long hauler

or long-haul·er

[ lawng hawl-er, long ]

noun

1. a person, especially a truck driver, who travels over great distances.
2. a vehicle for the transport of freight or passengers over great distances, especially a truck or airplane.
3. a company involved in the transport of freight or passengers over great distances, especially a trucking company.
4. a person who goes through a long period of considerable effort or difficulty, especially when committed to undertaking a job or task:

   Without struggle there is no progress—we’re long haulers, not summer soldiers.

5. Pathology. a person who experiences symptoms or health problems that linger or first appear after supposed recovery from an associated acute illness or active infection:

   Long-haulers have reported chronic fatigue, muscle aches, difficulty concentrating, and other debilitating aftereffects of COVID-19, often lasting for several months.

Word History and Origins

Origin of long hauler¹

First recorded in 1900–05; long hauler def 5 was coined by American preschool teacher Amy Watson in 2020

Example Sentences

After seven months I wrote about what it felt like to be what was then termed a "long hauler".

From BBC

Amy Watson in Portland, Oregon, got inspiration in naming her Facebook support group from the trucker cap she’d been wearing, and “long hauler” soon became part of the pandemic lexicon.

From Washington Times

Amy Watson in Portland, Oregon, got inspiration in naming her Facebook support group from the trucker cap she’d been wearing, and “long hauler” soon became part of the pandemic lexicon.

From Seattle Times

Both “long hauler” and “long COVID” were terms coined by patients — itself a unique phenomenon; diseases are usually named by the doctors who discover them.

From Los Angeles Times

Long hauler symptoms range widely from person to person.

From Washington Post