How will you handle getting Corona virus while OTR?

If I have any symptoms. I’m immediately bobtailing home. Nobody will be able to stop me.

I’m going home in a week and a half anyway for a month. That was planned awhile back. Hopefully I can be careful enough and lucky enough till then

 

Sometimes brother you just got a think for yourself. The good thing about this virus is that it takes several days until you start getting deathly ill if you’re going to. So you would have a little bit of time to figure stuff out to get somewhere. You don’t just end up in intensive care in one day it takes about 5 to 7 days. So my suggestion is if you get sick and you’re out on the open road is you pick a midsize town where the outbreak isn’t too bad and you roll in there and you set up camp near the hospital. And then if you get sick enough that you think you need to go into the hospital you’re right there and there won’t be an overflow of patients like in New York or California. If you don’t get sick you just wait it out In your truck until you get better. You got a remember this is trucking, it’s highly doubtful your company is going to give you any real guidance. Mine just told us to stay out of the offices if we feel sick. LOL

 

It’s being talked about. Drivers 'on their own' if they have to self-isolate - FreightWaves

I’d say drive to the emergency room and let them tow your truck if it’s that bad, or park somewhere and call an ambulance. If it’s not yet that bad, get empty and haul ### for the house.

 

First you need to consider your own health status, age and preconditions. If your in the high risk group, you need to isolate, now, hell with driving. If your in the low risk group, then the question becomes, if I contract the virus on the road, how do I get tested (if possible), how am I going to isolate so as to not spread the disease and lastly, once isolated, how do I get supplies (food) without putting the public at risk. Your right, most companies are not of any help. Your on your own. Pretrip brother.

 

If I was actively trucking and I am infected with something destroying my lungs, that tractor has about 335 gallons of fuel Bobtail range borders on intercontinental backed by more cash money set aside on me for that specific purpose. I can be anywhere in the USA within 48 hours from anywhere bobtail straight through. (ELD be ######.)

I usually keep a list in my head of transport options availible on down to rental cars. From time to time we have a car delivered to us and off we go. Last time we left FFE in Memphis we had a rental car in 20 minutes cash and were home in 2 hours give or take. Even light jet time share. Call them up and one will be at the nearest short general aviation airport as soon it can get there which wont be that much of a wait after payment. (About 3000 dollars for either coast)

IF you have to be somewhere and money does not matter and you have enough of it then you will be somewhere. The truck can burn for all I care. There will be losses after I decide to do something like that. They can fire me? HA. Quit due to illness? HA. Abandoned? HA I would be dead in 3 weeks so thats irrevelant and so on. If I was really sick.

In the past when I have gotten sick on the road everytime my dispatchers see me turn for home on satellite. They understand that I am sick but do not realize that I am REALLY sick until that rig turns out of delivery route and towards home. They call my family at that point to see if I called in. (Yes) and now understand that I am very sick and doing what I can to get home.

Problems begin after the truck stops moving or family calls them and say where am I at? One time my bank allowed my company and my family information that I withdrew 10.00 from ATM in Knoxville for a meal at a nearby fast food and that was sufficient for the Lawman to do a welfare check. And as it turned out it was very timely for me that day. I was quite sick. Truck was not going anywhere.

One of the worst times I recall from being sick and not know what the problem was I stopped in Darien at the rest area there with a reefer load. I sit there two days too sick to get out of the rig. (And risk a fall, cabover) My boss had 14 states worth of lawmen in those days looking for me and my tractor trailer. Connecticut would have found it so easy, several lawmen per hour traveled past into the rest area. So it was not a priorty looking for one truck in the presatellite an precell phone days back then.

I finally made it home on a gamble. 9 hours later I was in surgery to remove appendix which was pretty much going to explode. As luck would have it the scar tissue present already in that part of the body kept the appendix together longer than normal (It would have burst) and saved me. We were able to make good all the losses from that sick incident that week and return to work in three weeks instead of doctor orderd 6 weeks.

So Sick versus trucking? Anything is possible at any time. The first thing to go out the window is the shipper, receiver and dispatcher. All three will have to just sit and wait UNLESS they arranged for a team or solo REPOWER to get the load off you and get you into a hotel room for the week etc.

With Corona? Its even more motivating to roll a 18 wheeler. The thing does not bother me very much. You live or you die. But if I got sick from that, there is enough money to get home and isolated before it really got bad. If I am going to fight this at all I will do it from home. There is no point in fighting it 2000 miles from home. Might as well shoot me.

Early symptoms appear to be number two gut related problems and a loss in blood oxygen percentage (99% to 95% is perfect on room air 90% for mountain climing (Should improve in time) but anything below 90% at sea level means you are not getting enough oxygen and are not feeling to bright at the moment as well. Then you have your coughs, fever and fluid in lungs etc.

31% are infected fully but have no symptoms and continue to spread everywhere. Since there is no way outside of testing you cannot say that its spread on purpose.

That too shall pass. There is nothing so lethal since the Black Death that is such a danger to the world. (Yet)

 

Once infected, last place I'm going is home. I would never put high risk family members lives at stake. If you live alone and can get there safely, you betcha.

 

I would think a driver based on their location might not have a choice. The same place that tests you will be the one to notify you. I'm guessing your rig will be impounded and you will be placed in isolation. Tough position to be in I would imagine.

 

I doubt it, this pandemic is going to be one huge cluster ####. There won't be the man power to police a lonely truck driver. Your on your own.

 

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I would rather be at a hospital near family and home than 3 states away. Protecting loved ones is a given