Maintaining a trucking fleet requires a certain level of constant repair and maintenance to overcome wear and tear on truck parts and fix any damages the vehicles may take in the course of their use.
But a fleet doesn’t just consist of the trucks, but of the men who drive those trucks, and to truly ensure your trucking business is in good shape, you need to make sure your drivers are kept in as good shape as your trucks.
Wellness is an important factor in running a good trucking business for a number of reasons.
Good health keeps your drivers in the cab for longer and more efficient periods. A driver struggling with various health issues, visiting the doctor for preventable wellness concerns, can’t produce as well as a driver who takes of himself and keeps himself in good, fighting trim.
There are several issues at play here. Nutrition is one. Just like your truck, you’ve got to have the right fuel to be at your best. Good eating habits can make sure you’re not falling into a rabbit hole of health issues brought on by high fat, high sodium, high cholesterol diets.
This isn’t always easy for a truck driver. It’s difficult to find healthy food options on the road, particularly when a double cheeseburger is much easier to eat from behind the wheel than a salad. But consulting with a doctor can give you the information you need to determine your nutrition needs and what you can do to address them in a healthy manner, even when on the road.
Exercise is also paramount. A sedentary lifestyle on the couch has seen many Americans fight a number of health concerns. Truck drivers, by virtue of their position, face similar issues. Sitting in the cab for hours on end is productive for the truck, but does little for your health.
Luckily, exercise doesn’t have to be an intense, all-in scenario to see benefits. You don’t need a gym membership to improve your health, for instance. Instead, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity exercise.
This doesn’t have to mean weight lifting or using complicated gym machines. You can reach that weekly goal with simple exercises, including walking, band exercises, body weight exercises, light dumbbells and other activities you can do in your own home or in the neighborhood.
Most of all, don’t try to take big swings in your wellness quest. Crash diets and sudden surges of intense exercise can sometimes hurt more than help. It’s all about making small, consistent improvements through slow but steady work to reach true wellness.
Wellness is important to each person’s own life, as well as to your business.
Fleet Risk Solutions can help your company draw up plans and policies to improve wellness across the board for your drivers and, in concert with that improvement, see insurance rates improve along with the health of your employees.
Wellness is truly important in running a trucking business and by following through on that, your fleet can reap the benefits down the line.
About the Author
Logan utilizes a holistic approach to assist trucking companies with growth, and survival in one of the most volatile times in our history. A strong risk management program is critical for every business, but trucking companies are extremely susceptible to breaks in the risk management process. Maintenance violations, driver violations, breakdowns, driver turnover, and the list goes on, all have a domino effect on each other, and the cost of operating a trucking company.