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* The mental and physical effects of long-haul trucking * USA: TRUCKERS HEALTH
* California - Nothing will wreck your spinal system like the vibration of the truck bed for hours on end
-- For most people, it’s easy to see 18-wheelers as dangerous beasts. What many don’t consider, though, is how trucking as a profession can quickly become crushing to the drivers themselves... Truck driving is, without a doubt, one of the most brutal jobs a person can do. Across the board, long-haul truckers have higher rates of obesity, diabetes, anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease, divorce, and drug use than the average American... The difficulty of being away from family, do that, if national divorce rate is 3.6 percent, but among truckers it’s an insane 19.5 percent... Their on-the-job fatality rates are a ridiculous 11 times higher than average. The mental issues tend to play off the physical issues and vice versa, churning up a whirlwind of work-related trauma... In terms of physical challenges, sitting upright in a chair, even a thousand-dollar chair, for 10 hours a day is completely brutal on the human body. Truckers are highly prone to musculoskeletal issues, back problems, neck problems, knee problems. The vibration of the truck bed (a constant, low-grade rumble) is murder on the spinal system... For all the external blows to a trucker’s body, it’s their eating habits that are an even bigger concern. Food at truck stops is notoriously abysmal, and truckers don’t have time to leave the highway in search of healthier food—if it even exists in their area. Exercise, too, is, for the most part, non-existent. There simply isn’t time, and, after the workday, truckers are exhausted... Drugs, alcohol, and sex work patronage are all often used as self-treatment options, given the lack of easily found medical and mental health assistance. But the types of drugs preferred by truckers might come as a bit of a surprise. The logical choice would be amphetamines, like speed, which enhance a driver’s ability to stay awake and focused on driving... “I thought it would be more of that, but it was a lot of cannabis—pot—and crack,” Shattell says. “Two drivers actually said that they drive better when they're on crack than without, because they're more aware of their environment. How scary is that?” ... The core issues facing truck drivers haven’t changed in many decades, and there’s seemingly no real way to mitigate the risks involved without a full overhaul of the profession...
North Hollywood, CAL, USA - Pacific Standard Magazine, by DAN NOSOWITZ - FEB 3, 2016
Labels: Truckers' Health
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