Don't Get Discouraged if Your Healthy Living Goals Have Been Derailed

This post appears in the February 2013 edition of the Truck News

So how are you making out with those New Year resolutions you made? No doubt there was more than a few drivers that resolved to shed a few pounds, take a daily walk, or cut back on the junk food. If you resolved to adopt a healthier lifestyle then you may be doing all of the above, or at least you intended to do all of the above. It's not easy..

It's been over a dozen years now since I started to change how I live on the road and every year I seem to fall of the healthy living bandwagon for a period of time. That time usually falls during the winter months when the days are cold, daylight is in short supply, and the snow and slop on the roads presents an added obstacle to going for a walk or run. As a result I would usually pack a few pounds back on in the winter. That's the way it has been for me. I'll say it again, it's not easy.

Last year I was determined to break that cycle of loss and gain. I decided to get a health club membership with a national chain so I could at least get on a piece of cardio equipment a couple of times during the week as I did my regular route. It worked. I still don't exercise as much during the winter months but I get enough exercise to maintain my conditioning and feed my need to be active. It's become somewhat of a positive addiction for me now. If I don't get it I feel downright crappy, not just physically but mentally & emotionally also.

It's incredibly difficult for drivers to find the motivation to get out and do something physical everyday. After being in the seat for 12 plus hours each day there's no getting away from that feeling of exhaustion. A meal, a shower, and sleep is what you really crave. It takes a huge effort to pull on your walking shoes and step out the door for a brisk walk when you feel that way at the end of the day. The irony is that the meal, the shower, and the sleep is so much sweeter if you walk of the days stress first.

One of the great advantages that non drivers have is that they are able to exercise with a friend or as part of a group. This is a great way to stay motivated because you have made a commitment to another person and it adds a little healthy competition to your workout. Changing your eating habits, dieting, and exercise is much easier and much more enjoyable if you are able to share the experience with a friend or group and feed off one another's success.

There is nothing I enjoy more than trucking for a living. I'm quite certain you wouldn't be reading this copy of the Truck News if you didn't enjoy it too. But when you start struggling with health issues resulting from all those years in the seat and you decide to do something about it you can easily become frustrated by the difficulties you face in making the necessary changes in your life. Most often you will find that you say to yourself: 'I just don't have the time or the energy'. Finding that motivation within to push yourself out of your comfort zone is very difficult. But it's worth it.

So I thought for the next few columns I would share some of the things I've used over the years to keep myself motivated when it comes to healthy eating and getting a few hours exercise each week. Making lifestyle changes needs to be for life. The changes you make need to be enjoyable. The changes you make need to address the issues that are feeding the stress and discomfort in your daily life.

As a driver I don't believe there is a quick fix to health issues that we may have developed over a lifetime. My own experience bares this out. I've already said that every year for the last 12 years I've been challenged come winter time to stay on my program. What I do believe is that if you have a desire to find that “feelgood” feeling that comes with a healthy body and mind then it's never too late to make changes in your life. If you made one of those New Year resolutions that I opened this column with and you've fallen off the wagon, so what? Climb back on again. Don't be solely focused on short term goals and quick fix solutions (like rapid weight loss). Instead, picture yourself 5 or 10 years down the road. Then you can start taking the smaller steps toward a healthier lifestyle that your busy life will allow you the time to take.

Coping With Stress at Home and on the Road

This post appears in the January 2013 issue of the Truck News

I've been feeling pretty stressed out over the last couple of weeks. The reason being our 16 month old grandson was undergoing a major surgical procedure. Despite the fact this procedure was planned well in advance and not an emergency it still weighed heavily on my mind as I drove. I found myself wishing for bad weather so that I at least had a distraction to occupy my mind. When things are easy out here I often find that my mind has a mind of its own. It will take off into thought and fantasy when given a 'what if' scenario. Having a loved one in hospital is the perfect 'what if' scenario isn't it?

Well let me tell you, that little grandson of mine has had a stranglehold on my heart since the day he was born. No matter how many times I grabbed hold of my mind and pulled it back into the present moment over the past couple of weeks all my mind wanted to do was chase down every dark thought that would arise and blow it out of proportion. Independence is one of the great attractions of the trucking lifestyle for me but there are times when personal circumstances transform that independence into nothing more than a feeling of helplessness. That was the source of my stress over the past few weeks. I'm sure many drivers can relate to that feeling.

Coincidentally workplace stress within the trucking industry is the topic of a meeting I will be attending in January. After my experience over the past couple of weeks I've been pondering other issues we face within our industry that add to our stress.

The issue of driver health is a source of stress in many different ways. The fact that a license can be revoked if a minimum health standard is not met is something that many drivers have to face as they age and their health declines. Many drivers are the primary wage earners in their household and a health issue that cuts a drivers career short a decade or more ahead of planned retirement can be catastrophic for a drivers whole family. This is a topic many of us don't address until it is too late.

Our families are aging also. Death and dying isn't something our society does a good job of addressing. So it is usually a source of great stress within most families. In many cases a persons death is usually preceded by a period of time that requires hospitalization, or home-care, or some form of assisted living. This period of time can go on for weeks, months, or years. For a driver and their family this can be incredibly stressful since the driver is on the road most of the time. So a drivers partner or siblings end up taking on most of the day to day responsibility for the family member that requires the care. This can be a huge source of stress within families. Would it not be beneficial to help drivers and their families prepare to face these issues before they arise in order to minimize the stress?

We can thank our lucky stars that we don't have to deal with illness and end of life issues on an ongoing daily basis. When it arises we deal with it. Rather it's the little things in life that we miss out on that can be the most stressful. These are the things that we often assign a priority behind that of working and earning a living. Things like family birthdays, anniversaries, a family gathering, sporting events for our kids, school events, and the like. These things are very important to us and numerous. We plan to be there for as many of them as we can but even the best laid plans go awry. Equipment breaks down, loads are delayed overnight, weather gets in the way, and so on. If your a driver you know the story here. Sometimes you just can't make it back in time despite your best efforts. I don't think there is anything worse than disappointing your spouse and children. A broken promise is a breach of trust within our families. It's a job hazard we all deal with and a major source of stress in the trucking workplace and within trucking families.

This is definitely not an exhaustive list of stresses we face as truck drivers. On top of these personal issues the global belt tightening continues to add stress to all our lives. Drivers are held more accountable for their actions than ever before. We seem to be working longer and harder and reaping fewer benefits. Lots of stress to go around. I certainly haven't found the magic bullet to slay this monster.

All we can continue to do when we get up each day is to suck it up, paste on a smile, and keep on trucking.

Professional Drivers Caught in the Middle of a Perfect Storm

This post appears in the December 2012 edition of the Truck News

Well, here we are heading towards the end of another tough year. Still lot's of economic uncertainty to go around and austerity measures are all the rage. Is that what we have to look forward to in 2013? I sure hope not. Maybe we should all get together and form a 'Truckers Bank', then we would be too big to fail and someone would come along and bail us out. Just a thought.

Yes, 2012 has been a real grind for me. It's not that I don't enjoy what I do but I spend more time on the job for the same money I was earning ten years ago. I feel like I'm treading water and I'm not sure if I can keep it up until I reach retirement age. For me that's 15 years or so in the future. That's a difficult thought to face every morning. Finding the time to rest, relax, and recharge is becoming more difficult with each passing year.

