North Battleford hotel doing what it can to help truckers during COVID-19

A North Battleford hotel is doing what it can to help essential workers during the COVID-19 situation.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites has announced it will be providing support for the commercial trucking industry.

It will be offering all commercial truck drivers a free place to stop and have a hot shower, a free breakfast between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., a free supper from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., or a hot coffee and muffin.

Jenni Wuttunee, the hotel’s director of sales, said the commercial trucking industry is an often-overlooked essential service.

“It is a struggle for all industries right now, but an industry that tends to be underappreciated is our truck driving industry. So we wanted to do what we can to step up and help in any small or large way that we could,” she said.

Wuttunee said with a few truck stops and rest areas shutting down due to COVID-19, truckers were left with very limited resources.

“Some truck stops and different resources that they had have been closed down or are being very limited,” she said. “A lot of truck drivers stay in the cabs of their trucks in those instances and lose out on a place to freshen up or grab a bite to eat.”

With the increased focus on social distancing and hygiene, Wuttunee said the hotel has one employee preparing individually packaged meals.

“We have one employee, who is extremely sanitized, individually packaging any breakfast or lunch for our hotel guests and now for the truck drivers,” she said.

“They can’t eat in the lobby because of social distancing so we’ve individually packaged them so they can take them with them on their way,” she added.

Wuttunee said it was important for the hotel to support the trucking industry during this time because of how much impact truckers have on not only the hotel industry but almost every industry in the country.

“I think that every industry that we host is absolutely connected to the trucking industry in one way or another,” she said. “Right now our truck drivers, for weeks on end, have been on the road trying to keep our grocery stores stocked, our restaurants stocked and our hotel stocked.”

The hotel posted its offer to truck drivers on its Facebook page on Monday and said it has been receiving a lot of positive feedback from the trucking industry.

“Different trucking companies’ owners have been reaching out just to say a simple thank you,” she said. “We have had companies from across Canada message us saying they wished they came through there to take advantage of that offer and we hope other hotels and industries step up with us and help provide support for the trucking industry.”