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| Image: cardsdirect.com |
The following is a guest post thanks to and written by Caroline Hill. The company she works for owns and operates an online job board for jobs in the trucking industry called AllTruckJobs.com. Check them out at the links provided:
Some folks decide to spend holidays away from home to do something different. Like maybe they feel that celebrating Thanksgiving in Hawaii would make them more thankful…or maybe Christmas in the Caribbean suits people who move to the beat of their own drummer. But the reality is, celebrating holidays away from home is not a choice for many; but rather, just another part of their job. Truckers commonly have to keep moving even when most are able to have time off celebrating with families.
When an individual chooses a trucking career, they usually understand the endeavor they are venturing into. Typically, truckers are away from home for about three weeks a month. A lot of times there’s no choice when it comes to getting home for weekends and holidays. After all, the holiday season wouldn’t even happen if it wasn’t for the truck drivers supplying store shelves with all the things we need.
The holiday season causes a lot of stress and it especially can take a toll on the morale of truck drivers. The season leading up to Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, etc. can cause increase in deadlines and extra loads. Worse yet, anxiety builds, as truckers rarely know whether or not they’ll be spending the holiday at home or not until last minute.
So how do truckers far from home celebrate holidays if not at home? And how do they cope with the additional stress that comes along with it?
A lot of truck drivers come up with creative solutions to missing a chance to be home for the holidays. Like many military families, they learn to schedule holiday celebrations for days they will be home. For instance, a driver may not be able to be home for December 25th to celebrate Christmas with his wife and kids. But, maybe a few weeks prior or afterward they can schedule their own special day. In some cases, celebrating on a different day brings the true meaning to the purpose of the season; highlighting the main focus of holidays, which is time, spent with loved ones.
Another solution for beating the missed-holiday blues is to find a support network of others who are going through the same thing. Finding individuals who are going through similar emotions is a great way to find comfort. And thank goodness for the technology we have now that allows modern drivers to video chat with mobile devices to family and friends. Now, at least a driver can see their special people in their lives, even if it’s only on screen.
The best way to get over the seasonal blues that come along with trucking during the holidays, is to realize that although this is one of the hardest parts of your career, there’s still a lot to be thankful for. In the grand scheme of things, you have food in your belly, a steady career and income, and a warm place to stay. Although you may be missing your loved ones dearly, it’s important to be reminded that AT LEAST you have those people in your life. And, if that’s not enough reason to keep truckin’ during the holiday season…I don’t know what is.
For more like this, check out “The Tractor Factor” blog at https://www.alltruckjobs.com/blog/
I worked at a theme park the last couple of years and I always had to work on the holidays. While I truly loved my job, the holidays were a bit depressing. Unlike me though, most of these guys are able to schedule time to celebrate the holidays with their families. I had a friend whose boyfriend was a truck driver, which meant he was away a lot. I'm not sure how much I would like that.
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