Championing driver health and performance

When a check engine light illuminates, fleet personnel react immediately. But when an employee or a driver has increased fatigue or fluttering in their chest, they're told that everything will be fine if they give it some time. Dr. Shaan Chugh, a doctor at a hospital in Toronto and the chief medical officer at Canadian freight, packaging, and logistics provider Purolator, wants this to change. 

Drivers should be seen as “industrial athletes,” Chugh said during transportation technology provider Geotab’s annual user conference. Much like football players are the heart and soul of an NFL team, drivers are the heart and soul of fleets. Therefore, they should be treated as such. Drivers are like athletes because “a driver is taking on an enormous physical load, endurance, reaction time, agility.”

From a mental health perspective, drivers are constantly adapting to an evolving environment along their route, with changing traffic patterns, congestion, the need to optimize their route, and more. When employees celebrate these drivers within the organization as “champions,” they have a “renewed sense of purpose,” Chugh explained.

Championing driver health while off the road

There are different phases of a driver’s life, Chugh said, starting when a driver rolls out of their bed to start the day. This first phase includes breakfast, getting ready for work, and the commute to the truck yard—essentially, getting ready to start the day. The second phase is while on the job, or when behind the wheel, which will be addressed later. The third phase is the driver’s rest break, or meal time. Then it’s back on the road to continue the day’s work. Finally, work is over, and it’s time to rest and recover for work the following morning.

Chugh said it’s the responsibility of the workplace to think of these driver phases and identify where to place interventions that improve driver health. Some companies are working to improve driver health with health risk assessments.

“Before someone actually goes out on the road, some very sophisticated companies are actually doing blood pressure checks on their drivers before they go out,” Chugh explained. “Other companies are screening people's mood symptoms before they go out on the road, because we all know that if you get into an argument with your spouse or your loved one, you may not be on your best game.”

If blood pressure is elevated or if the mood assessment finds negative results, these companies implement personalized health coaching.

Each fleet is different, and that means each fleet’s drivers will have different needs as well. Chugh said for Company X, health risk assessment might be most beneficial for drivers; however, Company Y might find a simple hydration station where drivers can refill water bottles or take a quick break most beneficial for driver health.

Championing driver health while on the road

While it might be easier for companies to keep a check on their drivers while they’re at the depot, drivers spend the majority of their time in the cab. However, this doesn’t mean companies should ignore in-cab driver health.

Many fleets currently employ in-cab driver coaching via alerts, reminders, and event recording. Yet, Chugh said in-cab driver coaching can go beyond safety and can also benefit driver health. Consider, for example, fatigue-detecting technology, which helps improve driver safety and detects whether the driver has had sufficient rest. Chugh also mentioned posture-correcting technology, which helps improve a driver's on-road posture to decrease the risk of musculoskeletal issues, such as lower back pain, in the driver’s future. Another way companies can help improve their drivers health while on the road is via cab ergonomics, such as with a driver's seat. 

What about rest breaks while on the road? Chugh believes adequate stretching should be incorporated into a driver’s daily activity, along with healthy food options. Fast food is a quick and easy way for truck drivers to get a meal, but they lack proper nutrition and contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle.

“It's simple things like a healthy on-the-go snack,” Chugh challenged fleet managers in the room. “So, as opposed to stopping at Taco Bell or at McDonald's, how do we actually support our people and give them [an option] that's more healthy?”

Championing driver health through proactive care

As the chief medical officer at Purlator, Chugh helped develop a biometrics initiative for willing employees in 2024, which included a simple finger prick and blood draw to identify potential health problems even before employees developed symptoms. The results remained confidential and sought only to help improve drivers' health. Bringing this option to employees at their place of work instead of having the driver take time off is just one way Purolator has chosen to prioritize its employee health.

Each individual received a report card and was informed of their numbers, Chugh said. “Then, based on risk factors like diet, alcohol intake, [and] smoking status, we could actually provide them with coaching material.”

Depending on the drivers’ biometrics, this coaching material encourages drivers to exercise more, eat more fruits and vegetables, decrease alcohol intake, and more.

While this proactive approach could benefit drivers and other employees by leaps and bounds, bringing biometric testing into the corporate setting isn’t possible for every fleet.

With that said, the road to a healthier workforce should begin somewhere. Chugh said it’s important to speak to employees and get a grasp on overall employee health, then take small steps to improve it. For instance, installing ergonomic driver seats could reduce lower back pain, which could essentially help the bottom line. (Chugh said lower back pain contributes to a loss of 16.7 minutes of productivity per employee per day; lower back pain also costs companies $1,685 each year per employee with pain, according to his research.)

Harkening back to the industrial athlete example, Chugh emphasized that when a football player exhibits pain, every stakeholder is brought into the room to develop a pain management or health improvement plan, from the athlete to the coach to the personal trainers and more. In the same way, organizations and fleets should be just as concerned with their drivers’ health.

“Prioritizing driver's health or our ‘athletes’ can lead to improvements in overall health and well being,” Chugh said. Additionally, “the impact on driver health can turn into organizational performance.”