I'm an optimist at heart so I have a difficult time sharing thoughts about our industry that at first glance appear to be coming from a negative centre. But that's not the case. I, like most of you, recognize that the trucking lifestyle is unique. It's not a job you start at 9 and finish at 5. It requires a strong commitment, work ethic, and self discipline. Although you have to except the fact that you will be away from home and family for extended periods you should still be able to have the time over the course of each year to meet the obligations to your family and to yourself.

Over ten years ago I started on a course that saw me give up tobacco, adopt a healthy eating regime, lose a pile of weight, and take the time each day to get the exercise I need. By eliminating all of those high risk health factors I feel better, at least physically, than I have at any point in my life. Yet I still feel the daily stress from the time crunch. It's not without irony that the time I have to take to get the exercise I now crave, and the time I take to prepare healthy food choices, and the time I take to rest when I need it all add to that feeling of stress that comes from not having enough time in the day. So is a healthy lifestyle part of the trucking lifestyle or not? Many carriers, including my own, recognize the importance of this issue but we still have a long way to go on making sure all drivers at least have the opportunity to take the time to invest in their health if they so choose. The trick is to be able to do it without giving up any of your income stream.

Also over the past ten years we have seen stricter enforcement of hours of service laws, the ongoing adoption of electronic on board recorders, the implementation of speed limiters, laws put in place to control distracted driving, and much tougher laws in the States to rate carriers and drivers. Soon we may also see legislation that requires testing for such things as sleep apnea. Drivers no longer have the option to cut corners to get the job done. Doing the job right, doing the job by the book, requires taking the time to make sure all your ducks are in a row all of the time. So again, the trick is to also do all of these little extras without giving up any of your income stream.

Drivers are not the only ones finding themselves stretched a little thin. Carriers have faced very tough competitive pressures over the past four years along with increased costs and the challenge of finding seasoned drivers to get the job done. There has been a lot of pressure on driver salaries as a result. We seem to be caught in the eye of a perfect storm.

So what is 2013 going to bring us? Probably more of the same. I think what we really need is some imaginative thinking. Hours of service laws, implementation of electronic on board recorders, and carrier/driver safety ratings are definitely not going to go away. We need to find some creative ways to use those laws to benefit drivers directly when it comes to issues of health and time management. I think we spend far too much time looking backwards at what used to be and trying to reclaim successes of the past rather than looking forward despite the current gloomy view. It would be nice to find our way out of the eye of the storm in 2013 wouldn't it?

Preparation is Key to Surviving Winter Driving Season

This post appears in the November 2012 issue of the Truck News

Winter driving season is upon us. With a few clicks of your computer mouse or a few touches of the screen on your smart phone you are able to find any number of websites with a list of winter driving tips for truckers. The biggest concern for most drivers, especially those not exposed to winter conditions on a daily basis, is skid prevention and recovery. So I thought I would throw my opinion and experience into the ring on this topic. It's a good one for sure.

First let's remember that most collisions occur under ideal driving conditions. That is, on dry roads during daylight hours. Why? Because under those conditions it is quite easy to become complacent and/or distracted. Collisions, over 90%, are a result of driver error. The wonderful thing about driving in hazardous conditions is that a driver is focused on the task at hand, fully in the present moment, paying attention to everything that is going on around them and using the defensive driving skills they have acquired to maneuver safely down the road.

So I won't get into describing the defensive driving skills we should all be applying 24/7. So what's my formula for skid prevention and skid recovery? First, never allow your rig to 'break traction' or 'lock up'. Second, maintain a calm and relaxed demeanor at all times. Simple and obvious advice right? But not always so easy to put into practice.

Many folks start to feel stress at the thought of driving under winter conditions. That stress starts with the body tensing up, the grip on the wheel becoming tighter, and extra effort made to try and discern every detail when visibility becomes difficult. You can combat this by being conscious of it. Breathe deeply and relax. Have confidence that by applying all the defensive driving skills you have acquired you will provide yourself with the time and space you need to navigate the road safely. Navigating any road covered in snow and ice safely is a matter of maintaining traction at all times. That is never 'breaking traction' or 'locking up' by hitting the brakes too hard, by making sudden steering maneuvers, or by accelerating too hard for the conditions at hand. Those conditions vary widely and are impacted further by your gross vehicle weight and how that weight is distributed.

At this point it's important to recognize that you can only gain winter driving experience by actually getting out there and doing it. When you know conditions are going to deteriorate you may want to consider adjusting your trip plan to drive at night. This sounds counter intuitive but potential hazards are greatly reduced at night due to the lack of traffic. This can provide you with a great opportunity to hone your winter driving skills. This in turn can build your confidence and reduce your stress. An added advantage is that it also helps conserve time lost to the poor conditions. The bottom line is that there are a lot less obstacles to negotiate at night.

Scale every load that you pick up and adjust your axles to maximize the weight on your tractor tandems. Making good decisions about braking (including use of engine retarder brakes), acceleration, and steering is dependent on knowing how the weight of your rig is distributed over its different axle groups. A couple of winters ago a buddy and I made a trip from southern Ontario to Edmonton. I was loaded with 30,000 pounds on my drives and 20,000 pounds on my trailer tandems. My buddies load was just the opposite. Every time we hit snow cover on the roads he struggled to maintain traction on even slight grades. I had no problem and didn't experience wheel spin on any part of that trip. This is a great example of how variable factors must be taken into account during the winter months. No situation is the same twice.

Be sure to pull your trailer(s) through every corner, all braking should be done prior to entering a curve. I was traveling on highway 17 in the Kenora, Ontario area a few days after a major storm had moved through. Conditions were sunny, cold, and dry. That was the case until I came around a curve with a steep rock cut on my left and found myself on snow pack. With a light load on I started slipping to the outside edge of the curve and the guard rail. By staying calm, staying off the brakes, maintaining a light touch on the fuel to keep the drives turning, and by making small steering connections to keep my rig in line I was able to make it through the curve, barely. It was an adrenaline rush I wasn't planning on that day.

Those are just two of the winter driving experiences I carry with me and put to good use every winter. Plan well, and expect the unexpected.

Applying the 'Smith System' of Defensive Driving to Everyday Life

This post appears in the October 2012 edition of the Truck News

Sometimes you just need to step back and view the world through a different lens. I was reading over The Smith System for defensive driving and started thinking about how we can apply those proper seeing habits to the issues we face in our professional and personal lives just as easily as we can apply them to our physical world.

The first seeing habit we develop is to 'Aim High in Steering'. As professional drivers we know that by looking at least 15 seconds ahead we allow ourselves the reaction time we need to adjust for the changes ahead. So I asked myself how often do I look 15 years down the road at my own life and the industry I work in? The answer was not often enough.

The second seeing habit is to 'Get the Big Picture'. As professional drivers we depend on our peripheral vision to detect movement which we then investigate with our central vision and react to appropriately. There are hundreds of issues we face everyday effecting the path our lives may take and I had to ask myself if I was was getting the big picture here? Am I just letting current events carry me along without even noticing their effect on my daily life?

