Families at home are separated from truck-driving loved ones at the best of times.

Rion Joules, who has been a trucker’s wife for over 16 years, doesn’t feel her husband Richard is in any more danger during these days of Covid-19. Like all longhaul truck operators, he drives in all conditions.

And he keeps in touch with their two teenage daughters when he can.

“I think they are used to this life,” Rion says. “They have never known anything different. I think if you ask them, they would say it makes them a little more aware of how careful he needs to be on the road, but he has been sick on the road before and we all survived that. We will survive this. I am a fairly capable person.”

The driver and one of his daughters actually had to self-isolate in an apartment within the house after a recent trip to Ecuador.

“There was lots of stress and anxiety about getting back to Canada. I was concerned for my daughter, stressed about money and the prospect of staying until May 1st. At times we felt as though we were in some sort of reality TV show. To step back onto Canadian soil made me think, ‘Canada proud, proudly Canadian,’” he says.

Richard was actually looking forward to working alongside fellow truck drivers despite Covid-19, and he expected few disruptions to his weekly runs to and from Newfoundland.

“Life with Covid-19 is now our new normal,” he says. “Schedules may get disrupted by the ferries, weather, any number of things. I can minimize the risk to myself, my family, co-workers and customers by washing my hands, don’t touch your face, wear your personal protection equipment when and where necessary, and social distance. Welcome to the world of trucking.”

• Coronavirus Chronicles tell the trucking industry’s personal stories from the front lines of Covid-19. They are drawn from the ongoing coverage at www.trucknews.com.