Presentation to the Transportation Industry Health Promotion Research and Policy Planning Group

On June 21, 2011 I was invited to present a 'Truck Driver Perspective' to the Transportation Industry Health Promotion Research and Policy Planning Group on the lifestyle and health issues facing today's commercial drivers. The group is driven by members of McMaster University Health Sciences Department of Family Medicine and the City of Hamilton Department of Public Health. This initial conference also included representatives from several large common carriers and steel companies dependent on trucking and truckers health, Ontario ministry of Transportation, Workplace Safety and Prevention Services, Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport, Ontario Ministry of Labour, WSIB, Canadian Diabetes Association, Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, and Transport Canada. The meeting took place at McMaster Innovation Park in Hamilton, Ontario.

The following is the text of my presentation to the group.

In the year 2000 I recognized the need to change my lifestyle. I was smoking 40 to 50 cigarettes a day, my food choices were poor, I was suffering from obesity, I was already taking daily medication to control hypertension, I have a family history of cardiac disease, and my father along with 3 of his 4 brothers had been diagnosed with aortic aneurysm's in their 60's. I was feeling like a ticking time bomb, a train wreck just waiting to happen. I recognized that I not only needed to change my lifestyle but I wanted to. Over the past 10 ½ years I have given up tobacco, reformed my poor eating habits, and added regular aerobic exercise to my life. To say I feel better today than I did 10 years ago would be an understatement. I am 75 pounds lighter, I have lowered my resting heart rate by over 20%, and hypertension is no longer an issue for me. Along with the physiological improvements has come the same level of improvement in my mental health, my outlook, my emotional well being. All this has come about while working as a long haul truck driver. It has been, and continues to be, a challenge to maintain a healthy lifestyle while remaining fully engaged in the trucking lifestyle.

So today I will try to give you some insight into a commercial drivers life on the road and try to help you gain some understanding of the roadblocks we face.

In a typical week I drive between 4500 to 5000 kilometers, work between 60 and 66 hours, sleep in my workplace, and do not have immediate access to a kitchen, bathroom, or shower. Driving days can be long and often mind numbing but at the same time I need to be prepared for the unexpected at every moment. I heard one driver describe his job in the following way: 'It's hours and hours of boredom broken up by the occasional moment of sheer terror.'

Like any other sector drivers become specialists in their own field and their responsibilities and duties vary widely. But what we share in common is the extreme length of our work week, the limited amount of time we can spend with our family and friends, the lack of basic luxuries that most of us take for granted such as plumbing, electricity, and appliances. With the exception of local drivers we do not have the ability to leave our workplace at the end or our workday. I know one driver that accepted a job in the office and said to me: 'Al, you know what the greatest thing about my new job is? I can go the bathroom whenever I want to.' Think about that statement, It speaks volumes to the lifestyle of a truck driver and how the little things most of us take for granted are magnified and take on much greater significance in the long haul truck drivers world.

The bane of all truck drivers is time itself. Drivers have little time left to look after themselves after they have invested so much time looking after their professional responsibilities. This is reflected in the quality of the food drivers eat and the amount of exercise drivers get. But we all have free will, and the choice to eat fast food and to not exercise is just that, a choice. That been said, there is no doubt in my mind that truck drivers do have the cards stacked against them.

When it comes to making monumental changes in how we live our lives I believe we all need to experience our own epiphany, just as I did in the year 2000. Each individual needs to see the necessity for change and really want to make that change a reality. Unfortunately I think that when many of us wake up to the fact that a lifestyle change is the solution to our declining state of health we think it is too late to make a lasting change, that the obstacles are too large to overcome in order to make that change. I disagree. I don't believe it is ever too late to make a positive change in your life.

The greatest challenge we face as drivers is the popular culture we live in and the constant message that we can have whatever we want right now. That includes the concept of losing 30 pounds in 30 days. The idea of slow, steady, and incremental change is not a message that is common in this day and age. But in an industry that finds drivers leading a primarily sedentary life and having very little time to invest in an aggressive weight loss program I have found that slow, steady, incremental change has been the secret to my own success. Gradual change does not compete for the limited time that is available to us as drivers and modifying habits slowly limits adding additional stress to our lives. Gradual changes are more apt to be permanent changes, they do not shock the system. Gradual change allows for time to reflect on what does not work and recognize that failure is often the best teacher. It is my belief that a slow and steady approach is the best way to find our own unique path.

I'd like to note at this point the important role that tobacco and snack foods play in the course of a day for many, many drivers. They are very often the source of relief for boredom and fatigue. I have already said the driving for many hours a day can be mind numbing. Eating and smoking are very effective ways of bringing the mind back to the present moment. This was certainly a problem for me because I had become dependent on them for what I felt was a very beneficial purpose, staying alert. But of course the long term effect is destructive. It took me quite a long time on my own path of discovery to find that healthier food choices, sleep, and exercise were a far better combination for combating that mind numbing feeling we more commonly call fatigue. Even though facts surrounding fatigue and how best to recognize it and combat it are readily available and even common knowledge in the transportation industry, I still had to experience my own AHA!! moment in order to stop viewing snack foods as a solution to the problem rather than the crutch that they had become.

My initial approach to exercise and making healthy food choices was a simple one. Reduced caloric intake and increased physical activity equals reduced weight and improved cardiac health. That seems like common sense to most of us. But it is far easier said than done. So my simple approach consisted of calculating my BMR, my Basal Metabolic Rate, for a “sedentary” lifestyle. In 2001 that number was 2525 calories for 5'7” male that tipped the scales at 235 pounds. I stuck that number up in my truck where I could always see it and then I started reading food labels of everything I ate, everyday. Initially I did not change my diet at all. But in a very, very, short time I discovered that my love of nacho cheese Doritos would require some modification. I discovered that the portion sizes of meals I was eating was excessive, sometimes to the extreme. I discovered that fast food was pretty much a toxic substance. I discovered that I was consuming far too much fat, salt, and sugar.

At the same time I started reading food labels I also committed myself to going for a walk at least 3 to 4 times a week and walking at a pace that would make me just a little bit sweaty. In other words I knew getting my heart rate up was a benefit although at that point I had know idea of the value or full benefit of that practice. But I did go online and learn that a half hour walking at about 3 mph would burn off about 150 calories.

Just doing these very simple things set me on a path of discovery and understanding about my body, my health, the food I eat, and the level of exercise I required. The great thing was that I was not investing large amounts of time and forcing myself to do something I did not want to do. My curiosity took over and provided the motivation I needed to keep at it. As my interest grew I started measuring my progress with a monthly weigh in and calculating my BMI, Body Mass Index. After a couple of years I invested in a Heart Rate Monitor and started tracking my progress online. I set a weight goal at which point I would start running.

Despite all the positive changes I almost always struggle through the winters. Exercising when the temperature dips to -30 or -40 can be dangerous and even foolish. But I have found that breaking the exercise cycle in the winter pulls my mood down to the lowest point of the year. If it wasn't for writing and keeping a journal of my progress and the positive emotional effect it has on me I could see that there would be a good chance of not jumping back on the healthy lifestyle bandwagon every spring. Winters are difficult for me. When your mode of transport is a 72' long commercial vehicle that weighs 40 tons there are not any health clubs I have found that provide parking. I am determined to resolve that issue this coming winter, somehow. Where there is a will......

In my short time with you here today I have touched on many issues that drivers face and how I have dealt with some of them in my own way. Time has not permitted me to go into any great depth or detail in any particular area but I hope I have been able to give you a feel for what I and my fellow drivers face on a daily basis. There is much to discuss and much to learn.