The third seeing habit is to 'Keep Your Eyes Moving'. If we develop a fixed stare while driving it is sure to get us into trouble. We need to keep scanning and picking up on all that movement fed to us by our peripheral vision. Do we do the same thing in our personal and professional lives? Think of the fixed stare we have developed around issues such as hours of service, electronic on board recorders, and speed limiters.

I started making these comparisons because I had just watched Sebastian Thrun's 'Ted Talk' on Google's driverless car. It's a short video, just go to You Tube and search Sebastian Thrun. It's fascinating stuff and it put me on to a lot of different reading material regarding technology, transportation infrastructure, and where we may be headed over the next couple of decades.

So you may be thinking, come on Al, you don't honestly believe that trucks will be moving freight down the road without a driver behind the wheel do you? Call me crazy, but yes, that's exactly what I'm proposing. It's not going to happen for some time but we already see signs of automation moving in that direction. Anti-rollover technology and advances in braking systems are one of the first steps, parking assist that allows a car to park itself is becoming all the rage with auto manufacturers. The agriculture industry has been rolling out automated sprayers and combines that use GPS to map a field and then complete the job without further input from the operator. Pretty cool stuff all of it. The potential benefits are huge and that in itself will continue to drive innovation and implementation of this type of technology. Watch Thrun's video and apply some of his observations about this technology to the trucking industry and you'll see what I mean. So that brings me to the last two steps of the Smith System.

The fourth seeing habit is 'Leave Yourself an Out'. Or, protect yourself from being trapped by errors of other people. If you don't practice the first three seeing habits diligently you will always find yourself boxed in, putting you in a situation that leaves you dependent on the actions and reactions of others.

The fifth seeing habit is 'Make Sure They See You'. If the people around you are not practicing those first three seeing habits you can wake them up by making sure they know you are close by and aware of what is happening around you. As drivers we do this by flashing lights, blowing the horn, or making eye contact. In our daily lives we do the same thing by networking, tweeting, facebooking, blogging, writing letters to the editor, voting, lobbying, joining business groups, etc.

I can't help but think that we have developed a fixed stare surrounding the hours of service issue and it's close cousin the electronic on board recorder. These issues are in our immediate field of vision, just a few feet in front of us. That fixed stare is preventing us from seeing the issues further down the road that require our attention now so that we have time to react accordingly. We're not getting the big picture. We are being reactive and not proactive. That is effecting our daily lives in the present moment and we are feeling the anxiety.

These five simple seeing habits are a great way to view the world we live in as well as the road ahead.

Tuning Out Isn't Always The Best Solution

This post appears in the September 2012 edition of the Truck News

I have been reading a variety of blog posts this summer regarding citizenship, community, and democracy. Most of these blog posts have been investigating the reasons why fewer and fewer of us participate in the democratic process and the feelings of isolation and lack of influence many of us are feeling these days as a result. It was a blog post titled “The Myth of the Silent Majority” written by Glen Pearson that really got me thinking about the challenges the trucking industry faces and what our responsibilities are as individual drivers to influence positive change. Glen summed up the silent majority this way:

“How can drawing in people to care more about their community possibly be wrong, especially in times of great transition or challenge? And how can the presence of a silent and ambivalent majority possibly stand as a viable excuse for the lack of citizen accountability? The presence of a majority of citizens refusing to face impending struggles on behalf of their own community is hardly a testimony to the vigor of the democratic legacy.”

A week or two before reading Glen's blog I was sat in a line of stalled traffic on highway #17 west of Kenora. The 20 kilometer long line of traffic was a result of a fatality accident that had occurred near the Ontario / Manitoba border. I learned this by turning on my CB radio. But it wasn't long before the trash talk started over the radio at which point I joined what I believe to be the silent majority of drivers and turned my radio off. CB trash talk is all about bigotry, hatred, ignorance, and fear. Those feelings have found fertile ground for some in the changes that are taking place around us.

There isn't any doubt that the trucking industry is in a time of great transition and that we are all facing huge challenges as a result. The shortage of qualified drivers, holding drivers to a higher standard through stricter enforcement, exponential growth of technology, the push to adopt that technology in the cab, pressure to improve productivity, pressure to hold down wages, and the impact all of those things have on our lifestyle add to our feelings of angst.

Much of the bigotry and ignorance that prevails over the CB airwaves revolves around immigrant drivers. It has more to do with a fear of change within the North American trucking culture than with driving skill or knowledge. Leaving your homeland and moving to another country with a vastly different culture and lifestyle is about pursuing a better life for your family and it is something that is incredibly difficult to do. I can speak to this with some limited experience. My family immigrated to Canada from Great Britain 45 years ago. Although I was still a child at the time I can still remember the challenges we faced as a family despite sharing a common language and similar cultural norms. The last thing an immigrant family is looking for is a free ride. My parents saw Canada as a land of opportunity that could provide a better life for their family and it certainly did. But there were no guarantees. Success came through hard work and commitment. These are two qualities I believe all people striving for a new beginning in our country share. I think the silent majority would agree with me on that.

There is much room for improvement in how the rules around safety and compliance are enforced. There will always be debate about the validity of some of those rules and whether they are necessary at all. But the fact is that laws governing conduct and the rules of the road need to be in place. Many of those rules have been put in place more for the benefit of the commercial driver than anyone else. I think it may very well be a silent majority of drivers that prefer they are limited to a 70 hour week.

As a group we drivers often complain about the lack of camaraderie today in comparison to the 'good old days'. That feeling is fueled by negative talk over the radio. Many of us have dealt with this by simply turning our CB off. But is that the right approach? Ignoring that attitude certainly doesn't make it go away but at the same time, I admit, that when you engage with drivers on the radio it usually degenerates into a pointless shouting match. It appears that as individuals there's not much we can do to stop or at least tone down the trash talk. I think we can agree there is a silent majority of professionals out there. But in our silence are we allowing the voice of the minority to dominate? Ignoring it certainly does not seem to be making it go away.

Sometimes A Good Incentive Program Isn't About Money

This post appears in the August edition of the Truck News

Truck NewsI wrote last months column prior to participating in a panel discussion on the topic of driver incentive programs. This months column is the post discussion installment.

The event took place at the June 2012 meeting of the Central Ontario Chapter of the Fleet Safety Council. Driver incentives were presented from the perspective of Owner, General Manager, Safety Manager, Dispatcher, Driver, Fixed Operation Staff (dock, warehouse, shop, administration), and Insurance.

The diversity of ideas that break out when you have a broad cross section of people from across the industry coming together to discuss a topic common to all is fascinating. But what is also apparent is that drivers are under represented in these discussions. I find that at these events I am often the only active driver in the room. That is not a criticism or complaint but an observation that in our industry the people in the best position to offer feedback leading to improved efficiency & productivity are most often not in the room to air their concerns and ideas. We live in a time that has been coined as the 'golden age of communication'. We definitely need to find a way to move the discussions that take place amongst drivers on the CB and in the truck stops to the offices and board rooms of the trucking industry.

