SUSAN JOY MCKINNEY/OUR COMMUNITY
Richard Norat stands by the semi he drives for McLane of Danville. He is an essential worker making deliveries to businesses.
Rick Norat
Truck driver keeps store shelves stocked
BY CAROL ROEHM
croehm@dancomnews.com
Since the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic in mid-March, there has been
a lot riding on Rick Norat’s job.
That’s because Norat delivers food
and other merchandise to grocery
stores, convenient stores, dollar stores,
big-box retailers, truck stops and chain
restaurants around the Midwest as a
driver for McLane’s.
The New York native moved to
the Oakwood area four years ago and
enrolled in the Commercial Driver’s
License program at Danville Area Community
College.
“I did it because there is a deficiency
of truck drivers, and trucking is the vein
32 OUR COMMUNITY 2020
of America,” he said.
“I’ve been at McLane’s for one year,
but before that I used to drive for FedEx
out of Champaign and Amazon Prime
out of Indianapolis,” Norat said.
But never had his job been as critical
as it is now during a pandemic when
grocery stores and other retailers struggle
to keep their shelves stocked with
basic items American consumers have
taken for granted and come to expect,
such as toilet paper.
“Everything you buy at a store, we
deliver it,” he said. “You can’t get more
essential than that.”
When Norat’s tractor-trailer leaves
McLane’s on Lynch Road, it’s loaded
with 31,000 pounds of goods to be delivered
at multiple stops on a typical day.
“They pack the trailer in order of the
deliveries,” he said. “I go into Chicago,
and all around Illinois and Michigan.
“I don’t mind the work because this
company serves an essential need,”
Norat added. “I love the job because I
can help people.”
Back in mid-March, when Illinois issued
stay-at-home orders, Norat was on
the road delivering the goods.
“There were few cars on the interstate
here, but the traffic in Chicago didn’t
change,” he said. “The stores that were
allowed to stay open were open.
“I was delivering a lot of toilet paper
to the truck stops in March,” he added.
In addition to toilet paper, Norat
recalls another in-demand commodity
during the early days of the pandemic