A truck driver’s lifestyle is never the easiest. Life on the road can be extremely taxing to begin with, but the ramifications of the COVID-19 shutdowns make things far more complicated and precarious for truck drivers. The fact is that truckers haul the foods, medications, personal protective equipment, and cleaning supplies that keep us going through this crisis, but it is becoming more and more difficult for them to do so. If your work as a truck driver leaves you injured, you need the professional legal counsel of an experienced New Jersey workers’ compensation attorney on your side.

The Truck Driver’s Lifestyle

When it comes to coping with the national emergency that is COVID-19, it’s a transition for everyone, but it can be especially difficult for truckers. There are a wide variety of factors that contribute to this predicament, including:

• Truck drivers spend long hours behind the wheel, which can total 11 hours a day (not including loading and unloading at either end). This means that truckers, out of necessity, eat many of their meals on the road. With all of the restaurant closings, drive-thru only fast food, truck stops with scaled-back offerings, and decreased hours of operation across the board, simply finding a safe and healthy meal has become a hardship for truckers.
• Truck drivers spend long, sedentary hours behind the wheel, and this isn’t the healthiest option in the best of times. The additional stress and the additional workload brought on by this pandemic, however, makes sitting for long hours that much less healthy.
• Truck drivers who are moving products across our nation don’t have the luxury of being picky when it comes to finding facilities that are adhering to best practices related to the novel coronavirus. In other words, truckers risk their own health when they have to enter gas stations, use restrooms, and procure food along their routes.
• The COVID-related shutdowns have increased the demand and need for truck shipments. Hospitals and medical facilities, for instance, have a tremendous need for equipment that provides health-care workers with personal protection, such as protective face masks and gloves. There is also a dire need for life-saving medical equipment. Because many of us are now working from home or are simply stuck at home, we’re buying the things we need online and having them delivered. All of this increases truck traffic to the extent that there’s more trucking to be done than there are truckers to do it.

All told, the COVID-19 pandemic leaves truckers in an extremely precarious situation that makes continuing their interstate routes less safe.

You Need an Experienced New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Attorney on Your Side

Trucking is stressful to begin with, but the current national emergency leaves truckers that much more vulnerable to injury and illness. At Leonard Legal Group, our New Jersey, workers’ compensation attorney will be committed to skillfully advocating for the compensation you are entitled to in these unprecedented circumstances. We’re on your side, so please don’t hesitate to contact us online or call us at 973-984-1414 for more information today.