The second thing that was apparent to me was the age of the participants. Most of the meetings I attend are dominated by the boomer demographic. It's not just the driver pool that is aging. Fresh faces bring fresh ideas. The youth that carriers are attempting to attract to the industry have developed a different set of social skills from the boomers that currently dominate the trucking industry. Have you noticed how we (boomers) tend to take new technologies like social media and twist it into a form we are comfortable with? The youth of today live their lives openly on the internet with few inhibitions or limits and adapt quickly to the rapid changes that are taking place around them both technically and socially. We boomers with our depth of experience usually feel we have much to offer but often forget we have much to learn. The best drivers, the ones that have decades of incident free driving, will often say that the day you think you have seen it all is the day that you should hang up the keys. We need to apply that principle to the industry as a whole.

Am I starting to sound a little negative? Just a bunch of non driving old fogies sitting around making decisions for people doing a job that they are out of touch with? Sorry about that but the fact is that as I cruise across the highways and byways listening to other drivers that is not an uncommon complaint. But it is a complaint that is unfounded in many ways and stems from the communication divide that has developed over the years between drivers and support staff. Owners and managers truly have the best interests of drivers as their prime concern, those that don't do not remain in business for long, especially in our current economy. That is the third thing that stood out for me in our panel discussion, the quality of incentive programs that are in place out there and the genuine concern for the well being of drivers.

What do some of those incentive programs look like? Programs are as diverse as the companies that make up the trucking industry. Many still focus on safety & fuel bonuses as prime motivators. What some people may find surprising is that the most powerful programs we discussed were not monetary based but focused on wellness (driver health) and recognition. Recognition was identified as the key in every successful incentive program. We all want to be complimented and rewarded for a job well done no matter what our position is. So there is definitely no rocket science behind incentive programs. It's simply about treating people well and recognizing them for their accomplishments and those programs work far better when the primary players participate in the process from start to finish.

Some of the fastest growing programs right now are the health and wellness programs. This is a reflection of our aging demographic. There have been weight loss challenges between different companies to motivate healthier lifestyles. Some companies have brought in third party players to administer healthy lifestyle living programs that will aid drivers in developing new habits for eating, exercising and addressing the psychological issues we face in dealing with these lifestyle issues.

All in all it was heartening to see the energy and time that is spent by owners and managers to care for their driver pool.

Why Profit Sharing May Be The Ultimate Incentive Program For Owners & Drivers

This post appears in the July 2012 edition of the Truck News

A few months ago I was asked by the central Ontario chapter of the Fleet Safety Council if I would like to participate in an upcoming panel discussion about driver incentive programs. I accepted, always eager to offer my two cents from a drivers perspective. As thoughts about this topic percolated in my mind over the months I've had quite some difficulty coming to any type of concrete opinion on what a driver incentive program should look like. The best place to start is to gain some understanding of what is meant when we talk about driver incentive.

If you look up a dictionary definition of the word 'incentive' you will get back something to this effect:a reward offered for increased productivity. Increasing productivity is usually associated with an increase in the volume of work performed (usually accomplished by investing more time in the job), performing the same volume of work at a lower cost (fuel savings, accident free), or meeting a higher standard of performance(improving CSA scores or Carrier Rating). The reward to the driver is most often a financial one.

What I find really interesting is that an increase in productivity requires an investment of additional time by the driver. Yet in recent years changes to Hours of Service legislation (HoS) and use of Electronic On Board Recorders (EOBR's) has tightened control over a drivers time. At the same time most of us are still payed by the mile and by the drop. This system was put into place to encourage productivity also. Run more miles, do more drops, and you get payed more. But that system was put into place when HoS rules were loosely enforced or non existent. So what we have now is the operations side of our business still paying drivers by the mile encouraging them to work as quickly as possible in the name of productivity and incentive programs that are designed to slow us down and work more efficiently & safely. This presents somewhat of a paradox for drivers. It's no wonder that drivers often express the feeling that they are stuck between a rock and a hard place because the expectations of the operations side of the business and the safety & compliance side of the business clash. So as a driver are you going to place your efforts on the operations side that pays you 40 cents a mile every week or on the safety and compliance side that presents you with the potential to earn up to another 2-6 cents per mile each quarter, if you meet the criteria? It's no surprise that many drivers feel it's just not worth the effort. Maybe we're well past the time of looking for a new means of paying drivers for their efforts as well as developing new incentive programs.

What if I'm more interested in earning the same money but doing it in less time allowing me more personal time? Is there an incentive program out there that will do that? Perhaps. Some companies are implementing profit sharing programs. These programs present the opportunity to involve all employees, not just drivers, in the incentive program. They have the potential to foster greater teamwork and break down communication barriers between departments. A profit sharing program fixes the cost of an incentive program as a percentage of net profit for the company so it aids in financial forecasting and planning. But it requires diligent and consistent messaging from all levels of management to front line employees. Everyone has to be working towards the same goal. I've learned over the years as a driver that communication with front line employees is not a strength that this industry possesses. That's not a criticism it's a recognition of the difficulty we all face in developing relationships with one another when we rarely see one another. That lack of social interaction is difficult to overcome in an industry that keeps managers and workers thousands of kilometers apart most of the time. A successful profit sharing program depends on constant interaction between all employees if there is to be a payoff. That payoff has the potential to be no less than a satisfactory set of HoS rules that recognizes the need for flexibility in a drivers daily routine and an end to downloading inefficiencies such as dock delays to the driver.

As an aging driver I find that I am increasingly frustrated by the lack of time I can spend with my family and invest in my own personal well being. Issues of driver health and wellness are coming to the forefront and facing up to this reality is what incentive programs also have to address. It does not seem reasonable to me to ask an aging driver pool to invest even more time in the name of productivity while expecting them to take more time to care for themselves. You just can't have it both ways.

Sometimes Saying NO is The Only Option

This post appears in the June edition of the Truck News

There is no doubt that if you choose driving as a career there will be personal sacrifices you will have to make. Long haul work requires an investment of your time that is necessary to get the job done. Let's face it, I can't drive to Winnipeg and home every week if I'm looking for a job with a 40 hour work week. Common sense dictates that you will never be happy in your work as a professional long haul driver if your mind is constantly craving to be at home or dwelling on the frustrating elements of this work that pop up on a regular basis. There are options of course. You can still drive locally or regionally to reduce or eliminate having to sleep in your workplace. That been said, you don't have to give up all of your personal aspirations and goals on your bucket list just because you drive long haul for a living, nor should you.

You have to be careful in this industry not to allow others to possess total control of your time. A good example of this is the carrier that operates on the basis of maxing out a drivers 70 hour work week. We should always remember, especially if you are new to this industry, that the 70/7 day driving maximum was put in place as a safety standard not an employment standard that employers can force their employees to meet as they see fit. Finding a balance that keeps you fit both mentally and physically while reaping the benefits of the freedom and joy this driving lifestyle can bring you is truly the sole responsibility of the individual driver. There are times when you need to say no to the freight and say yes to some personal time in order to look after yourself. Your employer can benefit from that decision just as much as you will. After all a happy & healthy driver is a productive driver.

