Truck Drivers, Grocery Store Workers & More Unsung Heroes Of Coronavirus Pandemic

As media outlets around the world race to cover vital angles of the coronavirus crisis, much attention has been paid to health care workers — and rightfully so. But in most of that coverage, the work of other essential workers — such as sanitation personnel, grocery store clerks and truck drivers — has largely gone unrecognized. 

And as Crissy Becker, a truck driver for Maine's Blevin Logistics, tells CBS News, that's a travesty.

"I'm a mom," she writes. "Instead of going home, I stayed out driving my truck sometimes 24 hours at a time, lately six weeks. So y'all got what you need. And there are hundreds of thousands more like me but instead of going home are running until we can't see straight in our tracks."

Despite all her long hours and hard work, Becker said she feels disrespected as workers from other industries get the lion's share of recognition on news broadcasts for their contribution to the coronavirus fight.

"We are one of the only things keeping [the] economy as alive as it is," she writes. "I'm not normally one to complain. I love my job. But we constantly were with disrespect when nothing's going on and now that we are driving sometimes three days at a time with few hours [of] sleep. Just thought I would put a picture to show you the face of one of many giving up their entire life and staying out here putting ourselves at risk of the COVID-19. So y'all can have what you need. My hat goes off to the rest of us."

On March 14, a trucker from Little Rock, Arkansas, named Shannon Newton, echoed that sentiment, tweeting: "If you see a truck driver this week, please thank them. They are putting in long hours, under stressful circumstances, to ensure life's essentials get restocked. Truck drivers are often taken for granted. But in times like these, we are reminded of their hero status."

On March 16, Jessica Hernandez, whose father-in-law is a truck driver tweeted, "These past weeks he has seen a high request for more hauls. They are the ones restocking stores with toilet paper, bottled waters, etc. He is also immunocompromised as many truck drivers are. They put their lives at risk for the sake of us."

"My grandpa has been a proud truck driver for over 40 years. The truth is truck drivers, like my grandpa, are the reason we continue to have access to basic necessities despite the worsening #COVID19 pandemic," Twitter user @LashNolen chimed in. "Their decision to drive maintains our livelihood. #hiddenheroes."

Now, as dining rooms around the nation close in an effort to flatten the curve of coronavirus, there's a movement on social media asking other drivers to step in and make sure that truckers are able to get food when they're on the road.

"If you happen to be sitting in your car eating because the dining room is closed, & see a truck driver attempt to pull on a door, please ask if you can buy them a meal," the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department tweeted on Wednesday. "Most places do not allow walk ups, and their rigs usually don't fit. We owe them that much!"

Earlier this week, a viral tweet from a man named Aaron Meier opened Americans' eyes to yet another type of essential worker often overlooked amid the coronavirus crisis — garbage collectors.