CHARLOTTE COUNTY Fla, — As a lot of people stay at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19, many have access to home-cooked meals.
Truck drivers aren’t so lucky. They’re working overtime to deliver essenntials like food to local grocery stores. But getting a hot meal for them has turned into a hassle.
Matt Caron transports frozen food and produce from state to state. He talked to Fox 4 while on the road Monday.
“You’ve got to get out of the truck, walk around, stand in line with the cars in the drive-thru, and some people won’t even serve you,” he said.
Brett Cox of Punta Gorda heard about the challenges, and said he wants to help. The independent artist, known in Southwest Florida as Bubba Love performed a charity concert on Facebook Live this weekend. He raised $600. He said that’s enough to feed 250 drivers a home cooked meal in one day.
“I just want people to have just one half an hour, 15 minutes of normalcy,” he said.
Caron said stopping to dine-in was what drivers looked forward to, after a long shift. But now, there’s no limit on their hours for the week as drivers need to deliver essential items across the country.
He said the pick up, delivery and “drive-thru only” restrictions limit truck drivers’ options.
“You’ve got to get out of the truck, walk around, stand in line with the cars in the drive-thru, and some people won’t even serve you,” he said.
Cox said he’s been in the house for the last few weeks. To continue to avoid the coronavirus, he’ll wear a mask and gloves. He’ll pick a random rest stop along I-75 to surprise some lucky drivers Tuesday.