This point was driven home to me after working out at my health club the other day. First let me give you a little background. If you visit me in this space with any regularity you know that I stepped on the road to health and fitness a decade ago and it is an important part of my daily life. I put the time I need each day to care for myself at the top of my priority list and it changed my life. But I always struggled in the winter months to maintain my fitness. The cold and snow I encounter on the road to Winnipeg every winter is not conducive to walking or running. So I decided to join a fitness club this past winter to maintain my health. It's a national club with locations in cities I drive through regularly. A perfect solution for the winter months.

I work with a personal trainer at my home club and for the past two sessions we were stepping into the next phase of my training, searching for the perfect resistance on each machine that would see me not quite able to lift the weight on the last couple of repetitions on the last set of exercises for each muscle group. On the squat machine this happened to be 100 lbs of weight. As I was driving to Winnipeg the following day it hit me that I had almost lost 100 lbs of weight off my body since the autumn of 2001. Ten years ago that 100 lbs was a burden that I carried with me everyday. With a family history of heart disease I was a ticking time bomb and it was then that I set a goal of reaching a good state of overall health by age 50. I not only met that goal I surpassed it and continue to reach new highs that ten years ago would have seemed more like fantasy to me than a realistic set of goals. In effect that 100 lb burden I carried on my body has become a level of resistance that is now contributing to my health and well being. What a beautiful example of how taking a little time for yourself can benefit you over the long run. I'll remember this every time the thought “I don't have time” arises in my mind.

So, were the times I've had to say no the the freight in order to have some personal time to fulfill my own personal goals been worth it? You bet they have. Has my employer benefited from these results? Of course they have.

As professional drivers we need to take possession of our time and not allow others to dictate its terms of use. I'm convinced this is the path to a balanced life on the road. Nobody else will do this for us.

Striving For a Better Work-Life Balance

This post appears in the May 2012 edition of the Truck News

Our daughter was married on St. Patrick's Day and she certainly had the luck of the Irish on her side. We enjoyed record breaking temperatures, sunny days and everything came off without a hitch. Our house was filled with joyful merrymaking from morning till night for the better part of a week. It was beautiful, now a memory that will be one of the highlights of my life.

On the last Tuesday of March my day ended at the TA truck stop in Hudson, Wisconsin. It was my fourth day back on the road after the high of my holiday and I felt mentally drained and at an emotional low. The solitude of the trucking life that I enjoy seemed, on this day, more like solitary confinement. I was missing the simple pleasure of a morning coffee with my wife and an afternoon walk with my grandson.The greatest job hazard we face as truck drivers is the free time our mind has to play with as we travel down the road. When our minds latch on to thoughts of family times that we all pass up on on a daily basis, we're in trouble. After squeezing my truck into one of the remaining parking spaces at the Hudson truck stop I found my mind had squeezed itself into a tight space of its own.

Looking for a distraction I grabbed the April edition of the Truck News that was sitting on my passenger seat untouched since I picked it up in Thunder Bay two days before. As always I turned first to the editorial page to get a take on our industry from James and Lou.

James Menzies was was asking if we have seen the end of the trucking tycoon. The fact the industry is moving towards consolidation of ownership by large companies as a result of the financial stresses of the day is something I don't find comforting. I'm reminded of a quote from the Dalai Lama, “We need money to live, but we don't need to live for money”. I'm not aware of any of these big companies today that don't live for money. James noted that so many trucking companies today were built on the same foundation of “one guy with a truck, a vision and a truckload of ambition”. I work for one of those guys and his family. Like me, he doesn't live for money either.

Lou Smyrlis tackled the issue of obesity and driver health asking the question, “Does it make sense to continue ignoring this issue when the answer is so simple?” The topic of health and wellness is close to my heart and I have written much in this space about the great strides I have made improving my own health over the past decade. Lou's commentary reminded me that today was one of my 'run days' and I needed to get off my butt and get out of the truck. A workout always improves my outlook on life and helps to pull me out of the doldrums.

These reflections reminded me that I am blessed with a loving wife and family, I work for a group of people that embody the same family values as myself, I have come to grips with the challenges drivers face when it comes to making healthy lifestyle choices on the road, and my profession provides me with ample money with which to live in comfort and provide for my family. You would think this is a recipe that brings a great deal of ease into my daily life yet I seem to be experiencing increasing amounts of anxiety and frustration each time I head out on the road. After much soul searching I can only attribute this feeling to the lack of balance I face each day.

You only need to look at one of the hot topics facing the trucking industry today to understand what I'm talking about. Many trucking organizations (and drivers) advocate extending available driving time, or to put it another way, allow flexibility in the rules to allow more hours of driving per week. Really? How does extending my work week make it easier for me to spend time with my family? How does extending my work week make it easier for me to care for my own health and well being? How does extending my work week reduce the stress and anxiety in my daily life. The answer, on all counts is, it doesn't.

The beauty of this industry in the past was that it always put people first. As consolidation of ownership moves forward the focus has shifted to the bottom line. As long as we are forced to do more with less the daily frustration and anxiety will continue to build and the issues of the day will remain unresolved. Our personal and work lives are out of balance.

The Many Benefits of Taking Pride in Your Profession

This post appears in the April 2012 edition of the Truck News

I started off the year questioning whether new technology being adapted by the trucking industry can have a positive effect on safety if it increases the amount of stress on a driver. I moved on to the driver shortage and its effect on an aging driver pool. Last month I talked about incentive programs for drivers. The common factor in my columns this year has been the time pressure I feel as a driver and how new technology, heavy workloads, and the actions of others effect it. Add in the time demands of my personal life and it's not surprising that I'm left feeling fatigued and stressed out. So what actions can I take on a daily basis to cope with these time pressures? It's not within my circle of influence to make these time pressures go away but I can find ways to cope with the resulting stress, it's effect on my well being, and have a positive influence on the people that make decisions effecting my time.

The best thing I find that I can do is to take pride in what I do each and everyday. Pride in the sense of the pleasure and satisfaction I take in my profession. Taking pride in my skills and experience is one of the most powerful ways to have a positive influence not only on my own attitude but on the level of respect I receive from my peers, my employer, the general public, and customers. When you earn respect for the level of professionalism, skill, and effort you bring to your work each day the people you deal with place a much higher value on your time as a result. It's a simple and powerful way to increase my influence over others whose decisions or actions have a direct effect on how my days play out.

There are three simple ways I believe you can show off your professionalism as a commercial driver:

• Show pride in your ride and the company you work for
• Show pride in your driving skills
• Show pride in the level of customer service you offer

Showing pride in your ride and speaking in a positive way about the people you work for or the company you represent (that might be yourself) always gets peoples attention in a positive way. This is not a difficult thing to do. Other drivers notice, the company you are signed on with recognizes you as someone with a “positive” attitude as do your customers, and you carry a positive image down the highway in the eyes of the general public and enforcement.

Showing pride in how you drive is the best way to get positive attention from the traveling public. Courtesy is something that is contagious. If pride in driving skill becomes a standard for all drivers within the company you work for pretty soon that big company logo traveling down the road earns a whole new level of respect from all drivers. How you drive determines your safety rating, safety bonuses, and reputation as a professional driver within your own company, again, earning you respect for how you drive. How you drive determines whether the freight gets to the customer in one piece and on time. How you drive is the determining factor in how you are judged by other commercial drivers and all levels of enforcement.

