LAFAYETTE, La. — A major wireless outage affecting customers across the United States left many hoping for their phone service to be restored.
For truck driver Randy Causey of Alabama, the outage disrupted both his work and his ability to stay connected with family while traveling through the state.
Causey said his phone is essential to his day-to-day duties on the road.
“It’s the only contact I have for my family or for my business,” Causey said. “Being able to get my loads and the paperwork I have to have — if the Department of Transportation wants something from me, it’s all in my phone. All my files and everything.”
In a statement, a Verizon spokesperson said crews have since resolved the outage issue and apologized for any inconvenience caused to customers"
“The outage has been resolved. If customers are still having an issue, we encourage them to restart their devices to reconnect to the network. For those affected, we will provide account credits. Details will be shared directly with customers. We sincerely apologize for the disruption.
Yesterday, we did not meet the standard of excellence our customers expect and that we expect of ourselves. To help provide some relief to those affected, we are giving customers a $20 account credit that can be easily redeemed by logging into the myVerizon app to accept. On average, this covers multiple days of service. Our business customers will be contacted directly about their credits.
This credit isn’t meant to make up for what happened. No credit really can. But it’s a way of acknowledging our customers' time and showing that this matters to us.
If customers are still experiencing issues, we encourage them to restart their devices to reconnect to the network. We are sorry for what our customers experienced and will continue to work hard day and night to provide the outstanding network and service that people expect from Verizon.”
For Causey, the biggest concern was not business, but family.
“I’m about 500 or 600 miles from the house, and just to let my wife know that I’m safe in this day and time, is important,” he said. “She’s trying to call me and can’t get me, or I’m trying to call to make sure everything is OK at home.”
Causey said staying in touch with his wife is a key reason he continues driving long-haul routes.
“I wouldn’t be out here if it wasn’t for having the ability to call my wife,” he said. “I’ve been doing this since we had to use payphones to call home.”
Despite the outage, Causey said he is trying to remain positive, viewing the disruption as a reminder of an earlier era in trucking.
“When I started back in 1990, there weren’t any cell phones,” he said. “You had to do it the old-fashioned way. You used a CB radio or flagged someone down to get to the next town. It’s a helpful hindrance."
