Fit or Fat: A Tale of Two Drivers

By Jack Kelsh

You get a call from a customer. They need two loads of frozen food picked up and shipped 1,200 miles in two days. You have a couple of drivers available so you make the deal, set the appointments and dispatch your drivers. You are told that this is a “hot” load. The shipper just got the product at the last minute and it needs to be at its destination for a grand opening. You assure them that you have it under control and guarantee that it will be there on time.

Your drivers arrive at the shipper’s in a timely manner. Both have identical trucks and have approximately the same amount of hours of service remaining to accomplish the given task. The first driver, Jim, bumps the dock, goes in and takes care of the necessary paperwork and in the process of being loaded, makes himself a nutritious lunch consisting of a roast beef sandwich lined with fresh spinach and low fat cheese on 100% whole grain bread. Along with the sandwich, he eats a few fresh, raw string beans, a handful of baked potato chips and a cup of mixed berry yogurt and washes it all down with 100% pure grape juice.

When Jim is finished eating, he’s full, but not stuffed. He finds that he still has about 20 minutes to go before they finish loading his trailer so he does a quick, but very intense, workout on his “19th wheel” beside his truck, and then he goes for a brisk walk around the staging area to further get his circulation moving.

When Jim is finally loaded, he is energized and ready to hit the road. He already ate, so he doesn’t need to stop for anything. He figures he will drive until he runs out of hours. During his drive, he works out on the seat belt workout he learned about from the book “Nineteen Wheels.” Jim also drinks a lot of water and green tea instead of coffee during the drive. He only drinks coffee in the morning (or what is classified as morning in this industry), right after waking up. He has his satellite radio and his CDs to keep him company. Generally, he is a pretty happy camper. He is in good health, keeps physically fit and loves what he does.

When Jim runs out of hours for the day, he pulls into a truck stop, fuels up the truck and checks everything over. After he finds a parking spot, he grabs his duffle bag and heads in to take a shower. There is a waiting list, so he goes to the restaurant and orders a bowl of chicken and rice soup and a Caesar salad. He takes his shower and relaxes in his sleeper, watching TV and drifts off to sleep. The next day, in keeping with his healthy lifestyle, Jim makes it to his destination with time to spare.

The other driver, Al, always in a hurry, decides that when his trailer is being loaded he’s going to grab a Monster Burrito out of the vending machine. The fact that it contains 44 grams of fat goes unnoticed. When he is done with the burrito, a king-size Snicker’s bar tops him off enough for now. He has a little more time to wait, so he waddles out to his truck to take a nap. He waddles because Al weighs 350 pounds. He lies down in his bed while they are loading him, but every time they drive the forklift into the trailer it rocks the truck, so he doesn’t get much sleep.

When loaded, Al hits the road, 20 minutes behind Jim. He makes it about 120 miles and then stops to use a truck stop bathroom. Coming out of the bathroom, he sees a pretty good food buffet, so he gets his money’s worth. He’s back on the road now, struggling to stay awake because he ate so much. He reaches into a bag of chips and crunches on them to stay alert, washing them down with a 24-oz. energy drink followed by a thermos of strong coffee.

When he is done for the day, he fuels, showers, eats supper and goes to sleep. He needs to use his sleep apnea machine, which the company pays for. Then next morning it’s breakfast buffet, fill the thermos and hit the road. He is now about six hours behind Jim. He calls his dispatcher and tells him he may be running late and to see if he can get his appointment changed. The answer is “no.”

Al has to stop again to use the bathroom, so he pulls into the fuel island instead of a parking space so he can get it done faster and not have to walk so far. As he struggles to get out of the truck, he slips. Reaching to catch himself, he dislocates his shoulder. As he falls he cuts his leg … and blames it all on his company for pushing him so hard.

At the end of the day, Jim is unloaded and has made a “healthy” profit for the company and himself. Al, meanwhile, is in the hospital, his load sitting and waiting for someone else to get it to its destination late. This is not a healthy profit for anyone except the ambulance and hospital. Bottom line: a healthy driver is a safer driver. How much is poor health costing you?

Jack Kelsh is a veteran truck driver who dropped 175 pounds by using the system described in Jim’s story. An IFA certified fitness nutritionist and author of the book “Nineteen Wheels,” Jack is founder of Safety thru Wellness (http://www.safetythruwellness.com/).