If you pass a big rig on the freeway these days, there’s a good chance the driver behind the wheel is on the phone. That’s not necessarily cause for alarm — for many long-haul truckers, those calls are a lifeline for their mental health, and drivers say they take care to keep one ear free and stay within the bounds of California’s hands-free driving laws.
A recent CalMatters report by Gagandeep Singh dug into why phone calls have become such a fixture of life on the road for truckers, who often spend long stretches, day and night, hauling freight across the state and country with little human contact and few chances to unwind.
Piloting an 80,000-pound truck alone for hours at a time takes a toll. Drivers say there’s rarely time or opportunity to exercise, and the isolation can wear on a person. Phone calls to spouses, family members and other truckers, they say, offer a rare outlet.
Gerald Bailey, one of the drivers interviewed for the report, said he spends about 27 hours a week on the phone, mostly talking with his wife and brothers. During a stop earlier this summer at a truck stop in Lodi, he was on the line with his wife, as he often is late into the evening.
“I stay on the phone with my wife until she starts snoring,” Bailey said.
Lindsey Bryan, a health and wellness manager at a nonprofit that focuses on truckers’ well-being, said drivers are frequently separated from loved ones for long periods and lack many of the everyday outlets other workers use to manage stress. California has never conducted a statewide study specifically examining truck drivers’ mental health, and the state has no formal program to help truckers who may be struggling.
For some drivers, a simple phone call is one of the few comforts available. But not everyone on the road has that option. Peter Andrews, a trucker from Texas who was passing through a truck stop near Sacramento, said his company strictly bans phone use while driving.
“I have to pull over the truck to call someone,” Andrews said. “They’ve put camera equipment with artificial intelligence right on my face, so I can’t use my phone.”
The story is part of CalMatters’ ongoing coverage of mental health issues facing California workers.
In other news from around the state:
The race for California’s next insurance commissioner might seem far removed from the concerns of renters, but the outcome could hit close to home for millions of Californians who don’t own property. Renters make up about 44% of the state’s population, and the condition of California’s property insurance market directly shapes what they pay in rent, how much housing is available and how quickly neighborhoods can bounce back after disasters, according to CalMatters reporter Levi Sumagaysay.
Gil Barel learned that firsthand after last year’s Eaton Fire tore through parts of Southern California. Her apartment complex in Pasadena wasn’t destroyed, but smoke seeped into the building for days afterward. A test she paid for herself turned up toxic contaminants, though she’s still waiting on additional results. Her landlord arranged for a cleaning in March, but Barel says it fell short of what was needed.
“The issue is that I have no control,” Barel said. “It really depends on the conversation between my landlord and their insurance company. If the landlord does the minimum, or if they don’t feel the need to fight or be insistent on certain things, then it’s not going to happen.”
Meanwhile, state lawmakers are moving to place new restrictions on the growing use of artificial intelligence chatbots for mental health support, according to CalMatters health reporter Ana B. Ibarra. An Assembly bill would bar companies from marketing chatbots as a form of therapy, prohibit AI systems from making therapeutic decisions without oversight from a licensed professional, and require providers to obtain a patient’s consent before recording therapy sessions using AI tools.
State Sen. Steve Padilla, a Chula Vista Democrat who authored the bill, said lawmakers are grappling with technology that’s evolving faster than regulators can keep pace with.
“We’re dealing with a new impactful technology that is unfolding and is deployed in our world at light speed, and so it is both extremely powerful and consequential,” Padilla said.
Business groups including the California Chamber of Commerce and TechNet oppose the measure, arguing it would stifle innovation and limit the potential benefits AI could offer.
Original source: CalMatters
