Two years ago, I began advocating for better driver health and fitness in the trucking industry. The reason? Truck drivers have a life expectancy of just 61 years, compared to the average U.S. life expectancy of 77.5 years. This startling gap highlights the urgent need for change. Jeremy Reymer of DriverReach recently launched Project 61 to increase awareness and drive action.

Historically, driver health and wellness have been sidelined in favor of operational goals like improving fuel efficiency and streamlining delivery. Now companies are starting to see that healthy drivers mean safer roads, stronger fleet performance, and greater job satisfaction. With Motive’s telematics and AI dash cams, fleets now have complete visibility into the driver’s condition on the road – and the ability to address wellness proactively.

5 great ways for drivers to stay healthy on the road.

Why driver health and wellness matters

Trucking is physically demanding and mentally taxing. Drivers face long hours, irregular sleep schedules, and little access to healthy food. These conditions can lead to:

  • Fatigue: Reduced reaction times and higher accident risks.
  • Stress: Tight deadlines, traffic, and extended time away from home.
  • Physical health issues: Sedentary lifestyles and poor nutrition contribute to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
  • Mental health challenges: Isolation and workplace pressures often lead to anxiety, depression, and burnout.

Using data to support driver wellness

Motive offers real-time insights that go beyond vehicle monitoring to identify health risks before they escalate. Here’s how Motive approaches it.

1. Managing fatigue

Driver fatigue poses a serious threat to fleet safety, contributing to nearly 100,000 accidents, 800 fatalities, and 50,000 injuries annually. Fatigue can lead to sudden lane merging, veering off the road, or crossing into oncoming traffic. These scenarios often result in disastrous outcomes that put lives in danger. 

Motive’s Drowsiness AI manages fatigue much more proactively, detecting real-time signs of fatigue. Available with Motive dual-facing AI Dashcams, Drowsiness AI accurately detects early and late signs of drowsy driving, including:

  1. Frequent yawning: The dash cam alerts drivers who yawn repeatedly in a short period, advising them to pull over if they’re struggling to stay awake. It also triggers an alert if the driver is distracted and starts yawning.
  2. Eyes closed: If a driver begins to close their eyes and fall asleep, an in-cab alert aims to wake them before a serious collision. 

When drowsiness is detected, Motive alerts drivers and fleet managers immediately, enabling swift action to prevent potential accidents. To ensure safety, fleet managers can reroute trips, adjust schedules, or encourage drivers to take breaks.

By combining Drowsiness AI with hours of service (HOS) tracking and unsafe driving detection, fleets can reduce fatigue-related accidents and keep drivers safe and alert on the road.

2. Reducing stress

Unpredictable schedules and traffic conditions are major sources of stress. Motive’s route optimization tools help drivers avoid congestion, reducing delays and frustration. Fleet managers can adjust routes in real time to keep drivers on schedule, ease workloads, and help drivers maintain a healthier work-life balance.

3. Encouraging movement and physical health

Sitting for long periods takes a toll on a driver’s physical health. While telematics can’t get drivers out of the cab for a workout, it can provide data that encourages safer driving habits and highlight issues that may be taking place behind the scenes. If a lack of attention is a factor for drivers, encourage them to take regular breaks, get out of the cab to stretch, and get proper rest. Incorporating wellness practices into daily schedules has the potential to improve overall health, increase driver awareness, and even prevent accidents.

4. Rewarding healthy habits

With real-time insights from the Motive Integrated Operations Platform, fleets can create personalized coaching programs for their drivers. By supporting individual driver performance, fleet managers can offer tailored recommendations to improve driver awareness along with safety. Use coaching sessions to help drivers improve and show that they’re valued. Showing you care can improve morale and reduce turnover.

 New! Streamline coaching for safety and compliance with Motive Integrated Coaching.

Incorporating incentives into fleet management programs, such as rewarding drivers who maintain safe driving habits or participate in health and fitness programs, can create a culture of wellness that extends across the fleet. The Motive Safety Score makes it easy to track performance and reward safe behavior, helping fleets build a healthier, more engaged workforce.

Building a coaching culture

Modern fleet management is shifting from punishment to coaching. Instead of penalizing drivers for unsafe behavior, fleets use dash cam clips and telematics data to provide constructive feedback.

For example, the Motive AI Dashcam helps managers review with drivers video clips of their most dangerous habits, such as close following, hard braking, or speeding. Every coaching session empowers drivers to improve — and gives managers an opportunity to build trust with the team.

Why wellness benefits business

It may come as a surprise, but investing in driver wellness is a smart business move. Healthier drivers are safer, more productive, and less likely to quit. With a healthier driver workforce recruitment, training, and insurance costs can all be lower. With Motive, fleet managers can address wellness proactively, improving driver well-being and other outcomes.

Take the next step

Driver wellness spurs fleet success. Motive makes it easier to promote health, cut down on risk, and build a strong safety culture. Improve fleet safety and driver wellness with Motive’s comprehensive solutions. Check out our blog A truck driver’s cheat sheet to good health, and get on the road to better performance and well-being.