While you’re enjoying your meal with friends and family this Thanksgiving, remember to be thankful for truck drivers. Thanksgiving kicks off a hectic holiday season for truckers. These truck drivers spend long hours away from family during holiday festivities to make your holidays happen.
Thanksgiving
Each year, Americans consume approximately 46 million turkeys on thanksgiving. That’s a whopping 15,300 truckloads of turkey alone! Truckers don’t just bring the turkey–they are also responsible for those all-important side dishes. According to a study conducted by the Minnesota Trucking Association, in order to meet the needs for Thanksgiving, truck drivers are responsible for carrying approximately:
- 2.4 billion pounds of sweet potatoes
- 80 million pounds of cranberries
- 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins
When all is said and done, it takes an estimated 83,000 truckloads to make sure that Americans can enjoy their Thanksgiving feast with their families. If that’s not a reason to be thankful for truck drivers, I don’t know what is!
Black Friday And Cyber Monday
When you’re enjoying your pumpkin pie and making your Black Friday shopping plans, truck drivers are still on the move. Every year truck drivers take time away from their own families, working hard to meet consumers’ needs. They’re making sure the shelves are stocked in time for all of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Truck drivers are responsible for making sure that those goods make it to the retailers so you can shop ’till you drop.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are some of the busiest times of the year for truck drivers. Last year Americans spent 717.5 billion dollars on Black Friday, resulting in approximately a 20% surge in freight volume. Americans also spent a record-breaking 7.9 billion dollars last Cyber Monday, and you can bet that truck drivers were hard at work making the shopping season a success.
This year, while you’re enjoying your turkey, remember that a truck driver was behind the scenes making sure your holidays are extra special. That’s something we can all be thankful for.
Are you interested in becoming a truck driver? Enroll in a CDL training program at CDS! Contact us today, and let’s get you on the road to your new career.
