– By Caroline Falls –
Providing fresh fruit, fridges and microwaves for long-haul drivers help improve their health, according to recommendations from a university study into truck driver health in Australia.
“The long hours and sedentary work life of truckies has the potential to be deadly when it comes to their health,” said Marguerite Sendall, a doctor and health promotion expert at Queensland University of Technology’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation.
That’s why the findings of a two-year long study into the effectiveness of workplace intervention are important. Sendall was one of the authors of the report, Queensland Transport Industry Workplace Health Intervention, and results included drivers reporting weight loss, healthier eating and better exercise.
There was an 18 percent increase in the number of drivers saying they were making lifestyle changes to improve their health, Sendall said in a media release about the study. There was also an increase in the number of drivers self-reporting their health as “good” and “excellent”.
“Truckies were also better informed of the Australian nutrition guideline recommendations for fruit and vegetables and drivers were also increasing their daily intake of fruit and vegetables. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to improving nutrition and physical activity in transport industry workplaces,” Sendall said.
“What workplaces need to be doing is responding proactively to the barriers in each individual workplace. For example, providing microwaves and small fridges, especially for line-haul drivers.”
The study, funded by the Qld Government, comprised several workplaces, with between 20 and 200 drivers. One of the participants was Brisbane-based Deluxe Transport.
“We’ve introduced some fresh food ideas,” said Ron Beaumont, manager of Deluxe Transport’s fleet of 42 rigs and prime movers, which operate on routes such as weekly Brisbane-Darwin and twice weekly Brisbane-Townsville runs. “We let them drive a maximum five hours before they take a mandatory half-hour break, and we’ve told them that’s their chance to have something decent to eat,” he told Fleet Auto News.
Beaumont said the company had introduced bowls of fresh fruit that are available for the group’s 50 drivers to pack for their trips. A number of websites devoted to fresh and healthy food have also been recommended to drivers.
“The sites we have recommend they visit for positive information include:
“We selected both Australian sites and US site for variety,” said Beaumont.
Robert Deane, operations manager at Beaumont Transport, another study participant, said his company was presently developing a program to help drivers eat and live healthy lives. “Some drivers are away for a week. It’s a real challenge,” he said.
