A Customer Reveals Empty Grocery Shelves in the Midst of a Trucker Strike

If you thought the Writer's Guild of America Strike of 2023 was the only major protest going on in the United States, then you might be a Floridian who has yet to do some grocery shopping lately. As of mid-May 2023, there are several trucker strikes taking place across the country. In different states, professional truck drivers have quite literally pumped the brakes on their massive vehicles as they protest for various causes.

Like with any strike of this nature, we're bound to see the effects.

In the case of the WGA 2023 strike, the production on several American shows and series have been put on hold as screenwriters and showrunners demand to be included in residual payments from streaming services. Depending on how long the strike lasts, the Fall 2023 season is sure to be impacted.

But while the writer's strike will have lasting effects down the line, the effects of the trucker strike are already being displayed in one supermarket customer's video that shows empty grocery shelves.

On Sunday May 14, 2023, @pjs_journey on TikTok posted a quick but intriguing video that highlights the immediate impact of the trucker strike.

Their TikTok shows of a sight that many may recognize from the early days of the COVID-19 quarantine of 2020 in which grocery store stocks were cleared out.

Put simply, the shelves in this particular supermarket were almost completely empty. We even catch a glimpse of other confused shoppers wondering how to cross off their grocery list with nothing in stock.

Their video was captioned: "No groceries, smh sad. These truckers weren't playing when they said they were not delivering anything to Florida!!!"

For the most part, Floridians with who can't complete their grocery shopping have Florida governor Ron DeSantis to blame. According to a May 15 report by Tallahassee Democrat, the controversial politician signed a bill that imposes new penalties and restrictions on Florida-based undocumented immigrants.

Reportedly, one of those restrictions include e-verification that checks whether or not workers are authorized to work in the United States.

The policy resulted in waves of angry Latin American drivers, who have since been participating in a boycott and have refused to drive their trucks both into and out of Florida. Many of them have taken to social media platforms like TikTok to voice their disdain for the new bill, encouraging other truckers to follow their lead and refuse business with Florida.

This recent TikTok already showcases the lasting effect that the trucker's strike will have should the bill be implemented in its current form. Several people in the comments section have already voiced their support for truckers.

"I take off my hat to them truckers," one user commented.

"Thank you for those who support immigrants and their hard work," another one wrote.

More grocery stories are expected to take similar hits so long as the trucker strike is in effect.