Life is a journey and it begins on the day a man is born and reaches its commencement on the day of his death. Truck driver job is a job in which the driver is most of the time traveling and his life can literally be said on wheels.
There are various contradictions about a truck driver job and carry some positives as well as some negatives. There are adventures in a truck driver job as he gets the chance to travel a lot and is often on the roads meeting varying kinds of people. It isn’t a routine job of 9 to 5 leading to boredom. And this job makes one taste the various experiences of job.
But like any other job a truck driver job also has its own fall-outs.
There have been various researches done which show that truck drivers employed with some trucking company or an owner operator are vulnerable to shorter life span as compared to any other job. This alarming research throws light on various factors responsible for this problem. The behavioral patterns of the drivers lead to problems such as cigarette smoking resulting putting a negative effect on their health. Some researchers, doctors and truckers expert discussed this problem that the life expectancy of a truck driver is 16 years shorter to a person working in some other field. The study said that there were several other issues contributing to this problem but health problem could be considered to be at the core of it.
There are more chances of fatalities and accidents in a driving job as compared to any other employment increasing a risk to a truck driver’s life. The report provided is shocking indeed and raises a big question mark on this occupation. Cigarette smoking is not the single issue but there are other health concerns as well. The truck drivers are continuously exposed to smoke emitted be fuels and so are more prone to heart disease and other respiratory problems.
It has been observed that there is an acute shortage of drivers in the trucking industry. The majority of the drivers are on the verge of retirement and the industry has observed a very few hire in the past times. Many of the experts consider various reasons for the people dissuading from the job. Trucking industry demands long working hours and also away from the family for a long time if you tend to drive on the highways. The lower wages also doesn’t seem to lure the drivers for this job.
The truck load boards help the truckers get the material and there are heaps of loads available to the trucking industry. But due to the shortage of drivers, the truck drivers have to give to more hours to their work and therefore feel tired and get less time of rest.
These are some of the very serious issues raised in the various studies and some steps need to be taken to improve the health conditions of the truck drivers and create awareness among them.
