Sep 16, 2024

It is often the case that the more reliable something or someone becomes, the more likely we are to take them for granted. Our lives are full of such examples: A trusted friend. Access to food. Our health. It is only when we lose them that we come to understand their full meaning to our lives.

A broader look reveals many more examples. The convenience of modern society has instilled an expectation in every American that we can effortlessly get whatever we want precisely when we want it. But that reality is only made possible thanks to the hard work, dedication, and sacrifice of America's professional truck drivers. We depend on truck drivers for nearly everything, but seldom do we recognize the full magnitude of that reliance until something goes wrong.

National Truck Driver Appreciation Week is an opportunity for us as a nation to take stock of the countless ways truckers provide for all of us. One only needs to look around - your home, a doctor's office, any store or business - to see their impact. It is everywhere, because everything we want or need is moved by truck.

What if there were no trucks on the road, and the items we required were no longer available? What if grocery store shelves were left empty, and lifesaving medicines arrived too late, or never at all? What if construction workers did not have the supplies to build, and factories lacked the materials to create? What if fuel pumps ran dry, and first responders were unable to reach an emergency call? Without truckers, America could not function, let alone thrive.

This simple thought experiment illustrates the extent to which we rely on truck drivers through every facet of daily life. Fortunately for all of us, that alternative reality will never materialize, because America's truckers do not stop. Not even during a global pandemic, a supply chain crisis, or a natural disaster. They keep trucking, providing for their families and everyone else's too.

NTDAW is an opportunity to thank them. Even small gestures -a handshake as a trucker unloads at a convenience store, a friendly wave on the road, or a message on social media using the hashtag #ThankATrucker - can leave a lasting impression.

We can thank truckers with our words as well as our deeds by doing what we can to make their difficult jobs a little easier. One of the greatest challenges that truck drivers face today is a severe lack of truck parking, which means many often do not know where they will be able to sleep once they finish their shifts. Currently, there is only one authorized truck parking space for every 11 truck drivers on the road, creating a crisis that delays truckers and puts them at risk. For policymakers, there is no more meaningful way they could thank America's 3.55 million professional truck drivers than by ensuring they have adequate and safe places to park.

Our reliance on truck drivers is absolute. Our appreciation for them should be as well. Let this week serve as a reminder of their indispensable role in our daily lives. After all, behind every product on a shelf or delivered to a doorstep, there's a trucker who made it happen. Without them, we would have nothing.