"Aah Doc, I'm in no shape to exercise!" That is what I said to my doctor during
a D.O.T. physical when he asked me if I had an exercise program, because at the
time I was over 300 pounds and rising. He didn't much like my answer, although
he laughed a little at first. He said that I was a heart attack waiting to
happen. All the vitals, ie. blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, blood sugar
etc. were far from ideal, to say the least. My energy level was compromised, as
was my ability to simply move around.
Companies, not just trucking companies, but numerous companies, implement safety
mandates all the time. You tell your drivers what to do in the name of safety
ie. log book H.O.S., pre and post trip vehicle inspections, use of seatbelts,
how to lift properly, G.O.A.L.; Get Out And Look before backing, as well as
other procedures.
For some reason, employers don't feel comfortable with telling their drivers
they must implement better health standards. They obviously feel that they are
crossing into the territory of "none of our business" should they tell a person
he/she needs to lose a hundred pounds, or more.
But let's say an employee is seriously unhealthy, as many drivers are, and you
as a company are paying the medical costs and the costs of any accidents caused
by fatigue, inattentiveness, and blurred vision due to elevated blood sugar,
costs of injuries on the job, the costs of non-productivity, not to mention
having to bear the impact of the image reflected to your customers as a result
of the appearance of your drivers.. .Let's just say this is a real concern. Do
you still think you are crossing the line by mandating a wellness standard?
If you still feel like it's none of your business, perhaps it will take the
pressure off if you just let the D.O.T. do it for you. Soon, D.O.T. physicals
will be able to be facilitated only by D.O.T. certified physicians with a table
of standards that cannot be deviated from. Simply put: If the driver doesn't
meet the requirements, as stated in a proposal from the FMCSA floated to the
D.O.T, the driver won't be going to work that day. Where does that leave your
loaded trucks?
I used to weigh 365 pounds and was seriously in poor health. I developed a
fitness program specifically for truck drivers with a focus on safety. By
viewing safetythruwellness.com, you can learn about how I lost 175 pounds and
got into great shape while being a truck driver. Part of the program allows a
driver to exercise while driving, part of it is a supplemental workout, and part
of it is a nutrition program which instructs a driver how to properly eat, even
while on the road. There are no pills, no gimmicks, or no miracle claims. These
are just good, solid practices by a certified sports nutritionist. The whole
program costs a person less than a bottle of diet pills and he/she would only
have to buy it once.
If we get serious about this now, we can be ahead of the game when the mandate
comes about. If a driver is threatened by unemployment, maybe that will motivate
him/her to make the decision to do something about it. If you as a company is
concerned, you will do a little "dispatching" of your drivers to this
destination. Let's all work together to raise the standard from one of
mediocrity to one of excellence.
Jack Kelsh,
Driver, Sports Nutritionist, Author
