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Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc.
Oregon Truck Dispatch
Invest in Your Drivers
By Melissa Brown, Office Manager at McGinn Bros. Trucking, LLC
WELLNESS
A
s if the driver shortage isn’t enough of a
challenge already, seeing headlines like,
“Chronic Poor Health is Chasing Drivers
From Trucking Industry,” “Feds inching toward
implementing possible sleep apnea screening for
truckers,” and “Oregon obesity rates highest in
West,” are even more concerning.
According to Rolling Strong, 70,000 drivers have
been disqualified due to medical problems since
2014 and 90% of OTR drivers take medications for
HBP, diabetes, and/or high cholesterol. The life
expectancy of truck drivers is 16 years less than
the general population—a staggering number; one
that should make us want to figure out how to
help. Without drivers, what are we? We are... out
of business. The reason we get to do what we do is
because of the amazing team of drivers that we
employ. It is our obligation to figure out how to
fight for them and to provide them with all the
tools that we can to help them help themselves.
I’ve had many conversations about this over the
last year, hearing “you can’t monitor them 24/7”
or “what they eat is their choice” and that is
absolutely true, however, we can still make a
difference. We can educate them. We just have to
take the first step. When I started working on the
health and wellness aspect of our safety program,
I was overwhelmed. Trying to wrap my head
around how to launch a massive campaign for a
healthy lifestyle was a lot to take in. The most
important thing that I try to keep in mind is that
nobody is going to make any significant changes
in their own lifestyle unless they want to do it. So,
to help them, we had to start small and see where
our efforts took us. Go with what works and make
adjustments to what doesn’t. But most
importantly, talk to your drivers! What do they
need help with? Employee surveys are an easy, less
invasive option for your drivers to feel like they
can give their input and not have to speak out in
front of the rest of the group. If they feel invested
in your efforts, you will have a better outcome.
Research, research, research…
Talk to your insurance companies. Some of them
have health and wellness programs available at no
charge. They can show you the potential return on
investment for implementing a Health & Wellness
program. We’ve had good feedback from our efforts.
Healthy choices at our safety meetings were a good
start for us. Make it easy—there was actually a big
difference between presenting a bowl of fruit and a
tray of
prepared
fruit. Take advantage of National
Truck Driver Appreciation Week! What better way
to show your appreciation than to prove that you
care about their health and wellness. Health
screenings can provide your drivers with the
numbers they need to see to know if they have areas
of concern and especially if they are making
progress or not. There are
tons
of ideas online—put
your spin on them and make it work for you! Add a
health component to your safety meetings—you are
already meeting, so why not throw in a quick plug
about healthy eating, hydration, exercise, etc.
None of this is a quick fix and is not something
that happens overnight, that’s for sure. So don’t get
discouraged. It’s a real investment... not one flyer,
one email, one healthy snack. It’s a mindset, from
the top down, a buy-in for the better of our
workforce, a commitment to stick with it, to get
results... to help them, help themselves.
About Melissa Brown
Melissa Brown has spent her entire career in the
agricultural industry. She has worked for McGinn
Bros. Trucking, LLC for the last 11 years and
currently manages their safety program.
Health screenings
can
provide your drivers with the
numbers they need to see
to know if they have
areas
of concern
and especially
if they are
making
progress
or not.