It’s 4:30 in the morning, just outside Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The wind cuts sideways across the lot, hard enough to rattle the mirrors. Chris, a long-haul driver from Illinois, has been parked for a few hours, barely enough time to shut his eyes. His back aches. He pours what’s left of yesterday’s coffee from a dented thermos, then boots up the cab and checks the weather. Seven hundred miles left. He’s got six hours of margin, give or take.
Farther south, in Amarillo, Maria fuels up her truck under flickering lights. She’s on her third run of the week, heading for Flagstaff. Her dashboard flashes a tire pressure warning, again. She sends a quick text to dispatch, then climbs back in. She’s hoping to beat the snow and make it home in time for her daughter’s school concert next Friday. No promises.
These aren’t extreme cases. These are the holidays from the driver’s seat. Cold starts. Empty lots. Coffee that doesn’t stay hot. Clocks ticking. Roads that go on forever.
And still, they drive.
It isn’t just freight in those trailers. It’s everything the season depends on. Wrapped gifts. Frozen turkeys. Boxes of decorations. Bulk shipments of salt and fuel. If it’s sitting on a store shelf or waiting on a doorstep in December, there’s a good chance it got there by way of someone like Chris or Maria, someone watching the weather and counting the hours from behind a frosted windshield.
There’s no slowdown between Thanksgiving and Christmas. There’s more freight. More risk. More missed dinners and video calls. And more drivers doing everything they can to hold it all together, quietly, without recognition.
If you manage a fleet, schedule routes, or keep trucks on the road, this matters to you. The names in this story have been changed, but the reality behind them hasn’t. These weeks test even the most seasoned professionals in the industry.
This piece is for them. And for you. Because how we treat our drivers in these weeks says everything about the industry, and everything about what kind of holiday season the rest of us get to have.
What It Takes to Keep the Holidays Moving
When we say the holidays don’t just happen – they’re delivered – these numbers show how true that is.
Every Thanksgiving, truckers move around 55 million live turkeys, plus 250 million pounds of potatoes and 770 million pounds of cranberries, keeping grocery aisles stocked across the country. Those figures come from the logistics specialists at Mercer Transportation and data from the National Turkey Federation and Farm Bureau.
The bigger picture adds even more depth. The National Retail Federation tracked about 197 million shoppers between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, making that stretch one of the busiest shipping periods of the year.
Capacity doesn’t stretch, it tightens. The FreightWaves National Truckload Index shows that around holidays, the Outbound Tender Reject Index (a measure of how often carriers turn down loads) jumps by nearly 3 percentage points, topping 10 percent on peak days. Rate pressure follows: spot rates climb too, hitting around $2.46 per mile, up 10 cents from the year before.
In short:
- Millions of perishables and meal components require delivery on tight deadlines.
- Retail deliveries surge by tens of millions of shoppers in just a few days.
- Capacity is stretched thin. Rates and rejection rates climb when the season peaks.
All those goods, the turkeys, presents, lights, last-minute must-haves, move thanks to drivers silently holding it together behind the wheel. The numbers reflect the magnitude. And behind every load is a person, navigating time, pace, weather, hours away from home.
They’re Carrying the Load, But You Can Share the Weight
You don’t have to drive a truck to make a difference. If you manage loads, run a warehouse, schedule deliveries, work in shipping, or even just expect a package to show up on time, you’re part of the system. And that means you can help.
Start here:
If You Work in Logistics
- Tighten up dock times. Don’t leave drivers waiting while paperwork drags. Every delay eats into their legal drive hours and costs them rest.
- Communicate clearly. Dispatch updates, weather changes, route shifts, drivers need info fast and without runaround.
- Respect the schedule. Drivers don’t always get a second chance to be home. Help them keep the ones they have.
If You’re in Operations or Fleet Management
- Upgrade the equipment. Winter conditions test everything: tires, heaters, brakes, batteries. Don’t send people out under-prepped.
- Think beyond miles. Home time, mental load, weather stress…these all matter just as much as logs and delivery windows.
- Say thank you (and actually mean it). Bonuses are great, but even a personal call from leadership can go further than people think.
If You’re a Customer or Consumer
- Be patient. Delays happen…not because someone’s lazy, but because someone’s been driving through snow at 3 a.m. to make a deadline.
- Be kind. Whether it’s a delivery driver at your door or someone parked at the truck stop, a little respect goes a long way.
If You Work in an Office, Not a Cab
You may not see the miles, but your decisions ripple across them. Budgets, timelines, staffing, scheduling – those numbers become someone’s week on the road. Make choices that respect that.
No one can fix the whole system. But anyone can make their part of it a little better. Especially now.
The Season Still Shows Up, Even on the Road
Despite the distance, the cold, and the grind, drivers still find ways to bring the season with them. Not out of obligation. Just because that’s who they are.
Some decorate their dash with lights and tinsel. Others carry a tiny tree that rides shotgun from late November on. Some share cookies at truck stops. Others roll down the window and hand out a candy cane to a fuel attendant just because.
There’s warmth in the quiet stuff. A dispatcher holding a load so a driver can call home. A kid waving at a truck and getting a horn blast in return. Two drivers sharing coffee at a rest stop diner on Christmas Eve.
None of it’s flashy. None of it trends. But it’s there.
This season runs on a million small things. The frozen windshields, the long drives,the early alarms, and late arrivals. But it also runs on people who keep going, no matter what.
And somehow, even with all of that, they still manage to share a little cheer along the way.
So next time you tap “order” on your Amazon wishlist or grab that last can of whipped cream from your local supermarket, think about who got it there. Then maybe say thanks! After all, it is the season.