The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
A LONG HAUL
Pandemic creates new challenges in trucking, but more hours for many
When shelter in place orders were enacted around the country in mid-March, it was a boon to the trucking industry because of the push to ship essentials, but in April some 88,000 trucking jobs were lost, as deliveries all but halted to nonessential businesses, experts in the industry say.
Today, for those still hauling essential items, such as groceries and medical supplies, work continues to be brisk, but they are facing everyday challenges, such as finding bathrooms, hand washing stations, fast food and dealing with drivers taking more chances on open roads, truck drivers say.
There is also the problem of access to COVID-19 testing while on the road and contracts for less money because demand has gone down.
Tractor Trailer driver Tony Spero, of Stratford, works for ABF Freight, has 31 years in the business and has plenty of work for him now – as Spero hauls all kinds of freight, including hardware, pharmaceuticals, fire suppression equipment, and other items in Westchester county.
“It’s rewarding and challenging both at the same time right now,” he said. “Without trucks, pretty much America stops and the sad part is this had to happen for people to appreciate that.”
Norita Taylor, spokesperson for Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc. said there have always been challenges in the industry. The OOIDA
Trucks, here and below, parked at the Pilot Travel Center in Milford on Tuesday. represents more than 160,000 professional drivers and small-business truckers.
“It’s a complex industry, very diverse, heavily regulated. You have independent truckers and those who work for companies,” and different types of trucks, Taylor said.
She said anyone with a commercial driver’s license has to go by a thick book of regulations developed by the government – and it’s complicated.
With demand down on many products, such as steel, fuel and other nonessentials during state shut down, rates for shipping have been reduced and many truckers are “upset,” she said.
In other words, there are plenty of drivers, not enough freight, so rates are plummeting for independent drivers.
By regulation, contracts between truck drivers, brokers and shippers are supposed to be open to all parties, she said, but some brokers are now finding a way around the transparency in the process, Taylor said.
Brokers, for instance could put a clause into a contract that exempts the transparency rule or by telling contractors they can view the paperwork several states away if they visit in person during business hours, she said.
“The lack of transparency is making truck drivers upset,” Taylor said. “They want to know what shippers are making.” She said while fuel is low-priced these day, truckers face many other expenses on the road.
Spero said the good thing about the absence of people on the road is that when there’s no traffic on Interstate 95 he can do 55 miles per hour instead of 35 in normally congested places like the area between Bridgeport and Greenwich.
The bad news, he said is that regular everyday drivers are driving, “super crazy” on the open road.
Another real challenge he and other truckers are facing is that they used to take bathroom breaks and wash hands when they delivered, but many clients aren’t letting truckers in the building, in the interest of social distancing.
At some locations, truckers are having their temperatures taken, he said, not complaining.
Trying to get food can be difficult because 18-wheelers don’t go through a drivethrough, so he’s bringing lunch from home like other truckers.
Another tractor-trailer driver, Roland Bolduc, delivers general freight in New Haven and surrounding communities – Branford, Guilford, West Haven, Milford and Wallingford.
He works for a national chain and said drivers in his company are “pretty busy hauling stuff now.”
Bolduc said he has friends in the fuel-hauling industry in Massachusetts where he lives who say they are down 75 percent because so many