BROWN COUNTY, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS) — For truck drivers it’s anything but business as usual on the nation’s highways these days.

Roads usually jammed with traffic are quieter. Restaurants that once offered sit-down meals are now carry-out only. As the coronavirus pandemic changes the social and business landscape of the nation and world, drivers have a unique window into what’s happening in the country.

“I was driving across Nebraska a couple of days ago, out on Highway 36 … I think I went for two hours hours without meeting another truck,” said Adam Birk a truck driver from Jackson, Missouri.  “That’s not normal.”

On the first day of a Safer At Home order in Wisconsin, Interstate 43 near Green Bay was noticeably quieter. Trucks made up a high percentage of traffic.

That included drivers like John Basile of Gary, Indiana. His travels over the past two weeks have taken him from the upper Midwest to the East Coast where he’s delivered everything from food to toilet paper.

Basile has seen and experienced a lot in the past two weeks — including people who paid for his groceries at a recent stop.

Once event he witnessed is clear in his mind.

“I was delivering at a store and I saw this elderly couple trying to go through the store. I saw these young people give them a hand and really help them out,” he said. “I think that’s something that’s really going to stick with me.”​