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According to some studies, "work-life balance" is now the single most important key to job selection for young (21- to 30-year-old) employees, ranking ahead of compensation. Can the trucking industry still attract drivers among this group?


Quote of the Day

"A good manager is a man who isn't worried about his own career but rather the careers of those who work for him. My advice: Don't worry about yourself. Take care of those who work for you and you'll float to greatness on their achievements. "

-- H.S.M. Burns, American businessman, president of Shell Oil 

Drivers Sound Off

Dr. John McElligott, founder of the Professional Drivers Medical Depot (www.pd-md.com), has studied truck driver health issues for 15 years. It's no secret that driving over-the-road can be tough on one's health, and the relatively high percentage of drivers with health problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes back that up. When asked what makes the trucking lifestyle so unhealthy, Dr. McElligott points the finger at stress. "It's stressful from the time they get up until the time they go to bed," he says. "They are regulated like no other profession in this country."
As always, Over the Road and Pro Trucker magazines want to hear what the drivers themselves have to say on the subject, so we asked a handful of over-the-road professions the following question:


Do you consider driving over the road a stressful job?

Not surprisingly, almost all of them said "yes," but their reasons varied. Here are some of the responses:

Charles Hieleman, 56, Somerset, OH

Professional driving experience: 35 years

"Yes, it's very stressful. It's a combination of a lot of things. Traffic. Shippers. Dispatchers. Companies. Receivers. Just-in-time freight. Log books. You're constantly worried about the log book. What’s legal in one state might be illegal in another. Back when I started in the 1970s, sure, people had high blood pressure, but there wasn't all of the stress and health problems you see with drivers now. I think the federal government created a lot of stress on drivers with all of their rule-making."

 

James Reinking, 63, Fort Wayne, IN

Professional driving experience: 45 years

"It's getting there. I'm not out on the road every night like a lot of these guys, so it's not so bad for me. I drive regional, hauling grain. It can get stressful during the harvest season, but nothing like these guys who are out on the road three or four weeks or more at a time. The key to dealing with stress is when you get done, leave your work at work. I go home and play with my toys and tools down in the basement and play with my grandkids."

 

Thomas Meade, 56, Clarksville, IN

Professional driving experience: 9 years

"Yes, because of the traffic. The traffic is terrible, especially around the big cities. The last company I ran for, I ran dedicated. I was in Chicago five days a week. Putting up with that traffic made my job very stressful."

 

Marvin Stewart, 57, Vinegrove, KY

Professional driving experience: 25 years

"Yes, it's stressful. Why? Well, you can start with all of the B.S. you have to put up with from the feds. It's not just the rules and regulations; it's the fact they are changing the rules all the time. The DOT wants to tell me how many hours to sleep. I can't sleep for 10 hours. I'm ready to go after six or seven hours of sleep, but I can't because the feds won't let me. That's stressful."

 

Rodney Spath, 57, Findlay, OH

Professional driving experience: 36 years,

"Yes it's stressful, because you have to deal with all the people on the road today -- four-wheelers and truck drivers alike -- who don’t know what they're doing because of a lack of training and a lack of skills. On top of that, the DOT is constantly on truckers' rear ends. No matter what we do, we're always at fault. If you were parked and someone hit you, you were at fault because you weren't supposed to be there."

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