We live in a world where all kinds of goods are easily accessible to us either to buy in shops or order online in just a few mouse clicks. Whether that’s food, clothing or petrol, we tend to forget just how many people and processes are involved in ensuring such a high level of convenience for us.
The transportation of these goods, from one part of the world to the other, is perhaps the key part of the process, and we have no one other to thank for it than truck drivers. Differently to what many people think, the job of a long-distance driver is by no means easy – in fact, there are a lot of unique challenges these workers face on a regular basis. Let’s have a look at some of the most common ones.
High level of responsibility
There is a lot of responsibility involved in making sure that a driver gets the goods transported safely and on-time no matter what. The level to this can vary greatly depending on what and where they are transporting. A good example for this are workers who drive fuel tanks semi-trailers are typically transporting hazardous goods, such as fuel, oils or chemical substances. This means they have to be extra focused and careful at all times, since any accident involving these substances could be catastrophic.
Loneliness
While in some cases long-distance drivers will have a colleague with them, it is not uncommon for them to work all by themselves. Depending on where their final destination is, most truck drivers will be away from home for weeks, meaning that they spend a lot of their lives separated from their families and friends. As you can imagine, the job can get quite lonely when trapped in a vehicle alone, for long periods of time.
Effects on health
The job of a vehicle driver demands the worker to spend long hours sitting in a single position. This is incredibly unnatural and unhealthy to a human body, so exercise is absolutely crucial. Some other sitting jobs (like working in an office) have more opportunities for standing up, stretching out your legs, switching up the jobs. A driver, on the other hand, is limited to how often they can have breaks to exercise. This doesn’t only cause general discomfort day-to-day but can also result in more serious health conditions in the long-run.
Irregular working schedules
Meeting the deadlines on when certain deliveries must be made can also mean that the drivers are forced to be working extremely long hours, sometimes even overnight. Focusing on the road for 12-14 hours at the time is already challenging enough, so if you are also required to do it during the early hours of the night, while everything is dark and there are more chances of wild animals running into the road – this makes for dangerous as well as highly difficult working conditions.
Finding parking
One of the biggest frustrations in the life of a truck driver is constantly trying to find parking while on the road. Not every gas station or fast food chain will have parking spaces that are suitable for a large vehicle. This means that the drivers may go hours without any food or a toilet break, if they simply cannot park anywhere. Therefore, a lot of time and research goes into finding the best resting spots for each route beforehand.
