With the onset of the current COVID-19 pandemic, essential workers are being highlighted as the most important part of our society. This is because people are finally realizing what “essential” means. While society may idolize their favorite entertainer, the facts are that this person is not the one who will care for them while they are sick or ensure they have available food and other essential products to purchase.
These essential workers are in fact what keeps our society running. Whether it is the healthcare worker that ensures the health of individuals within a designated area or the cashier that is ringing up your purchases at the grocery store, essential workers are vital. Perhaps the most unsung heroes that fall into this category are those that work within the intermodal or drayage industry. This includes truckers, freight workers, dock employees, the people that clean the trucks, trains, and boats, as well as any other people that fall within this category.
Before the pandemic, these employees didn’t receive a ‘pat on the back’ for all of their hard work. The best they could hope for other than their paycheck was the satisfaction of a good day’s work. The only time a person may have heard of them in the news was in unfortunate cases of traffic collisions or some other catastrophic event. Even during the time when laws were being issued mandating rest and sleep for truckers, it was only an issue when truckers were falling asleep at the wheel resulting in traffic collisions.
If we could compare society to the human body, these workers would be considered the blood carrying all of the essentials to different parts of the body. Just as blood carries oxygen and nutrients, these workers transport food, fuel, and many other products such as those used in hospitals.
When there was a shortage of supplies for hospitals, it was the people of the intermodal industry that were working tirelessly to ensure that shipments were made accurately and with the most efficiency. The only way to get masks, ventilators, gloves, or ANYTHING to a hospital is through a shipment. The only way to get food to a grocery store is through a shipment. Without these workers, it would be as if there was no blood within the body. Obviously, the body would die. Without these workers, society would not exist the way it does now.
While it is true, we owe a lot of gratitude to essential workers as a whole as well as those in this industry, it is also true that we should seek new ways to improve their conditions and ensure their safety. For instance, during this time there are intense screenings to prevent exposure to the truckers as well as to those that could come into close contact with them.
From checking for fevers to even relieving a trucker for showing the slightest symptom even before receiving a positive test result for COVID-10, measures are being taken to protect the public as well as those that are working tirelessly on our behalf. Ideally, these measures would continue long after the end of this pandemic.
Nevertheless, there are other things that could be done to improve working conditions while also remaining economical. Even the effort to switch to digital invoices to prevent personal contact is also creating a more efficient process. New technologies could and are being utilized to ensure safety as well as to prevent loss of product and time. We are proud to provide a technology solution that is helping “essential” businesses and workers to keep this nation going.
