Less work, lower income, difficulty eating on the roads and little hygiene care to prevent truck drivers from suffering.
Although this is the perception of self-employed truck drivers amid the coronavirus epidemic (Covid-19) in Brazil.
However, truck driver leaders from different regions of the country complain about the quarantine in some states and municipalities and say that state and federal governments should take more measures with the class in mind.
Despite the dissatisfaction, they claim that the probability of a stoppage is practically zero.
“With the country at a standstill, we make do in 30 says Cminhoneiros”
Therefore, complaints about the reduction of work are general in the midst of the pandemic. According to the leaders, companies have most of their shipments stopped and many of them “take advantage of the situation” not to pay the freight rate.
Therefore, a table of minimum freight prices was one of the main concessions made by the government of President Michel Temer to end the national truck drivers' strike in 2018.
However, Ailton Rodrigues, leader of Baixada Santista, in São Paulo, estimates that the volume of work has decreased by more than half this month.
It's slow. The services had a good decrease, in at least 60%. With the country almost at a standstill, people are turning around at 30. Ailton Rodrigues, truck drivers from Santos (SP).
According to him, in addition to being few, the freight that appears has paid less. “They offered a service to Paraná. From here [Santos] to there, the price would be around R$ 2,500. They offered R$ 1,200, less than half.
So can you? Is this deal right? No one is respecting the table, no”, complained the truck driver. “Everything is stopped. I took a load from Maceió and then nothing else came up. So it's been a week since I've only been doing community help.
In Suma, we even call the suppliers, but they say they don't have anything right now”, said Gilson Cruz, a truck driver from João Pessoa.
