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Industry groups urge states to cut truckers slack at travel plazas

Drivers waiting up to two hours to get carryout food and use facilities

The trade group for travel plazas and the American Trucking Associations urged local and state governments to make it easier for truckers to get what they need at travel plazas while respecting social distancing guidelines.

Cut truck drivers some slack.

That’s the message from trade groups for the trucking and travel plaza industries, which said Wednesday that critical relief supplies are being delayed because drivers must wait in long lines for carryout food and to use travel plaza facilities in some states.

NATSO, which represents truckstops and travel plazas, and the American Trucking Associations (ATA) urge state and local governments to ensure that truckstops and travel plazas can safely serve commercial drivers while implementing social distancing guidelines necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

“What should be 20-minute stops are turning into more than two-hour layovers,” said Lisa Mullings, NATSO president and CEO. “It is imperative that local enforcement officials enforce occupancy caps in truckstops without unnecessarily disrupting the efficient movement of essential supplies throughout the country.”


The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) includes truckstop workers and commercial truck drivers on the list of “essential critical infrastructure workers.”

But local enforcement of occupancy limits in travel centers that exceed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended social distancing guidelines are delaying commercial drivers when they stop for food or fuel. Some are enforcing limits of as few as five or 10 people, including employees.

According to NATSO, truckstops and travel plazas frequently average 28,000 square feet — large enough to practice 6-foot safe social distancing while serving truck drivers.

NATSO and the ATA wrote to the National Association of Counties; National Association of County and City Health Officials; the National League of Cities; and the United States Conference of Mayors.


“We urge officials at all levels of government to help our industry keep those deliveries rolling by keeping facilities open and accessible for drivers to use in a safe and efficient manner,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear.

Given the critical medical supplies and basic necessities that truckers are hauling, drivers deserve special consideration, said Jon Pertchik, CEO of TravelCenters of America.

“It is crucial that they have quick and easy access to fuel, food, restrooms, showers and other services so they can get back on the road in a timely manner,” Pertchik said.

53 Comments

  1. SamIam

    No. We don’t care to risk our health and our families health for convenience of others. That is just plain selfish and entitled. Truckers are coming inti take out only coughing some sweating and its scary af to think they are traveling picki4 up and/or spreading pandemics knowing full well that they are not above biological illness. That’s just wrong that they don’t care bc they live in isolation for there careers. No. No special privileges in a crisis. Thank you so much.

  2. Thomas

    I agree and have been saying it all this time..the general public has other places they can go to..there is no need them coming to truck stops now… I mostly drive at night so I can limit the amount of people I come in contact with..this only made things worse because you still nasty people who relief them selfs on the toilet.. have photos to prove it from a loves in Alabama on i59.. north of Birmingham..
    I have been driving 20yrs. Thank God the company I lease with understands why I decided to stop..take two weeks off to be with my family.. I’m sorry when I seen people not staying at as told to do.. then I value my life..the money is not important…my family and mainly my 6month old baby..
    I believe all the travel centers could have done a better job at making it safer for all is driver’s.. but the greed of letting buses and general public around us driver’s.. showed me you didn’t care…sorry it is how I see it and strongly feel..

  3. Alan Koppenstein

    All truck driver’s deserve to be treated different these days. They are and have always been the backbone of this nation long before train’s reached every corner of this country. Now because they are in such a high demand these days truck stops/travel centers are only slowing them down worse before all this started. There’s no reason why they can’t open special sections of their restaurants just for those drivers looking for a good hot meal. And it has been stated that most of those stops/centers are large enough to hold more than just a max of 10 people. To those people handing out sack or box lunches to drivers at rest stops keep up the good work.

  4. Jeff

    Open the restaurants to drivers only, leaving every other table empty.
    We sit behind the wheel for our entire shift and now we have to eat there also!
    We can contain the spread because we as drivers know how to distance and keep clean.
    Demanding we drive, then Eat and sleep in our trucks is a bridge too far.
    I challenge anyone to tell me where a driver can relax at a truck stop and actually sit down!
    The only place I’ve found is on a toilet in the bathroom… If i only had a shelf for my cardboard box of “Hot and Fresh” take out dinner…

  5. R little

    Businesses that service the trucking industry should pay attention
    To there business practices during the covid 19 epidemic
    At one ta in Las Vegas $9.50 cents at Burger King for a whopper w/cheese when clearly all over tv 2 for 6 price gouging water fuel
    I was very impressed with sapp brothers giving truckers free reserved parking sapp brothers will have my business for a lifetime
    Most truckstops now cater to the 4 wheelers truck drivers are a nuisance to them you can bet I will be very selective who I choose
    To spend my 2500 a week in fuel not including food and supplies
    Don’t like there business practice dont patronize simple plenty off
    Allternatives

Comments are closed.

Alan Adler

Alan Adler is an award-winning journalist who worked for The Associated Press and the Detroit Free Press. He also spent two decades in domestic and international media relations and executive communications with General Motors.