Importance of truck drivers highlighted during National Truck Driver Appreciation Week

GARDEN CITY, Ga. (WTOC) - The Georgia Ports Authority is marking national trucker appreciation week, recognizing the drivers who move freight in and out of the port each day.

Truck drivers support hospitals, gas stations, grocery stores and banks. The supplies they transfer fuel your everyday life.

Emmett Washington has worked as a driver at the Georgia ports for 12 years.

You’ve got to do what you love, it’s not a job for me — it’s a career," Washington said.

“It’s a love-hate relationship,” Washington said.

Washington makes 10 to 12 trips on an average day, starting before sunrise and often finishing after sunset.

“It’s a love-hate relationship,” Washington said. “Some days it’s good, some days it’s bad, but when you can wake up in the morning ain’t no need to complain about it.”

Job requires close attention to equipment

Washington said the work can be difficult.

“You gotta respect the equipment. The only easy thing about this job is it’s easy to mess up,” Washington said.

Georgia Ports Authority President Kevin Price has called drivers “the key link in the global supply chain.”

“And that’s what makes it worth coming out here today, even though you know it’s going to be a fight, and then my wife and daughter and family are depending on me to make a better way for myself and them, so yeah it’s a lot of pride when it comes to that,” Washington said.

Washington said he does not regret becoming a driver 12 years ago.

“It really changed my life, gave me purpose out here, I don’t regret one day of it,” Washington said.

More information on truck drivers at the Georgia ports is available on the WTOC website.