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.
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