Commercial truck drivers who have at least three health issues can quadruple their crash risk compared to healthier drivers, according to a study from the University of Utah School of Medicine. Researchers examined medical records for nearly 50,000 commercial truck drivers, 34 percent of whom had signs of one or more health issues associated with poor driving performance, such as heart disease, low back pain and diabetes.
The crash rate involving injury among all drivers was 29 per 100 million miles traveled. The rate rose to 93 per 100 million miles traveled for drivers with at least three ailments. Researchers took into account other factors that can impact driving abilities, such as age and amount of commercial driving experience.
The study was published online Jan. 10 in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Employee takeaway: It is well documented that truck drivers often have difficulty staying healthy because they tend to sit for long periods of time and sleep and eat poorly. With the industry facing a critical shortage of drivers, employers need to do all they can to keep their drivers healthy. There are a host of tools available to help drivers, including smart phone apps with guidance about nutrition and exercise on the road, customized in-house wellness programs, bio-screenings, coaching, sleep apnea testing and treatment, encouraging brown bagging and walking or bicycling during breaks, and so on. Some companies are ramping up their new-hire pain diagnostics, so they have a baseline for whether a new driver has pre-existing muscle pain. In an industry of high turnover and high claims, this puts the driver on notice and effectively deters claims.
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