All essential workers are enduring policy changes almost daily. As a result, completing otherwise routine tasks is a new stress added to your job of truck driving.

For instance, truck drivers are used to loading and unloading at the shipper/receiver, but there are new questions about how to handle that in a global pandemic.

Although this is a general overview, it is likely to come in handy as a baseline for what to anticipate moving forward, even if the guidelines are slightly altered in the future.

Social Distancing

As you likely know, social distancing means keeping physical space between yourself and other people. This will reduce the likelihood of passing the virus, even if you or the other person are asymptomatic.

In order to ensure people are adhering to the precaution, tape is often used to measure out how far away one should be standing in a public area. It’s likely that truck drivers will be asked to stand far apart from other workers if they need to exit the truck.

You may also be asked to wear a mask if you leave the truck.

No Amenities

While on-site, truckers may even be denied access indoors. This restriction is done to reduce the odds of spreading the coronavirus to the employees working there. Of course, this is a huge inconvenience for truck drives.

By being denied indoor access,restrooms and vending machine areas are no longer accessible. Truck drivers should make sure to hit up a truck stop before reaching their final destination.

Temperature Checks

When you think about checking the temperature out on the road, odds are you picture the gauges on the truck. Given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, however, the term “temperature checks” now refers to something a bit more personal.

Some locations are now requiring drivers to have their temperatures checked. By doing so, businesses increase the odds of identifying a potentially infected person before they spread the virus to others.

Although a violation of privacy, there’s not much you can do if you want to just get back on the road quickly, so anticipate extra delays where applicable. Ask your dispatcher what to do if you are asked to do anything by the shipper/receiver that you feel is unfair or uncomfortable.