Truckers Delivering Essential Goods Struggle to Find Bathrooms, Rest Stops

The coronavirus is adding stress to truckers delivering essential goods throughout the U.S. as they struggle to find bathrooms and rest stops to grab a bite to eat and take a nap.

“It’s been especially hard if you can’t find a place to park,” Angie Baum, who drives with her husband, Larry, told KTVI. “A lot of the truck stops are limiting the number of trucks that come in.”

The Baums, who hail from Belleville, Illinois, chronicle their journey as married truck drivers on a Facebook page called “Married 2 The Road.”

“We’re out on the road a lot more,” Angie said. “We’re out about six days a week right now. We’re home for usually about a day, day and a half.”

Many truck stops are closed to anything except filling up for fuel, and signs hanging from locked doors say that “no coffee or water” or “no bathrooms” are available.

“A cup of coffee keeps me energized, and taking a shower makes me feel like a human out here instead of like a dog,” said Jim Allison of Ironton, Missouri, as he was driving out of Chicago.

Some people have stepped up to the plate to feed these truckers, like these volunteers in Danville, Virginia, who offered free food to truck drivers:

The Baums said they can keep going for a longer time than most truckers because they are a team, but they also said those rest stops are crucial for their safety, and it is only getting harder to find good places to pull over to take a break.