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'I’m happy to do it' | Truck drivers make long hauls to keep shelves stocked during coronavirus crisis

David Halfhill finished getting his shipment in for a Greensboro Harris Teeter Tuesday morning before heading north to deliver more food and supplies.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Between shipments, David Halfhill gets a few hours of sleep and sanitizes his truck. It's not long after one drop off that he's on the road to another part of the country. 

"Mainly dry groceries, non-perishables, and the ever expensive toilet paper run every now and then," Halfhill said.

Halfhill is just one of hundreds of truck drivers around the country working tirelessly to keep shelves stocked with food, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies. 

His latest shipment was delivered to a distribution center for Harris Teeter in Greensboro. 

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"I’m happy to do it. I’ve been spending a lot more time cleaning and sanitizing more than normal," Halfhill said. "I live in the truck. I’m usually in the truck all week long. Go home on the weekends."

Halfhill said mentally and physically he's doing well, but to see how fast food and cleaning supplies are flying off the shelves is frustrating.

"The select few hoarders that it’s just ridiculous," Halfhill said. "If you were to just shop like you normally do, the supply chain would regulate back out and everything would be fine."

Even as a driver, some supplies are hard to come by. Halfhill said he went to pick up a shipment of toilet paper at one location, but they didn't have any for him when he got there. 

"They didn’t even get me a load out of there. I ended up driving 200 miles to pick up my next load," he said.

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Halfhill said he took a rest at a truck stop in Danville, Virginia before heading up to Pennsylvania to pick up another shipment. He then made another stop in Rhode Island. 

Between stops, he cleans and sanitizes his truck to help keep himself and his family safe, when he goes home to them. 

"A lot more cleaning. It’s amazing how much stuff you don’t think about from minute to minute and day to day, how many items you touch in a days time," he said.

He plans to make it home just in time for Easter and his wife's birthday. 

"I just hope that I don’t get it. My wife has a couple of underlying conditions and I’m doing the best I can not to take anything that I might get home with me," he said.

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