{"id":2848,"date":"2020-04-06T17:55:18","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T17:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/cta-snapshot-of-driver-rest-area-service-facility-support-during-covid-19\/"},"modified":"2025-01-10T16:45:55","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T16:45:55","slug":"cta-snapshot-of-driver-rest-area-service-facility-support-during-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/cta-snapshot-of-driver-rest-area-service-facility-support-during-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"CTA Snapshot of Driver Rest Area\/Service Facility Support During COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As steadfast truck drivers roll across the country delivering essential supplies to Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic, how they\u2019re treated by some shippers and their accessibility to washrooms, food services and rest areas has grabbed the attention of the nation.<\/p>\n<p>The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) and the provincial associations have been working diligently with Ottawa to keep as many facilities as possible open and clean, with accessible washrooms and food during the crisis; while also urging respect for the dedicated women and men behind the wheel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven the important role commercial drivers play as they carry out essential functions related to the COVID-19 emergency response, it is crucial that they be provided access to restroom facilities at a minimum,\u201d says Geoff Wood, CTA\u2019s senior VP of policy. \u201cAccessibility remains very fluid and changing daily as more facilities across the country come online.\u00a0CTA and its provincial association members appreciate the support\u00a0from all levels of government to provide our hard-working truck drivers as many options as possible where they can refuel, eat and rest safely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Accordingly, CTA and the provincial associations have drafted a national report &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/CTA-RestAreasV2_public.pdf\">CTA-RestAreasV2_public<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; demonstrating where shortages of food and rest areas remain; as well as locations-facilities that have maintained or established services accommodating truck drivers. Click here for a province-by-province snapshot of available amenities and areas of need. (For more complete details, contact the provincial association responsible for a specific jurisdiction).<\/p>\n<p>The report was drafted in large part by surveying CTA member carriers on their observations of availability and reported areas of need. Some common themes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Installation of portable clean washrooms\u00a0along the provincial\/territorial truck inspection station\u00a0network, along with\u00a0access to\u00a0food trucks\/food\/beverages\u00a0amenities.<\/li>\n<li>More access to food\/drinks\/bathrooms\u00a0for drivers across Canada;<\/li>\n<li>The repurposing of public properties\u00a0in-close\u00a0proximity\u00a0to highways\u00a0as\u00a0rest areas for truck drivers;<\/li>\n<li>The use of food trucks and other methods to create food options\u00a0available 24\/7\u00a0for truck drivers at these makeshift rest areas during the COVID-19 crisis;<\/li>\n<li>Assistance\/enforcement for current private\/public rest areas\u00a0experiencing\u00a0poor hygiene practices\u00a0by facility users;<\/li>\n<li>Installation of portable clean washrooms\u00a0along the provincial\/territorial truck inspection station\u00a0network, along with\u00a0access to\u00a0food trucks\/food\/beverages\u00a0amenities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The report also details potential solutions being explored involving private and public sector cooperation.\u00a0The Province of Ontario, for example, announced the installation\u00a0of washroom facilities\u00a0at all 32\u00a0of its truck inspection locations and Alberta announced all provincially controlled rest areas would reopen to support the trucking industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis type of action by government should be explored and implemented by all provinces,\u201d says Wood. \u201cIt was clear that even prior to COVID-19\u00a0crisis that we had a shortage of rest areas; however,\u00a0the crisis has certainly exacerbated the situation and we need cooperative action wherever possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Transport Canada and ESDC are working with industry partners to encourage restaurants and other services providers to support commercial drivers\u2019 needs and provide them with access to restrooms. ESDC is also developing communication campaigns with the support of Transport Canada to raise awareness of this critical need across the highway system and supply chain.<\/p>\n<p>The snapshot also highlights the private companies that have stepped up (including some popular franchises that have worked with CTA and Restaurants Canada to find workarounds to drive-thru access\u00a0policies\u00a0so truck drivers can receive curbside food\u00a0service).<\/p>\n<p>Individual members of the carrier community have also taken action. Munden Ventures in BC, for example, launched a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/feedatrucker\/\">Facebook page<\/a> helping local food providers and food truck operators connect with truck drivers needing to be fed.<\/p>\n<p>However, despite the gracious efforts of corporate citizens and the general public, CTA is continuously receiving reports of very poor treatment of drivers at shipper\/receiver\u00a0facilities like\u00a0inadequate or non-existent\u00a0social\u00a0distance\u00a0policies; lack of bathroom access; or no\u00a0access to\u00a0food\u00a0and even a place to rest.<\/p>\n<p>The Alliance is hopeful its <a href=\"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/thank-a-trucker\/\">#ThankaTrucker<\/a> campaign continues to propel change along the supply chain and is encouraged by the public support for respect drivers have received from top levels of government, including Ontario <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fordnation\/status\/1245098540327723013?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1245098540327723013&amp;ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fcantruck.ca%2Fthank-a-trucker%2F\">Premier Doug Ford<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JustinTrudeau\/status\/1245139169934016517?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1245139169934016517&amp;ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fcantruck.ca%2Fthank-a-trucker%2F\">Prime Minister Trudeau<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As this remains a fluid issue, CTA will continue to update this <a href=\"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/CTA-RestAreasV2_public.pdf\">national snapshot<\/a> as the status of the rest stop and food service network changes. Be sure to visit CTA\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/covid-19\/\">COVID-19 news page<\/a> for all the latest updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As steadfast truck drivers roll across the country delivering essential supplies to Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic, how they\u2019re treated by some shippers and their accessibility to washrooms, food services&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1133,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1493,45,252,28,17],"tags":[178,268,1572,1408,594,1582,1583,450,1563],"class_list":["post-2848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-covid-19","category-industry-image-pr","category-infrastructure","category-labour-hr-driver-shortage","category-news-releases","tag-cta","tag-driver-treatment","tag-food-service","tag-report","tag-rest-areas","tag-snapshot","tag-social-distancing","tag-truck-stop","tag-washrooms"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}