Quote of the Day

Since driver health seems to be on everyone's minds:

“Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork.”
- English proverb

 “I keep trying to lose weight... but it keeps finding me!”
- Author Unknown

“The biggest seller is cookbooks and the second is diet books - how not to eat what you've just learned how to cook.”
- Andy Rooney

“You can't lose weight by talking about it. You have to keep your mouth shut.”
- Author unknown

What owner-operators want

By Lily Williams

Drivers, recruiters and carriers have at least one thing in common: first and foremost, they are all in it for the money. Drivers are generally looking for good benefits and rates of pay, and to get that they have to bring clean driving and track records to the table. Recruiters are looking for qualified drivers with clean driving and track records, so they must be able to show that their company has a good track record and is able to offer good benefits coupled with a good rate of pay. Carriers are also looking for qualified drivers with good driving and track records in order to meet the needs of their customers, so they do all that they can to recruit qualified drivers.

Survey probes driver loyalty

Why do drivers stay with fleets?
That's the question Open Road Drivers Plan asked professional truck drivers earlier this year in an effort to determine the key factors driving loyalty to carriers. Drivers were asked to rate the importance of specific employee benefits in their decision to stay with or leave a trucking company. Following are some of the survey findings ...

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Transportation secretary praises health awareness walks

In a Sept. 2 posting on the blog FastLane, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood gave kudos to the Healthy Trucking Association of America (HTAA), the Trucking Solutions Group and Driver HEALTH magazine for organizing the 61+ Health Awareness Walk at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas (healthy-trucker-movement-an-important-development-in-an-important-industry.html).

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NPR 'considers' truck driver health

The relatively poor health of the nation's over-the-road drivers continues to garner attention from all quarters, from the federal government to carriers to the drivers themselves. National Public Radio, in a segment of its popular “All Things Considered” program, became one of the most recent organizations to jump on the “healthy truckers” bandwagon when it aired a July 30 segment by Frank Morris entitled “Regulators Want Truckers On Road To Shape Up” (NPR.org).

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My Point: Healthy way to win the recruitment, retention war

Marvin Shefsky
- Publisher

This month's Inside Trucking Online newsletter builds on a theme we've been touting for years: Drivers are looking for help and support from the carriers they work with, and the companies that step up to the plate and deliver for their drivers - whether it's providing them good, consistent freight or just showing them a little more respect - are going to win the recruiting and retention wars. It's really that simple.

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Drivers Sound Off

The issue of drivers' health is gaining increasing attention from all corners of the trucking industry. As part of the Comprehensive Safety Analysis program (CSA 2010), the feds are taking a closer look at the issue with an eye on removing unhealthy drivers from the road. Carriers are looking at the issue with an eye on improving the health of their fleets and saving money at the same time through better retention, fewer missed sick days and lower insurance costs.

Of course, the drivers themselves are paying attention. They know the story; they're aware that driving a truck is one of the unhealthiest professions in the country based on the large percentage of drivers who are obese, smoke, have high blood pressure or all of the above.

With that in mind, Driver HEALTH and Over the Road magazines asked drivers the following question:

How do you stay healthy on the road?

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FMCSA provides CSA 2010 preview safety rankings

In August, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration began providing individual commercial motor carrier companies a preview of their safety rankings under the agency's new enforcement and compliance program, the Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) 2010. The previews are designed to give carriers a clear assessment of their over-the-road performance through the seven CSA 2010 Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs).

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