Forty-six percent of truckers who voted in a poll on Land Line Magazine's website say that they aren't at all worried about swine flu, having clicked on the tab that says, "It's going to take more than a germ to bring me down." Thirty-two percent say they're "somewhat worried, but not using any more Germ-X than usual," and 22 percent admit they're "very worried" because they can't afford to take any sick days. (We checked the poll numbers at noon today; obviously they're subject to change.)
Land Line is the official publication of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA).
Maybe truckers aren't worried about contracting swine flu on trips through Mexico because they have a more pressing concern: avoiding getting caught in the crossfire between warring Mexican drug cartels. The most recent warning to truckers about traveling across the Mexico border from the Highway Information Sharing and Analysis Center, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, reads, "Violence amongst Mexican drug cartels in the border states, on both sides of the US-Mexico border, has exponentially increased in the past years. More than 200 Americans have been killed in the area since 2004."
Yikes. The Highway ISAC encourages truckers to establish a duress code in case they're being threatened. Perhaps it should also teach them the proper way to sneeze: into their elbows!
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