Driver Health and Fitness- You can stay healthy on the road!
By: Micheal Lombard
One of the silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain crisis was it brought into focus how important truck drivers are. Many Americans realized for the first time that everything they see in a store, touch, smell, and eat is brought to them by a truck driver. And yet, according to the CDC, truckers are twice as likely to suffer from chronic illnesses than the rest of the working-class population. The average age of retirement in the U.S. is 64 but the life expectancy of a trucker is just 61. That’s a daunting statistic if trucking runs in your blood, like it does in mine.
I always wanted to be a trucker because, like many other truckers, it runs in the family. My great-great-grandfather Nicky Lombard, and his brother John, came to the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. What started as peddling ice from a horse-drawn carriage, they incorporated as Lombard Bros. Inc. in 1923. They became one of the largest motor carriers in the Northeast, with terminals from Maryland to Maine. My grandfather became an owner also driving for Lombard for 30 years. Lombard became a victim of the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 and sold in 1984, but I got to spend 23 years of my life growing up with my grandfather and his stories.
My grandfather was not immune to the hardships of the job. He had a heart attack before I was born and passed away from complications stemming from heart disease, and his father also died of heart disease. It has to do with the long hours behind the wheel, fast food, and the road lifestyle. Drivers don’t have much control over what they eat or when they can get up and walk around. When I began working toward my CDL, I thought long and hard about how I could do this job without going down that path. It was the summer of 2020, and I had recently relocated to central Texas from Connecticut to start a new life. Having spent the previous few years working for a wholesaler, I got to drive a few delivery trucks. The job involved interacting with truck drivers. I was ready to become one myself, but I was not about to let my career choice risk my life, so I made a plan. I took accountability for what I ate and figured out how I would eat it over the road. I got an air fryer, food scale, and microwave. Sleeper trucks come with a fridge, but I also bought a cooler. I stopped drinking my calories. I bought running shoes, and while in CDL school, I began walking and going for light jogs, even for just 30 minutes.
My first few weeks over the road were the biggest test because I was with a trainer and couldn’t bring anything I had prepared. So instead, I downloaded a health app to track my macros—the calories I consumed, broken down into protein, carbohydrates, and fats. For those 2 weeks, I slashed calories, drinking a lot of black coffee and seltzer water to stay full. I found time for intentional movement almost every day for 2 weeks, either waiting for hours at a shipper or when we parked for our 10-hour break. I knew if I had to be off for 10 hours, I could use 30 to 45 minutes of them to jog, even in circles.
I was out for 3 weeks, and when I got home, I finally loaded up my truck and bought a copy of David Goggins’ book Can’t Hurt Me about maintaining self-discipline. This became my field manual for how I was going to progress in my new career and become the best possible version of myself, not another health statistic. And I succeeded. Here’s how I did it:
Truckers can pull into most Walmarts and grocery shops at least once a week. My breakfast was an apple, a banana, and a protein bar. I would drive anywhere from 4 to 6 hours and then stop for my 30-minute break. I immediately broke out my air fryer and cooked up some chicken breast or thighs, microwave veggies, and rice, and while cooking, I would run into the truck stop, take care of business, grab a diet coke, and get back to the truck with my meal done. I would eat and then take off. Dinner was chicken or ground beef with veggies or rice. I can’t stress the food tracking app enough; it’s how I discovered low-calorie hacks like keto bread.
Then there was the exercise. I would drive in the clothes I worked out in, and after driving for the day, I would park for my 10-hour break, and then walk or run. If I stopped at a shipper or receiver, instead of just standing around losing time and money, I would walk, swing a kettlebell, and do pushups. The key is to use the small chunks of time you get. Truckers have time—I know because they have a lot of time to get into arguments on TikTok. Building the discipline around these habits got me fit enough to run 5 full marathons in 3 years of OTR driving. The time I spent doing a heavy haul, I called loading tractors a “free benefit.” Truckers deserve to be healthy, not come home for 3 or 4 days and sleep for 2 of them. The reality is, that no one is coming to save us, so we must self-rescue. Your life will improve while adding years back to it.
