In the new COVID-19 economy that divides labor into essential and nonessential, truckers and parcel delivery drivers have become some of the most indispensable — and most exposed — workers as shut-in Americans rely more on online shopping.
Employees at United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. work in close quarters to load packages, and wonder about the risks they’re taking with every box that’s been handled by multiple other people. Truckers carry goods in and out of cities locked down by the disease and worry about how they’ll get paid if they get sick.
Alongside a realization of the importance of their jobs comes anxiety about the peril, said Max Farrell, founder and CEO of WorkHound, a company that gathers anonymous feedback from transportation workers to guide company’s retention efforts.
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