Truck drivers working hard to deliver items around the clock during COVID-19 pandemic

Open roads but hard work for truck drivers amid pandemic

Right now, vital supplies like medical equipment, prescription drugs, and food are more important than ever. But before those items can be used at the hospital or purchased at the grocery store, someone has to get them there.

DALE CITY, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - Right now, vital supplies like medical equipment, prescription drugs, and food are more important than ever. But before those items can be used at the hospital or purchased at the grocery store, someone has to get them there.

It’s why truck stops like the one in Dale City, Virginia have been packed.

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“It’s what you should do. You should help. You know it’s not me, me , me all the time. I’m sick of hearing that. You know, it’s us,” truck driver Bonnie Rocks said Friday. Along with her son, Richard, she was hauling pharmaceuticals from New Jersey to North Carolina.

Another driver, Sterling Gee, said he’s been busy delivering toilet paper and other essentials to Dollar Generals in Virginia.

“Most of the people that I be dealing with, that comes to me, is elders. And the only thing they want to know is if there’s toilet paper on the truck. The only thing I can say is yes, but you have to wait until it gets inside the store,” Gee laughed.

In some ways, their work is harder than ever. While many truck stops are open – and places like Virginia have even converted weigh stations into rest areas for drivers – pretty much everything else is closed.

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“It’s like driving through an apocalypse,” Rocks said. “I mean everything is closed. It’s really kind of frightening.”

But driver after driver said it feels good to do their part.

As Gee put it, “We all doing our jobs, keeping the shelves stocked.”