Show Your Drivers You Care! Put a Healthy Trucking Kiosk in Your Terminal
\
Quote of the Day
Given our ongoing “Healthy Trucking Initiative” and our health-oriented theme for this issue of Inside Trucking Online, it seems appropriate to run some healthy famous quotes, most of which are deadly serious.
“If you have health, you probably will be happy, and if you have health and happiness, you have all the wealth you need, even if it is not all you want.”
– Elbert Hubbard
“The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d druther not.”
– Mark Twain
“Health is like money; we never have a true idea of its value until we lose it.”
– Josh Billings
“Health is worth more than learning.”
– Thomas Jefferson
“Getting my lifelong weight struggle under control has come from a process of treating myself as well as I treat others in every way.”
– Oprah Winfrey
“To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.”
– Benjamin Franklin
None of Your Business? Think Again
By Jack Kelsh
“Doc, I’m in no shape to exercise!”
That’s what I said to my doctor during a DOT physical when he asked me if I had an exercise program, because at the time I was over 300 pounds and rising. He didn’t much like my answer, although he laughed a little at first. He said that I was a heart attack waiting to happen.
All the vitals – blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, blood sugar, etc. – were far from ideal, to say the least. My energy level was compromised, as was my ability to simply move around.
Trucking companies implement safety mandates all the time. You tell your drivers what to do in the name of safety, i.e.. log book HOS, pre- and post-trip vehicle inspections, use seatbelts, how to lift properly, GOAL (Get Out And Look) before backing, as well as other procedures.
For some reason, employers don’t feel comfortable telling their drivers they must implement better health standards. They obviously feel that they are crossing into the territory of “none of our business” should they tell a person he or she needs to lose a hundred pounds or more.
But let’s say an employee is seriously unhealthy, as many drivers are, and you as a company are paying the medical costs and the costs of any accidents caused by fatigue, inattentiveness and blurred vision due to elevated blood sugar, costs of injuries on the job and the costs of non-productivity, not to mention having to bear the impact of the image reflected to your customers as a result of the appearance of your drivers.
Let’s just say this is a real concern. Do you still think you’re crossing the line by mandating a wellness standard?
If you still feel like it’s none of your business, perhaps it will take the pressure off if you just let the DOT do it for you. Soon, DOT physicals will be able to be facilitated only by DOT-certified physicians with a table of standards that cannot be deviated from.
Simply put, if the driver doesn’t meet the requirements as stated in a proposal from the FMCSA floated to the DOT, the driver won’t be going to work that day. Where does that leave your loaded trucks?
If we get serious about this now, we can be ahead of the game when the mandate comes about. If a driver is threatened by unemployment, maybe that will motivate him or her to make the decision to do something about their health. Let’s all work together to raise the standard from one of mediocrity to one of excellence.
Jack Kelsh is a professional truck driver, sports nutritionist and author. He has designed a total body workout geared for over-the-road drivers. For more information, visit www.safetythruwellness.com or call 406-855-3582.
