Trucker Appreciation: How to Show Your Support During COVID-19
The spread of COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of truckers and CMV drivers across the United States. As much of the world has come to a screeching halt, the wheels that deliver essential supplies to our communities, including food and medical equipment, have continued to turn.
While many non-essential businesses have closed, and most of the population is staying home to ensure safe social distancing, truckers have continued to do their jobs. In some cases, work loads have even increased for CMV operators as businesses scramble to keep their shelves stocked with essential supplies. Here’s how you can show your appreciation for those truckers that are going the extra mile.
#Thankatrucker on Social Media
The hashtag #Thankatrucker has been trending on both facebook and twitter for weeks. With supply shortages on products like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and certain food products garnering national media coverage, consumers have become more aware of the supply chain that ends with essential items landing on the shelves of their local grocery stores or pharmacies. This means it hasn’t gone unnoticed that supplies began reappearing on shelves before panic had the chance to truly set in.
While people have been mostly confined to their homes, the urge to thank the CMV employers who have risked their health and safety to keep shelves stocked persisted. And out of that urge, the thank-a-trucker hashtag was born. Posts on twitter and facebook included families and children holding up signs expressing their appreciation to truckers, and it didn’t take long for the trend to catch on. If you’re on social media, take a few moments to #Thankatrucker today.
“Project Feed a Trucker”
A highschool student in Auburn, Alana Jordan, went above and beyond to show her support for truckers. Jordan began packing lunches for truckers, and, in her own words, she “safely fed 50 truck drivers with $100. Now that’s a win. It included the choice of prepackaged items like tuna or PB&J, crackers, Jell-O, and of course, a Little Debbie, plus a bottle of water.”
This was an awesome show of appreciation, and Alana undoubtedly went above and beyond to accomplish it. She set up tables at a local truck stop, and lined up the food options while ensuring everyone stayed six feet apart. Whether or not you feel this is something you personally can do to show your support for truckers, we all can appreciate the idea and the sentiment behind it.
Simply say “Thank You”
While the appreciation for truck drivers and other professionals on the forefront of the fight against the virus is certainly growing, the most effective way to show your appreciation to someone can be simply saying thank you. While the video montages and celebrities thanking truckers on TV is great to see, it won’t feel as good to a trucker as an in-person thank you.
Be sure to follow social distancing guidelines when conversing with anyone. But if you do find yourself in a situation where you can tell a trucker how much you appreciate them, be sure to take advantage of the opportunity!
If there is any silver lining within the tragedy of COVID-19, it’s that many of our communities have been brought closer together as a result. Show your support to the truckers keeping our communities moving by using any of the methods in this blog.