"Push for healthier truck drivers gaining momentum" by Jamie Stengle | Associated Press, October 14, 2012
DALLAS — In the months after Doug Robinson started driving a truck, he noticed his clothes were increasingly more snug-fitting. He was already overweight but soon realized that spending up to 11 hours behind the wheel, frequently eating fast food, and not exercising was a poor combination.
When his employer, US Xpress, took part in a weight-loss challenge sponsored by the Truckload Carriers Association, the 321-pound, 6-foot-1-inch Robinson signed up.
He’s about 40 pounds into his goal of dropping 100. His truck’s refrigerator is stocked with chicken, tuna, and vegetables. And after his day’s drive, he walks — on trails near rest stops or just circling his truck.
‘‘I have asthma, so with the extra weight on there, it isn’t good for me,’’ said Robinson, a 30-year-old from Philadelphia. ‘‘When I started losing weight, instantly I was breathing better. I was sleeping better at night.’’
I'm all for people being healthier; I just wish there weren't poisons in the land, air, and water while we obsess about obesity in a land where one in six are hungry.
From trucking companies embracing wellness and weight-loss programs to gyms being installed at truck stops, momentum has picked up in recent years to help those who make their living driving big rigs get into shape.
‘‘I think a lot of trucking companies are coming around to the idea that their drivers are their assets,’’ said Boyd Stephenson of the American Trucking Associations, the industry’s largest national trade association. He added that healthier employees help a company’s bottom line.
I knew there wa$ an agenda at work.
There’s an additional incentive for truckers to stay in shape — their job might depend on their health.
I smell a discrimination lawsuit cooking.
Every two years, they must pass a physical exam required by the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. They are checked for conditions that might cause them to become incapacitated — suddenly or gradually — while driving, including severe heart conditions, high blood pressure, and respiratory disorders.
While there are no weight restrictions, a commercial driver who has been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea and is not undergoing treatment will not get a medical certificate. Sleep apnea, more common among those who are overweight, leads to daytime sleepiness, a danger on long drives.
But there are obstacles for truck drivers who are mindful of their health. In addition to being seated for many hours at a time, eating options are usually limited to places with parking lots big enough to accommodate their tractor-trailers — most often truck stops, which historically have not been known for wholesome food or workout equipment. That’s something truck stop chains have been trying to change.
TravelCenters of America, which operates under the TA and Petro Stopping Centers brands, launched a program two years ago called StayFit that includes placing small, free gyms in truck stops, offering healthier eating options and half portions, mapping walking routes near truck stops, and building basketball courts in some locations.
‘‘We wanted to remove as many barriers to drivers’ health as possible,’’ said TravelCenters spokesman Tom Liutkus, who said the company has gyms at 42 of its more than 240 locations, with plans to outfit them all by the end of next year. He added that the gyms have been accessed more than 30,000 times.
‘‘We know that we have an audience out there that needs help,’’ said Snap Fitness chief executive officer and founder Peter Taunton. By the end of the year, the company plans to install gyms inside Pilot Flying J truck stops in Georgia and Tennessee.
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Time to climb into the cab and get me some sleep.
