I've been doing a bit of research on trucking companies lately and oh wow, for the most part they seem to be lagging behind on useful content for the drivers. Site after site simply state (paraphrasing here) call for more information.......Guess what, while there are still some luddites in the industry, quite a large percentage of us ARE tech savvy and we wish to do our research online without the bias of a recruiter who is paid bonuses on the number of bodies they get into orientation--quite a few of whom aren't actually qualified which is sussed out within the first day. So come on, let's get with the program and put at least a little more data on what's required, pay rates, benefits, etc without time and money being wasted on both sides to find out if it's a viable option for either.
Second grumble........the health and fitness issues facing drivers. Even though this is a major cost it doesn't seem like many trucking companies are doing anything more than superficial "band-aid" lip-service to solving the obesity and inactivity status of their employees/team members/associates/whatever the current human resource term is.
Sure there are a handful that offer fitness centers but usually only in the main headquarters where drivers are not exactly encouraged to utilize them or they are so under-stocked with out-dated equipment that they are nigh on useless. I'm not hearing many drivers talk about their companies actively offering programs to help lose weight/get healthy/start fitness routines. And yes, between the social media outlets like facebook, blogs, and twitter I am still in touch with a fair number of drivers. To go even further, of the drivers I know who are proactive in taking their health and physical fitness very seriously, most of their employers seem to be quite blase in recognizing or even wanting to hear about those achievements they've attained in spite of the challenges of the industry. This industry needs to get with it and start providing information/support/facilities/motivation to ALL their employees, not just the ones they see every day walking into the office.
Mini-rant over, there are several resources available for truckdrivers who want to take charge of their health, Sparkpeople is a great place to start and there is a Truckin' Runners group on facebook while the Ride and Roll provides info for the cyclists (which is also useful for the runners/walkers).
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
18 June 2012
12 July 2011
Overdue......
Ok, I'm here, still trucking and running along although the trucking part is kind of wearing on me more and more. The imminent open border with Mexico is probably going to cause my dedicated route to disappear and then I will either have to scramble along with all our other Laredo drivers to look for other routes or (most likely) go over the road. I really have no desire to be an OTR driver again, I've seen as much of the U.S. from the interstates as I care to from the seat of a big truck. Now as far as traveling and exploring things at my leisure, well now that's an entirely different matter but unless I win the lottery that's not gonna happen right away. Not to mention companies are slashing pay and benefits left and right, increasing regulation worries about our hours of service, etc, etc.....Actually there was an editorial piece in the Manteca Bulletin that explains all this much better than I can, I highly encourage everyone to go read this because it's one of the rare articles that is not ANTI-trucking from outside the industry.
While I'm sorta on the subject of trucking industry publications, I have a bit of a rant about one of the freebie mags that you can pick up at the entrance to any truckstop. This one focuses on driver's health..........That is an absolutely fantastic thing but upon checking it out online I discovered that one of the contributors is a somewhat well-known blogger who also happens to be obese and has very openly discussed their disdain about getting sweaty and working out on said blog. Ummm, yeah. Can we agree that maybe choosing a writer based on their "name" and web numbers might be just a little lazy? There are many drivers out here that ARE making healthy choices and do write about their experiences--NO, I am not volunteering, either--I just feel it might have been a great opportunity to have a driver that does take their health and fitness seriously write for them, not just someone who is doing it for the money. Right, rant over but I highly encourage any of the drivers who read my blog that are into healthy choices to contact said publication to see if they can do some articles for them.
While I'm sorta on the subject of trucking industry publications, I have a bit of a rant about one of the freebie mags that you can pick up at the entrance to any truckstop. This one focuses on driver's health..........That is an absolutely fantastic thing but upon checking it out online I discovered that one of the contributors is a somewhat well-known blogger who also happens to be obese and has very openly discussed their disdain about getting sweaty and working out on said blog. Ummm, yeah. Can we agree that maybe choosing a writer based on their "name" and web numbers might be just a little lazy? There are many drivers out here that ARE making healthy choices and do write about their experiences--NO, I am not volunteering, either--I just feel it might have been a great opportunity to have a driver that does take their health and fitness seriously write for them, not just someone who is doing it for the money. Right, rant over but I highly encourage any of the drivers who read my blog that are into healthy choices to contact said publication to see if they can do some articles for them.
16 March 2011
Set the brakes and move
With the title I'm probably having truck drivers collectively shaking their heads at me and saying I've got it backwards, but bear with me here, I'm going into a bit of lecture mode. This month a twitter trucker friend ended up in the ICU with what started as a blood clot in the leg and broke up into several more in his lungs. He was in a truck stop shower at the time when he started feeling like something wasn't right and made it out to the payphones to call 911.
How scary is that? What could've/would've happened if he hadn't made it out to the payphones in time? How long would it have taken someone to check on him? To me that is extremely scary. Hell, I don't even carry my ID with me 95% of the time when I walk into a truckstop/customer/rest area. Anyways, this is happening entirely too much and we're allowing it to occur. Whether it's fighting the clock on the 14 hour rule, allowing dispatch to push us too much, or just plain stupid machismo. Yes, machismo. How many times have you heard drivers bragging about how many miles they go without stopping for food or bathroom breaks? If you happen to be someone like me who does stop approximately every 2-3 hours to stretch and move about, there are always those who think it's cute to point out they arrived somewhere an hour (or less) earlier.