Showing pride in the level of customer service you offer is an area that can have the greatest overall impact on your available time and the value others place on it. Service, after all, is the product that we are actually providing to shippers and receivers. If you do a dedicated run or local work the ability to call on the same businesses repeatedly and deal with the same people week after week is a huge advantage when it comes to using your time efficiently. Stress is reduced when you know where you are going and who you are dealing with. You are able to factor in the knowledge you gain from experience and know when to show up, when not to show up, how to access difficult facilities and so on. There is also a great feeling in getting a pat on the back in the form of a simple and genuine thank you from the people you deal with on a regular basis. That's something I missed when I was doing open board work. If you do open board work your company name will go a long way in getting you looked after when your fellow drivers take the same pride as you do in their daily responsibilities.

So taking pride in what you do may not solve all the day to day problems or eliminate all the obstacles but in the long term it can pay big dividends.

What's Got Me Down? It's a Matter Of Time

This post appears in the March 2012 edition of the Truck News

Last month I closed off my column saying that carriers need to find new and creative ways of attracting and holding on to drivers. Shortly after submitting that column I was asked if I had an interest in participating in a panel discussion regarding driver incentive programs. So I thought I would wade into that topic here while it was still fresh in my mind. It also comes at a time when the Truckload Carriers Association (www.truckload.org) will be recognizing the top fleets to drive for (www.bestfleetstodrivefor.com) as nominated by company drivers and owner operators. Several Canadian companies are in the top 20 group and you can read about them on the web sites above as well as here in the Truck News.

I work for a company that stands shoulder to shoulder with the best in the Canadian trucking industry in the way they care for their drivers and the core values that embody their operations. In fact a new incentive program was put in place January 1 of this year for our drivers. Despite that, I have still been experiencing a feelings of discontent and anxiety over the past several months. Colleagues have commented on the degradation of my outlook of late. A comment from a regular reader stated that although they had enjoyed a recent column they felt it was in a negative tone compared to my usual style. Another comment came from within my dispatch office regarding my negative reaction to a situation that had arisen and the feeling that it was out of character for me to react as I did. Can I identify a single factor within my trucking lifestyle that leads to the daily stress I have been experiencing? Could a driver incentive program reduce my daily stress at the same time as providing me with a financial reward and reduce costs/improve profits for my employer?

Identifying the stressor in my daily life on the road is not difficult. It is time. Time is something I always take for granted but it comes up for me over and over again as the leading cause of tension in my life. The birth of my grandson last year lead to a feeling of deep desire to spend more time with my family. The recognition of my need to obtain regular exercise and rest requires a time commitment each and everyday. My time is my most valuable commodity. When my time is being wasted or taken for granted my immediate emotional response is usually one of anger and frustration leading to the feelings of stress and anxiety. Then the endless hours of driving play their part as my mind locks on to those feelings and replays them over and over building on them and strengthening them. The result is an internal conflict over the time I have available to accommodate my personal life and personal aspirations versus the huge block of time required to fulfill my professional obligations as a driver. I often feel a lack of control over my time because so much of my day is dependent on the actions of others. Specifically operations and dispatch along with the shippers and receivers I deal with.

So I was excited to see that profit sharing programs are on the leading edge of new incentive programs being developed by carriers. Why? Because they have the potential to drive a greater level of cooperation and communication within trucking companies. Too often productivity increases have been equated with a driver doing more within a given time or becoming more efficient with the use of their time. Little attention seems to be payed to the fact that drivers already invest well over 3000 hours a year in their jobs compared to the 2000 hours most full time workers put in. That's before you even consider that a driver also lives in his or her workplace. An incentive program needs to reward every employee within a trucking organization for removing inefficiencies that eat up a drivers time. Working longer and harder is not the answer. Incentive programs should lead to a driver having to spend less time accomplishing more through time savings that are made in areas beyond the drivers control or sphere of influence. Specifically, load planning and dock retention times. This then allows me as a driver to focus on the issues of safety and fuel management (driving!!) as well as free up time for my personal use.

Recognizing that the responsibility for productivity, safety, and profitability spreads far beyond the reach of the driver and is the mark of a good incentive program. Simply plopping a program into place will not resolve all, if any, of the issues at hand. Hard work and a diligent effort is required by all of us. This is a good discussion to have at an opportune time. I hope the panel discussion I mentioned at the opening takes place. I'm already looking forward to it.

Exploring The Real Reasons Behind The Driver Shortage

This post appears in the February 2012 edition of the Truck News

I had breakfast with a buddy a short while ago and he's a guy that is usually upbeat and looking at the sunny side of things. So as we were talking about the state of affairs out here on the road I was a little taken aback when he said that it just wasn't any fun out here anymore. I've heard similar statements from many drivers over the past couple of years and I usually just put it off to a venting of frustrations when a couple of drivers get together. But as I thought about our conversation afterward I realized that these types of comments are coming from drivers that I don't usually associate with a lot of bitching about nothing. They are coming from seasoned drivers with lots of experience. My overall impression is that folks are simply tired out and run down. So naturally I wondered if the driver shortage that gets so much ink in the trucking media these days is showing up in the way of added stress and fatigue to drivers. Lots has been written about attracting new blood to the industry but not so much about what the effects are on the existing pool of drivers that are picking up the slack.

Think of our present drivers as a group of elite athletes. Okay, I know this may be a stretch but bear with me. Your watching game 7 of a Stanley Cup final. More than half of the players on both teams are seasoned veterans well past the halfway point in their careers. But the chips are down and they all have their game on, playing with an intensity of guys half their age. You know when the game is done that there is no way these players could play every game in a long season with that same level of effort. But when called on they get the job done.

So now back to our present team of drivers. More than half of us are well past the halfway point in our careers and many of us are feeling the effects. Those effects are reflected in the general state of our health. For the past few years we've been called on to pick up the slack and put in the extra effort. Most of us have had our game on and risen to the call. But unlike a group of athletes that 'peak' for a playoff series we just keep going with no end in sight. Unlike the hockey players we don't have an off season to recover or someone to substitute for us for a game or two during the regular season.

We have also been handicapped in a number of ways. The referees in our industry are calling a tight game. Despite the greater demands on our time we face harsher penalties if we break the rules. Up until a few years ago our game was open ended allowing us the flexibility to stretch out our duties and rest in between. Now we have to complete many of our jobs within a tighter window of time or face a penalty. Our income has not kept up with inflation over the past couple of decades so the once above average income we enjoyed has shrunk to an average middle class income at best. No longer does a driver have the luxury to take time whenever he or she wants it to recharge with family and friends. Many of us are working paycheck to paycheck, living on the road, and just going home to visit.

In my opinion there is not a driver shortage at all. Drivers now receive an average income for an above average investment of time in an industry where bureaucracy has run amuck. As a result the freedom of the open road does not hold the same attraction to potential drivers and is quickly losing its luster within the existing pool of drivers.

Shrinking incomes and longer work hours are not unique to the trucking industry. It's a story repeated across a broad swath of our society. The message we are getting on the front lines is one of austerity. We are told to do more with less in order for companies to remain competetive and create more jobs. At the same time we receive constant messaging to consume more which fuels economic growth. Earn less but spend more? Maybe I'm getting the wrong message but I don't think so.

