavirus declarations have shuttered restaurants and truck stops along the interstates, making it tough to get a few minutes off in the comfort of coffee shop in front of a plate of food.
According to the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate, travelers in cars are being encouraged to help truckers out by offering to go to the drive-through and pick up food for them.
Even out on the road, the same challenges facing area residents are also hitting truckers. Short supplies of toilet paper, bottled water, and food are turning up. And shorter hours are cutting off truckers from making short stops to pick up supplies.
Drivers are responding by packing in supplies before leaving home. Driver Tony Zayas, from Baton Rouge, has homemade Gumbo and other seafood dinner items packed in his truck, so he can eat on the road when restaurants are closed to the public.
And at a truck stop outside Baton Rouge, Mason’s Grill on Jefferson Highway is putting up their phone number on an electronic sign encouraging truckers to call in a food order and they’ll have it waiting for takeout.