Getting A Pulse on Driver Health in 2016
If you are a Fleet Manager, the health of your drivers is quickly becoming as important as the health of your trucks. Because, just like when your trucks break down, your drivers breaking down means increased costs for repair.
Truck driving is one of the deadliest professions. There’s really no other way to put it. Hours sitting, higher rates of obesity and smoking, along with an irregular schedule that often times means missed doctor appointments. It all adds up over time. And over time this means increased health care costs, less than optimal driving performance and other deficiencies that lead to down time. This eventually takes it’s toll on everyone.
Truck Driver Health Resources
As we kick off the new year, NOW is the time to begin thinking about how to combat truck driver health issues. One of the best ways continues to be simply educating your fleet and even potentially creating a program that rewards drivers for improving their health. Today, we wanted to share some industry resources that might just inspire you and your fleet to make 2016 the healthiest yet.
1. Driven To Be Healthy Challenge – We mentioned programs that reward drivers for getting healthier and St. Christopher’s Fund is doing just that with this first annual challenge. This is a 6-month challenge for current CDL holders with 2 categories for both monthly and overall winners. Prizes include Rand McNally GPS’, Fitbits, Rolling Strong’s Fit Steppers and Fit System, financial planning sessions and digital cookbooks by ATBS and truck refrigerators. This contest wraps up in February, so there’s still a chance to be a monthly winner.
2. Bobby Anderson, The Plant Fueled Trucker – This long haul driver has lost over 65 pounds and is on a mission to change his life while helping others in the process. He was featured on The Today Show in 2015 and continues to update his Instagram account with new, on-the-go recipes all the time. For any driver needing some healthy eating inspiration, following Bobby is a must!
3. Rolling Strong – Bob Perry’s mission at Rolling Strong is to “reverse the declining health outcomes of America’s CDL Drivers and get them home safe to see their families.” This includes offering the Freightliner In-Cab Trainer or FIT System for the professional driver. This is the a system which allows drivers to do a full body workout in the comfort and safety of their truck. It is specifically designed to stretch and strengthen the rotator cuff of the shoulder and lower back, the 2 most frequent injuries in trucking industry.
Make It A Healthy 2016
These are just 3 resources out there that are sure to help the health of CDL holders everywhere. We hope these will give you some ideas for improving the well-being of your drivers and hope you’ll rely on Dickinson Fleet to take care of the health of your trucks.