The good news is that many of us work for smaller family owned businesses that don't operate by the same rules of austerity as the large public corporations. But they don't have the deep pockets that their large competitors do so they can't keep their drivers happy by throwing money at them. They need to find creative ways to keep and attract drivers. As drivers we can help them do that and in doing so help ourselves. I'll come back to this in future columns.

Coping With Reporting Technology

This post appears in the January 2012 edition of the Truck News

When I switched to electronic logs a couple of years ago I was very keen about the potential going electronic had for making my life easier. The fact I don't have to spend any time filling out log pages and performing manual recaps is reason enough for me to never turn back. But my belief that an electronic system would make managing my time easier and less stressful has proven to be somewhat of a pipe dream. In many regards an electronic log is an unrelenting task master that does not allow you any flexibility. You have to complete your daily tasks within a given time frame regardless of the curves that are routinely thrown your way over the course of any given day. As drivers we see lots of junk thrown our way. Weather, dock delays, equipment failure, border crossings, unforeseen traffic problems, etc. etc.

So rather than relieving stress as I had originally believed it would, electronic logs have added a considerable amount of stress to my day and have become a means of measuring my performance. In fact the trend seems to be towards measuring driver performance through critical incidence reporting via a trucks on board software. Reports are generated automatically and emailed to a drivers safety manager. And it doesn't stop there. Programs have also been developed and rolled out to notify a drivers manager when a driver is showing signs of fatigue so that preventative action can be taken.

I'm not even going to attempt to dispute the fact that all of this information can be beneficial for a carrier in a number of ways. It can reduce costs, assure compliance with legislation, reduce accidents, create learning opportunities for drivers, improve overall safety, and so on. But if these programs are so wonderful why am I left feeling stressed and tired at the end of the day? Shouldn't all of this stuff be helping to make my experience on the road happier, healthier, and give me more time for myself and my family? Where is the efficiency in this system?

The fact is that all of these software solutions designed to provide greater economic efficiencies and a higher degree of safety are often not designed with the driver in mind. At least that's my assumption as an end user of this technology. I think that drivers want the same thing as the carriers and enforcement agency’s when it comes to safety and efficiency, but the parties are miles apart when it comes to methodology and implementation of these tools. Why? Because drivers often view these in cab systems that monitor their performance as big brother watching over you. The nature of the system reporting is a form of constant negative re-enforcement to a driver. It only tells you when you are doing something wrong no matter the gravity, circumstance, or context of the situation at hand. That's irritating, frustrating, and demoralizing. At least that's my personal feeling. There is no accounting for the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of things I do right in the course of my day.

What if an incident reporting system was developed that turned the whole thing around? What if reports were to be generated for all the positive actions that occur in the course of a professional drivers day? There would be so many emails generated to our respective safety departments that we may very well crash the company server. Man, it would be great to get immediate positive feedback in recognition of a job well done.

How about a resolution for 2012 that only allows satellite messages sent to the truck to be positive in nature. In addition to that for every critical incident report generated by on board performance monitoring software that is brought to the drivers attention by a carriers safety department, they have to also discuss two positive incidents generated by the driver on the same day. I think that would go a long way to relieving driver stress, improve driver morale, and improve overall driver health in 2012. Imagine the effects on productivity!

There is no doubt in my mind that you can't go back to the way things were in this life. Life is impermanent in nature and changes continuously. That means that the situation at hand in the present moment is bound to change tomorrow or the next day or the day after that. I also believe we can influence that change. We have monitoring systems that feed drivers with a stream of data highlighting their shortcomings and expect improvement. But if that information isn't framed within a compassionate intention to benefit the driver it will erode performance not enhance it.

I know safety managers have an especially tough job these days. If they want to build trust with their drivers I believe they need to find creative ways to soften this reporting technology, embody it with a little humanity, and frequently reassure their drivers that as long as they are sitting in the wheelhouse the drivers decision is final.

Cheers, and happy new year to all.

Time Is Of The Essence

This post appears in the November 2011 edition of the Truck News

One of the things I enjoy most about trucking is the time you have to spend with yourself. That probably sounds a little strange but that's what I equate with the freedom of the open road. You're free from interference, restrictions, and external authority. You're independent. Many drivers would say that our freedom and independence is under threat from unnecessary rules and interference from government and special interest groups. I wouldn't say all rules are unnecessary and I'm not big on conspiracy theories but I do think our independence has been compromised because of the universal controls placed on our time. By imposing change through legislation rather than effecting change through ongoing training and professional development how can drivers not feel their independence is under threat? Each individual driver needs the flexibility to plan their own time in order to meet all the demands placed on them while obtaining the required rest to operate safely. Drivers wonder amongst themselves why this basic tenet of safety is so difficult to comprehend outside the driver pool.

So as I've been writing about the trucking lifestyle and driver health issues over the course of the past several months I've been searching for the common denominator we all share. What is the key issue that effects the well being of all drivers? It's been in front of me all along and that is the issue of 'time' itself. Within the industry time has morphed into an economic factor over the past few decades to be managed by companies as a means of controlling costs. In fact time is the lifestyle factor that effects every aspect of a drivers health and well being. Time is now the primary stressor that impedes a drivers performance rather than the enabler it should be. Look at just a few examples and it becomes obvious how time impacts driver lifestyle at every turn.

First, look at the issue of income. In the past drivers have enjoyed an above average income for the work they have performed. This has allowed a driver to step away from the truck for a period of time when the demands of family, fatigue, and the simple need for leisure time require it. But that is now a thing of the past. Income has not kept pace with the cost of living and now drivers work continuously to maintain the standard of living they have enjoyed in the past. Drivers now are required to work at their performance peak continuously. The result is a constant state of burnout and low morale. It has become increasingly more difficult to look after ourselves, to put ourselves before the demands of the job.

Second, look at the HoS (Hours of Service) issue and the related issue of EOBR's. (Electronic on Board Recorders) Look at all the research that has been performed in the past and continues today in relation to sleep science and the effects of fatigue on drivers. Drivers get it. This information goes to the core of coping with and managing fatigue as drivers go about their daily duties. But was this data presented as an enabler to improving the lifestyle of the individual driver? No. It has been wrapped in a legislative blanket that stymies performance and in many instances leads to situations that incite fatigue and push drivers beyond their comfort zone.

Third, look at the issue of driver training and retention. In the past independent truckers made up the majority of the driver pool and the development and mentoring of drivers was a part of daily life on the road. Now we have safety departments with a focus on compliance over training. The time that is needed to invest in driver training and mentoring has been cut in the name of cost reduction and the trucking industry has built itself a precarious house of cards. With an aging demographic and a lackluster attitude towards developing professional drivers over Mctruckers it is no wonder that many industry managers and owners now share a genuine concern that the industry is facing a perfect storm when it comes to this issue.

What is the bottom line here? Our industry is all about service. Corporate profitability is dependent on a drivers performance and well being. Drivers need to operate in an environment that feeds their sense of independence and freedom in order to enjoy their work and in order to attract new blood into the industry. Cutting into a drivers time may have showed short term gains on the bottom line of many corporate operating statements but we are now left with a lingering long term malaise as a result. It's time for the industry to reinvest in it's driver pool by providing adequate rest time, taking a fresh approach to fatigue management, and providing ongoing and professional driver training.

