Local Company Helps Keep Trucking Industry Rolling Despite Coronavirus Pandemic
Every day, hundreds of truck drivers climb into their cabs and prepare for the long haul across the country.
They’re now some of the most essential workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 outbreak, carrying masks, ventilators, and stocks of food to places like hospitals and grocery stores.
“They’re the only ones that are moving goods that are needed for medical supplies, food,” Dealer Principal of Four Star Freightliner Jerry Kocan said.
Kocan’s Montgomery trucking company is a full service dealership where employees sale, service, and sanitize the cabs. The company is taking extra precautions to keep its employees and others safe from spreading or catching the disease.
“What we’re trying to do is keep them employed, keep them safe for sure, and keep the people that are working and moving the loads safe,” Kocan said.
Four Star employees have begun thoroughly cleaning and spraying each truck cab that comes in, using a CDC-approved solution that kills the coronavirus. The spray is used on the areas the truck drivers touch, including the handles, seats, and steering wheel. The spray is then put through the air conditioning unit to kill any virus particles that could be inside. Once finished, the cab is released back to the customer.
So far, no employees have caught the virus, despite the number of truck drivers from across the country that come in to use its services.
“You have to think its coming, especially with us working on people from parts unknown when they come in. So it’s really just up to us to keep everybody safe and sanitized as much as we can,” Assistant Service Manager Sonny Hartley said.
Hartley said its important to remember the sacrifices the truck drivers are making while out on the roadways.
“Right now, I think the drivers of these trucks on the highway are huge heroes with them not laying out of work, not being able to stay home like everyone else is right now. So, it’s kind of important to recognize them and understand what they’re doing for us,” Hartley said.
The Alabama Trucking Association says some regulations have been relieved for truckers who are delivering emergency relief goods…
