Transportation Companies in Arkansas Put Focus on Drivers’ Health Into Maximum Overdrive

Long-haul truck driving is not an easy way to earn a living.

It’s also not easy to maintain a healthy lifestyle while on the road for hours and days on end.

It can be done, of course, and trucking companies are trying to help their drivers live healthier while they’re on the road. Companies are using different, and overlapping, methods to help their on-the-road employees, from education about healthy food choices to exercise opportunities and better resources in their tractors.

It’s an important aspect of business, too. Health care costs are front and center on every company’s bottom line, and improving drivers’ health can save money.

A recent study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health revealed that long-haul drivers are twice as likely to smoke or be obese as the average working adult. Drivers also were more likely to have risk factors that could lead to chronic diseases.

Leanne Kamps, a generalist in human resources at Maverick Transportation in North Little Rock, has taught a wellness class every Thursday for the past two years during orientation at Maverick’s training center. Kamps and HR Director Tiffany Senavinin wondered how effective the classes were because once the drivers left orientation for the road, there wasn’t a whole of lot of feedback.

Senavinin said the company surveyed its drivers, and to her pleasant surprise, found that the wellness classes were popular. That spurred Kamps and Senavinin to form a Driver Wellness Team a year ago to brainstorm ideas for bringing wellness to on-the-road drivers.

“We were at a crossroad,” Senavinin said. “Do we still need to offer the class? The drivers told us, ‘It would be nice if you showed us real examples of what we see on the road.’”

That led to the first idea, nearing completion, of a five-minute video featuring Jayme Mayo, the wellness director at Nabholz Construction. Senavinin and Kamps had approached Mayo after she served as a panelist on former President Bill Clinton’s Health Matters Initiative for Central Arkansas in December 2013.

The team went to a Pilot Flying J travel center in Arkansas to show the variety of choices a driver has. Kamps said many modern travel centers have fresh fruit sections, salad bars and hot buffets — choices that make healthy eating habits more attainable.

“We didn’t want it to be so long drivers got bored,” Kamps said of the video. “We just wanted to hit the facts. We didn’t want it to come out of a textbook. Our drivers live on miles, so 400 calories means I have to walk 3 miles. We wanted to make it very understandable.”

Another idea that the Maverick team is putting together is a truck driver’s cookbook. The women said drivers already shared recipes that work at home or on the road, so the cookbook was a natural progression.

“It’s not just all you can cook at home,” Senavinin said. “It’s what you can cook in your truck. They know there are options.”

Maverick Vice President Dean Newell said the company’s 2015 tractors come equipped with in-cab refrigerators. Most tractors have the capacity to operate refrigerators, microwaves and slow cookers.

USA Truck of Van Buren has several programs to promote better driver wellness, said Burton Weis, the company’s vice president of human resources. Weis said the company has quarterly blood drives, which in addition to providing blood also help the donating person.

“It’s also free lab work,” said Weis, referring to the cholesterol screening. “You also have the opportunity to send off the blood work for prostate testing for $25.”

Along those same lines, USA Truck has a yearly health fair where employees can get more in-depth medical screenings. The company’s health care plan gives each employee and spouse a free online health assessment, and taking the assessment results in a premium reduction.

Weis said some employees have discovered, either through the online assessment or health fair, that they have diabetes or other health problems. Catching illnesses early, Weis said, greatly improves the effectiveness of treatment.

“The medical industry has told us it’s all about awareness,” Weis said. “If they take the assessment, they have awareness. It’s at least getting it in front of them.”

USA Truck also educates about food choices, Weis said. The company sends out a regular newsletter that highlights a driver who has had a fitness success story and tells how he or she accomplished it on the road.

Weis agreed that modern travel centers and terminals have added better food choices, and many have exercise or workout areas, or at least enough space for drivers to get in a walk. Weis said all a company can do is put out information and encourage better choices, a sentiment Senavinin and Kamps echoed.

“Just changing from soda to bottled water is a big deal,” Weis said. “They seem little, but they add up. A lot of our vendors give out free water.

“Health care is going to be in front of us. It’s always going to be a hot topic. It’s important to take every benefit offered. It has to be a part of the culture, part of the daily habit. You can find the time.”

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville, which has approximately 7,700 truck drivers, sends out regular healthy tip emails from the company’s health center trainers. Brian Nick, the company’s director of national media relations, said the company also shares tips for mental wellness.

Kamps said Maverick’s program also includes education about finances and emotional issues.

Nick said Wal-Mart offers myriad driving schedules to accommodate the needs of its drivers whether it’s two weeks on the road followed by a week off or four days on the road followed by three off. A single driver in her 20s would likely want a different schedule than a married driver in his 40s with children.

“You’re able to have your down time at home,” Nick said. “We do a lot of variety of scheduling options for drivers. For some people, it’s a work-life balance opportunity. It’s whatever fits their needs.”

Dan Cushman, the president and CEO of PAM Transport of Tonitown, said the company uses social media to stay in contact with its drivers, but not enough has been done for driver wellness. Senavinin said reaching out to drivers is complicated by the fact that they’re usually on the road.

“We look for ways to reach our mobile workforce,” Senavinin said. “It’s hard to get their attention.”

Cushman said his son, Josh, who works as a regional sales manager at PAM, recently came up with an idea that involved portable exercise equipment attached to tractors.

On the Internet, there are stories of drivers who have trained for marathons or triathlons while maintaining a full driving schedule by bringing workout equipment on the road with them. Those Type A personalities clearly don’t need additional motivation, but for the regular person, maintaining a healthy regimen on the road can be a struggle.

“It has made me think, ‘Hey, guys, we need to get more of these,’” Cushman said. “We don’t talk about it as much as we need to. We’ve got to make a point of planting seeds.”

Senavinin said much the same thing. No matter how much educational material a driver has in his or her hand or head, it’s the driver’s decision on whether to act on the information.

“It’s always the hardest thing about wellness is figuring out your ROI,” said Senavinin, referring to return on investment. “We can only suggest things. We can’t force them to make the right decisions. We’re always going to eat cheeseburgers and we’re all going to eat pizza.”

Weis said USA Truck hasn’t put a price tag on what healthier living means to the company. It would seem logical that healthier employees cost less and are more productive.

“We’re about the Maverick Way, doing things the right way,” Senavinin said. “This is the right thing to do. We want our employees to live longer, healthier lives.”