Technology Doesn't Have To Spell The End Of Our Indepencence

This post appears in the October 2011 issue of the Truck News

Over the past 3 or 4 months I've been focusing a lot on the health challenges we face as we go about our business of trucking. It's one thing to eat right and get some exercise but it is the stresses we face each day and the fatigue we experience from our long work days and time away from home that effects our health more than anything else. These issues we can't solve on our own.

It's interesting that Ontario is recognized as one of the leaders in commercial vehicle safety enforcement while at the same time they lag far behind other jurisdictions in regard to providing adequate parking and rest areas for commercial drivers. I stopped at a modern rest area on the I90/94 corridor just west of Madison, Wisconsin last week and counted 68 truck parking spots. Add to that the curbside parking behind the parked trucks and you would get no less than 100 trucks into this rest area. All of the midwest states I travel through provide modern rest areas along the interstate highways. We can learn much from our neighbors to the south in this regard.

We need modern rest areas located 2 to 3 hours apart across the length of the Trans Canada highway such as you find between Montreal and the New Brunswick border. Kudos to the province of Quebec for providing rest areas with heated restrooms, running water, and truck parking.

This is an issue of health, safety, and security. The trucking lobby could do a much better job of using this issue to gain some leverage with the public. I wouldn't call the trucking industry a leader when it comes to issues of health and safety in the workplace. The transportation network is our workplace. Unlike industry specific issues such as speed limiters, hours of service regulations, and electronic on board recorders that the public has difficulty getting their heads around, highway rest areas is an issue we share with the motoring public. After all, everybody needs to use a restroom at some point.

There is also an impact on our smaller communities that bear the brunt of all the heavy traffic that passes by their communities on a daily basis. Recently Linda Nowicki, the mayor of Wawa, reached out to the Ontario Trucking Association asking that a campaign be commenced to address the issue of “truck bombs”, better known as bottles of urine, tossed out on the sides of the road in and around their community by transport drivers. A lack of rest areas does not make this behavior acceptable but it has contributed to it. This behavior by drivers is becoming commonplace across the country.

Then there is the hours of service issue. Compliance with hours of service legislation (HoS) is a major stressor in the lives of drivers. The introduction of electronic on board recorders (EOBR's) has further compounded that stress. I think it's fair to say that many drivers see this as a control issue. After all most of us were attracted to this industry because we did not want to punch a time clock every day. It's the desire of every professional driver to operate safely and responsibly but at the same time we want to maintain that feeling of freedom that comes with the open road. I think many drivers feel that freedom has been taken away from them, or is in the process of being taken away from them, in the guise of big brother in the cab. That's unfortunate because this technology has the capability of opening up doors for drivers not closing them.

I choose to look at the HoS rules and EOBR's as enablers not limiters. I'm lucky in the sense that I work for a carrier that empowers me to make many of my own decisions in regard to my time. My relationship with our operations people is as part of a team not a boss/employee relationship. I recognize that that is not the normal mode of operation for many drivers out there. That's what has to change. That's where the feeling of freedom comes from.

Perhaps the biggest problem is that the demographic within management is the same as that of the drivers. A large majority are in the 50 plus range and still trying to adapt new technology to the way things have always been done rather than dealing with the present moment and looking to the future. It's time for carriers and enforcement to step back and take a new look at the way we do things. We don't have to give up our passion for this work, the freedom of the road, the liberation of the open road that we enjoy. This technology should support that and improve it. After all we have a real problem right now attracting new people to the industry. We are not going to attract them by beating them over the head with new technology. We need to use it to entice them into an exciting career.

As Professional Drivers, We Need To Look After Ourselves First

This post appears in the September 2011 issue of the Truck News

I wanted to continue writing about driver health issues this month but was beginning to feel like I was flogging a dead horse. That isn't the case according to the results of a recent Health & Wellness Survey of Transport Truck Drivers conducted by the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University & City of Hamilton, Public Health Services. According to the survey 33.1% of drivers say they are willing to participate in Workplace Wellness programs on their own time. So a large number of drivers recognize that the trucking lifestyle has a negative impact on their health and they would like to do something about it. As drivers we know that there is a huge divide between our intention to live a healthier lifestyle and our ability to carry through with that intention. I think most drivers would agree that time is the limiting factor we all share. It's fair to say we simply don't have enough of it. This point was driven home to me over the course of the past week.

I left southwestern Ontario last Saturday morning and headed up to Winnipeg/Brandon where I peddled freight around all day Monday. Tuesday I reloaded down around Fargo and was back at my home terminal early on Thursday. Over 3,000 miles, 12 picks and drops along with the border crossings makes for a busy week. My EOBR showed me either on duty or driving for a total of 67 hours. Not any different than the 300,000 other Canadian truck drivers doing the same thing as me. We do that week in and week out right? You bet we do.

Waiting at the yard for me was my car sitting on one very flat tire. Okay, I kept ignoring that 'need new tires' item on my to do list and now I was forced into crisis management mode. I also had a 'needs brake service', and 'needs emissions test for permit renewal' on that same list. At home I had another list with items such as: 'trim cedar hedge around backyard', 'fix slow leak (for now) on upstairs toilet', and let's not forget 'meet deadline (today) for Truck News column'. There are many other items I could add to these lists and I know that every driver out there has lists just like them. Where does 'family time' and 'leisure time' fit on those lists? What about 'exercise time'? It's pretty easy to see why we call truck driving a lifestyle and not a job or a career. When you drive a truck it becomes a part of who you are not just what you do for a living.

Something else happened last night that put all of that on the back burner. My daughter went into labor with our first grandchild four weeks ahead of schedule. SURPRISE!! Thankfully everything went smoothly, Mom and baby are fine, healthy, and happy. Standing next to my daughter this morning with Nate, my grandson, in my arms and my wife by my side, I recognized that making the time to live a healthy lifestyle was about my whole life not just about my physical well being.

When was the last time anyone within our industry took the time to coach you on the benefits of including your own time into your trip planning? Making sure that you had time to sleep, to eat, to relax etc. Why don't we plan for ourselves and in doing so still accommodate the needs of our shippers, receivers, carriers, and enforcement agencies and they for us (drivers) in their planning?

I've become involved with a Transportation Industry Health Promotion Research and Policy Planning Group which was created by the two organizations I mentioned at the top of the column that are responsible for the driver survey that kicked things off. I'm impressed with the passion, sincerity, and genuine concern the members of the group have for improving the quality of life for transport drivers. The thing that bothers me is that of the 37 or so members that attended the first session I was the only driver. Drivers are a very diverse group and greater representation and participation is needed in order for the professionals and academics that drive the group to make the best use of their skills to help us improve the quality of our lives out here on the road.

Too often we bitch and complain after the fact about plans and policy’s that are put into place for our benefit. Think of the hours of service rules and policy regarding EOBR's. The intense research done prior to the implementation of these policies was intended to benefit us not limit us or control us. As drivers we too often sit back and allow things to happen without participating in the process. I know it takes time, of which we already have little to spare, but if we don't actively participate in the process we are giving up the independence that attracted most of us to this profession in the first place.