December 14, 2024

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Truck drivers are quietly ruling America’s highways as shelter-in-place orders force millions to stay home

A singular truck during midday on Interstate 805 on March 20, 2020 in San Diego, California.
A singular truck during midday on Interstate 805 on March 20, 2020 in San Diego, California.

Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

  • Truck drivers are very happy you’re working from home.

  • Since the coronavirus has led state governments across the US to keep 95% of Americans at home, traffic in key urban areas have plummeted.

  • That means less traffic for truck drivers, more time they can spend at home, and — because drivers are paid by the mile, not the hour — more money in their pockets. 

  • Do you work in trucking? Email [email protected].

  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

As the coronavirus pandemic upends daily life, many of us have seen unexpected nuggets of what happens when 95% of America stays at home. Los Angeles’ oppressive smog has vanished. Demand for jigsaw puzzles is surging. And everyone has mysteriously become a bread baker.

Dan Spurling, a truck driver, has enjoyed another unexpected takeaway from the pandemic: no traffic. 

“The outbreak has affected my job in a positive way, ironically,” Spurling told Business Insider. “The more things that are shut down, the easier my job is.”

Spurling hauls goods for the federal government around the Seattle area, where traffic has slashed in half since the pandemic has kept students and many workers home. A drive for Spurling that usually lasts more than an hour is now around 31 minutes.

Aerial view of light traffic at the interchange of the 210, 134 and 110 freeways on March 30, 2020 in Pasadena, California.
Aerial view of light traffic at the interchange of the 210, 134 and 110 freeways on March 30, 2020 in Pasadena, California.

David McNew/Getty Images

That dip in traffic is seen across the US, according to data from the American Transportation Research Institute.

In Los Angeles’ interchange at I-710 and I-105, during the third week of March, truck speeds around 5 p.m. jumped from 29 mph in 2019 to 46 mph this year. Truck speeds at the interchange of I-290 and I-90/I-94 in Chicago more than doubled to 24 mph, while speeds at Atlanta’s “Spaghetti Junction” popped by nearly four-fold over the same period. 

“It’s making our job so much easier to get loads to the stores, because we aren’t fighting through traffic jams at all hours of the day,” truck driver Rayne Okami told Business Insider. 

The coronavirus has overturned many parts of truck drivers’ daily lives, in good ways and bad. Some of the rest stops they typically park at are shuttered, along with key food options. One of their most hated safety laws was nationally disbanded for the first time ever, as shipments to grocery stores and hospitals become more frequent and urgent. 

truck speeds
truck speeds

American Transportation Research Institute; Andy Kiersz/Business Insider

But the plummeting of traffic, along with the suddenly low cost of diesel as fewer Americans drive, means serious savings for truck drivers along with the relief of a major headache. Truck drivers are paid per mile, not per hour, so less time stuck in your rush-hour commute means more money. 

“In these major markets, there is no traffic,” David Broering, who is the president of NFI’s non-asset trucking sector, told Business Insider. “Truck drivers are spending less time traveling the same distance and getting better average speed, which means better utilization of assets.”

For some office-bound Americans, working from home during the virus pandemic has been an unexpected perk. Truck drivers like Spurling are hoping white-collar folks still get that benefit after this is all over. 

“Hopefully some businesses will see that they can still operate with remote workers and get the unnecessary vehicles off the road,” Spurling said. 

Do you work in trucking? Email [email protected].

Read more about how coronavirus is affecting America’s 1.8 million truck drivers

In an unprecedented move, the Trump administration suspended an 82-year-old road safety law for some truck drivers, showing how much coronavirus is pressuring retailers and hospitals to maintain cleaning and medical supplies

America’s largest trucking companies won’t reveal how — or if — they’ll get their drivers home if they get coronavirus, and truckers are terrified

Leaked memo reveals trucking giant mistakenly distributed faulty sanitation wipes to its 10,000-plus drivers

Read the original article on Business Insider

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