Well, guess what? We're just killing ourselves. Sometimes slowly, other times it's an extended process but we are killing ourselves. The driver I mentioned earlier? Not only were there blood clots, he'd also developed diabetes since his last physical only 5 months prior. Yeah. That quick. And if I'm not mistaken, he's younger than I am.
So here's my lecture/challenge/plea, however you choose to take it: Get out of the truck and stretch your legs by walking at least into the truck stop or where ever minimum every 2-3 hours. Drink water. Lots of water, yes it's a hassle having to stop and pee all the time (try hydrating for a race sometime while driving a big truck, lol) but it'll also help with the stretching and moving. Try cutting out the fried foods at least a bit, maybe starting with one meal per day. Eat more fruits and vegetables, helps with the hydration and damn near everywhere carries apples and oranges now, even McDonalds does. Add in additional exercise, walking, calisthenics, etc. Yes, people are gonna stare. Get over it, they'll stare anyways. Do I even have to mention smoking? Try and cut down a bit and there's absolutely no reason why you can't still add in exercise and eat better while smoking (not ideal but it's a horribly hard habit/addiction to break).
If you don't want to do this for yourselves, at least think about your family. Who's gonna take care of them if you die or are permanently disabled?
Whoa, I've managed to go on a proper rant here but please at least try to add in some of this while you're out on the road. I'm not saying it's easy by any means but it can be done, just takes commitment. Here's a facebook link to the Truckin' Runners group, it's a great place to ask questions and get support. There's also a website in the works posting routes that are easily accessible to us but I'm drawing a blank on the link right now and rushing to get this written. Hopefully someone (Jeff!!!) will email me the link or better yet put it in the comments section.
Be safe everyone!
A bit of an addendum to this post, the driver that was the inspiration for this post messaged me to say that this wasn't a sudden thing, he'd noticed being severely out of breath the week prior and had thought it was just some type of respiratory infection. So please, please, please don't ignore symptoms.
A few more websites
Sparkpeople
Daily Mile
Cool Running Couch to 5k
How scary is that? What could've/would've happened if he hadn't made it out to the payphones in time? How long would it have taken someone to check on him? To me that is extremely scary. Hell, I don't even carry my ID with me 95% of the time when I walk into a truckstop/customer/rest area. Anyways, this is happening entirely too much and we're allowing it to occur. Whether it's fighting the clock on the 14 hour rule, allowing dispatch to push us too much, or just plain stupid machismo. Yes, machismo. How many times have you heard drivers bragging about how many miles they go without stopping for food or bathroom breaks? If you happen to be someone like me who does stop approximately every 2-3 hours to stretch and move about, there are always those who think it's cute to point out they arrived somewhere an hour (or less) earlier.
Well, guess what? We're just killing ourselves. Sometimes slowly, other times it's an extended process but we are killing ourselves. The driver I mentioned earlier? Not only were there blood clots, he'd also developed diabetes since his last physical only 5 months prior. Yeah. That quick. And if I'm not mistaken, he's younger than I am.
So here's my lecture/challenge/plea, however you choose to take it: Get out of the truck and stretch your legs by walking at least into the truck stop or where ever minimum every 2-3 hours. Drink water. Lots of water, yes it's a hassle having to stop and pee all the time (try hydrating for a race sometime while driving a big truck, lol) but it'll also help with the stretching and moving. Try cutting out the fried foods at least a bit, maybe starting with one meal per day. Eat more fruits and vegetables, helps with the hydration and damn near everywhere carries apples and oranges now, even McDonalds does. Add in additional exercise, walking, calisthenics, etc. Yes, people are gonna stare. Get over it, they'll stare anyways. Do I even have to mention smoking? Try and cut down a bit and there's absolutely no reason why you can't still add in exercise and eat better while smoking (not ideal but it's a horribly hard habit/addiction to break).
If you don't want to do this for yourselves, at least think about your family. Who's gonna take care of them if you die or are permanently disabled?
Whoa, I've managed to go on a proper rant here but please at least try to add in some of this while you're out on the road. I'm not saying it's easy by any means but it can be done, just takes commitment. Here's a facebook link to the Truckin' Runners group, it's a great place to ask questions and get support. There's also a website in the works posting routes that are easily accessible to us but I'm drawing a blank on the link right now and rushing to get this written. Hopefully someone (Jeff!!!) will email me the link or better yet put it in the comments section.
Be safe everyone!
A bit of an addendum to this post, the driver that was the inspiration for this post messaged me to say that this wasn't a sudden thing, he'd noticed being severely out of breath the week prior and had thought it was just some type of respiratory infection. So please, please, please don't ignore symptoms.
A few more websites
Sparkpeople
Daily Mile
Cool Running Couch to 5k
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