One of the silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain crisis that accompanied it was that it brought into focus how important truck drivers are. Many Americans realized for the first time in their lives that everything they see in a store, touch, smell, and eat was brought to them by a truck driver. And yet, according to the CDC, truckers are twice as likely to suffer from chronic illnesses than the rest of the working class population. The average age of retirement in the U.S. is 64—but the life expectancy of a trucker is 61. That's a daunting statistic if trucking runs in your blood, like it does in mine.

I always wanted to be a trucker because like many other truckers, it runs in the family. My great-great grandfather Nicky Lombard, and his brother John came to the United States at the turn of the 20th Century. What started as peddling ice from a horse drawn carriage, they incorporated as Lombard Bros. Inc in 1923. They became one of the largest motor carriers in the Northeast, with terminals from Maryland to Maine. My grandfather became an owner, and he also drove for Lombard for 30 years. Lombard became a victim of the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 and sold in 1984, but I got to spend 23 years of my life growing up with my grandfather and his stories.

But my grandfather was not immune to the hardships of the job. He had a heart attack before I was even born and ended up passing away from complications stemming from heart disease, and on........

© Newsweek