As we all know, truck driving isn’t easy on the body or the mind. The result is a higher likelihood for both obesity and diabetes for long haul drivers compared to other jobs.
Helping protect the health and wellness of the independent drivers who work for you isn’t just a nice thing to do. It can make a difference for your business as well as the safety of everyone on the road.
Causes of poor driver health
Long-haul truck drivers have a number of factors working against their physical health according to the CDC, including:
- Limited access to healthy food;
- A sedentary lifestyle with few safe, accessible exercise options on the road;
- A prevalence for cigarette smoking;
- Increased opportunities for slips, trips and falls; and
- Unrealistic deadlines that may drive unsafe behaviors.
Mental health is also a concern. One study found that 44% of long-haul truck drivers report symptoms of depression — such as feelings of sadness, low self-esteem, emotional detachment, irritability and chronic fatigue — driven by high rates of stress, anxiety and burnout.
Both mental and physical health issues have also been shown to increase accident rates, further endangering drivers as well as others on the road.
Why trucking companies need to be involved
Having drivers in poor health can have critical consequences for companies and their customers. For one, the industry is already facing a driver shortage. Drivers who quit, either by choice or by necessity, for healthier careers will only fuel that challenge.
Stressed-out or tired drivers may also be involved in more accidents. This impacts both your current and future bench of drivers, but also your company’s liability, insurance costs and expenses, as well as secondary losses from missed deliveries and downtime and reputation across the industry.
Beyond the bottom-line impacts is the power that simply caring about your independent contractors (ICs) can play. People want to work for companies and leaders who demonstrate concern for their employees as well as their ICs. With high demand for a shrinking pool of drivers, providing access to health resources could help you stand out.
How to support the health of independent drivers
While companies can’t directly provide benefits for independent contractors, you can direct them toward avenues to obtain better physical and mental health options on their own.
Benefits can include voluntary group-rated health care coverage including major medical, dental and vision. They also may offer access to secondary benefits that are often only readily available to full-time employees. Online platforms from associations and insurance brokers can provide access to protective and proactive benefit opportunities.
These types of tech tools may offer:
- Affordable benefits:Tools can help drivers gain access to group-rate medical, dental or vision plans that may be more affordable than options pursued as individuals.
- Virtual healthcare services: Hotlines staffed by doctors and mental health professionals that can help manage concerns while on the road.
- Fitness and wellness programs:Discounts on gym memberships, wellness apps or cab-friendly exercise gear that make it easier for drivers to stay active when other options aren’t available or safe.
- Healthy foods and recipes:Discounts on meal prep services and mobile-friendly recipe tools to encourage healthier eating on the go.
- Easier health care access:Collaboration and partnerships for mobile health fairs or truck stop clinics for health screenings to identify and address common conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
Protect drivers and your operations
Above all, encouraging better health within the transportation industry is simply the right thing to do. But the impact of improving both physical and mental health will trickle down through your company by helping to protect existing drivers while encouraging others to take an interest in trucking as a desirable career.
By providing your IC drivers with access to online tools with better insurance and health program opportunities, you’re helping create a win-win scenario across your business.
Dan Wilhelm, CIC, is the transportation practice leader for global insurance brokerage Hub International. He has more than 25 years of insurance experience, and a strong entrepreneurial background. He specializes in complex risk for all lines of coverage for middle market and large accounts related to automobile, construction, manufacturing, food processing, distribution and transportation. He is licensed in property and casualty as well as life and health. Dan helps develop cost-effective and comprehensive insurance programs for all areas of coverage.
