TRUCKERS' HEALTH * USA - Truck drivers' average life expectancy of 55-57 years

Group tasked with boosting long-haul health of truck drivers

Knoxville,TENN,USA -The Knoxville News, by Laura Bower -March 18, 2010: -- Truck drivers' average life expectancy of 55-57 years is a startling statistic that Dr. John McElligott is trying to change by making physical examinations for America's 14 million commercial drivers more accessible, even taking to the satellite radio airwaves to get his message to truckers... McElligott is president and CEO of Occupational Health Systems Inc., a Knoxville-based provider of the Commercial Drivers License/Department of Transportation certification medical exams required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Office of Medical Programs... The typical commercial driver is a 42-year-old man, 5 feet 8 inches tall and 242 pounds, said McElligott. Only 12 percent are women. Because drivers log an average of 600 miles a day 28 days a month, they tend to consume excessive amounts of coffee and energy drinks, which elevate their blood pressure and affect their ability to sleep. They drive in 14-hour shifts with 10-hour breaks to sleep, eat and refuel... Commercial drivers are prone to strokes, heart attacks, hypertension, diabetes and sleep apnea. While illicit drug use is not widespread, abuse of prescription drugs such as sleeping pills and anti-depressants is common, McElligott said... (Photo by Michael Patrick: Knoxville physician John McElligott performs a Department of Transportation physical Monday for Dewayne Burns, who works for Colonial Trucking, at his Occupational Health Systems clinic on Middlebrook Pike)