The trucking industry is one of the American market’s most popular and fast-growing sectors. However, numerous challenges faced by the trucking companies’ management and drivers may incur heavy losses for the companies. Most commonly, the challenges could be perceived in the accidents that happen to the drivers as the result of numerous factors. Therefore, there is a clear need for the advancement of enhanced safety measures to prevent accidents.
Professional truck drivers deal with a variety of difficulties every day. The trucking sector is characterized by a high frequency of work-related illnesses and high accident rates (Reiman & Väyrynen, 2020). Additionally, a variety of psychological stresses have an impact on truck drivers’ capacity for work. Workplace injuries, illnesses, and pressures can have an impact on careers (Reiman & Väyrynen, 2020). Nevertheless, both the demand for a trained new workforce and the desire to strengthen employee retention are consistent. Therefore, it is required to address the health issues of long-haul truckers as a safety measure to prevent accidents.
It is possible to identify a variety of health issues attributable to this working group. The research by Bachmann et al. (2018) identified the prevalence of higher rates of smoking, elevated cholesterol, and hypertension coupled with higher rates of obesity, ischemic heart disease, and metabolic syndrome. Environmental factors and working pressure contribute to the development of such indexes. This job position is associated with high stress and isolation levels, and limited time for dining results in a preference for fast food with low nutritional value, often without supplementation of fruits and vegetables.
In order to prevent these issues, several interventions could be made by employers to improve the driver’s health condition. Bachmann et al. (2018, p. 8) suggest an increase in the “truck stops and rest areas in order to alleviate occupational stress.” The need to provide healthcare coverage to all truck drivers’ workers and to increase access to healthcare for this highly mobile workforce is essential (Bachmann et al., 2018, p. 8). In addition, the company may introduce fringe benefits, such as access to gyms and healthy food alternatives, to reduce health risks and increase employee retention. These suggestions are necessary interventions that will strengthen employees’ health and result in lower accidents attributable to the poor health of truckers.
In terms of human resource management, it is similarly essential to rely on current research to develop functionally optimal recruitment strategies and management approaches. Truck drivers may require specific personality characteristics that will contribute to swifter work operations. This position commonly exhibits such traits as individual work, prolonged stay in static postures, and engagement in physical activities (Sousa & Ramos, 2018). Therefore, human resources may prefer candidates who are satisfied or feel comfortable working in such conditions. This method may allow for the reduction of mental health risks and improve the focus of the drivers. Simultaneously, the research by Murphy et al. (2018) identifies several issues in truckers’ training programs. Specifically, training programs may be accelerated due to the lack of competent drivers to help businesses get drivers on the road more quickly (Murphy et al., 2018). However, because the emphasis is on learning how to drive rather than how to be safe, shorter and faster classroom instruction implies that drivers are not receiving appropriate training (Murphy et al., 2018). This is a major safety issue that requires solemn resolution.
There is a need for more proactive, preventative training in the truck driving industry before work. Murphy et al. (2018) argue that for trainee drivers, more time should be spent with a trainer while on the road, especially over several seasons, to ensure they learn the necessary technical abilities required to operate the truck. Furthermore, the research emphasizes the continuous training of employees via driving evaluations and training refreshes (Murphy et al., 2018). These interventions are required to be implemented on the national level via strict policy measures and regulations. Consequently, various injuries, accidents, and driving difficulties could be prevented with the advancement of proper training, saving various costs for the company in emergency expenditures and saving lives on the road.
It is common for the management in the industry to be unfamiliar with the trucking work. Often manager-employee relationships are damaged due to the difference in the experience and miscommunication, which may negatively impact the driver and result in unforeseen accidents. There are a number of factors that contribute to such hardships. Nevertheless, many drivers identify that trucking companies often do not place a high emphasis on safe driving but rather on drivers’ performance. In the research by Murphy et al. (2018), some participants commented that safety is important since accidents and their indirect repercussions might have detrimental financial implications. Middle management has been recognized as the weak point when it comes to safety because they appear to be more concerned with profitability. Senior management puts pressure on middle management to increase productivity. Consequently, drivers’ supervisors push truckers to achieve higher performance rates. This dangerous predicament is on the borderline of negligence and needs to be addressed systematically via discreet inspections and survey methods.
The other method to avoid this predicament and increase safety in the trucking industry could be a change in management strategies. It is often recognized that innovative transformational management leads to a boost in performance rates and profitability. However, this approach was identified as highly restrictive and inflexible in consideration of the industry. According to McMahon (2021), passive avoidant leadership had positive implications for safety climates in the industry. The research attributed truckers’ personality traits such as proactivity and introversion as primary causes for such findings. These personalities respond more favorably to autonomy and independence; hence the aforementioned approach may provide beneficial results. Consequently, testing for leadership and personality types may be useful for future hiring, training, and professional growth. These procedures might then be applied to enhance trucking businesses’ safety outcomes.
In conclusion, there is an apparent necessity for the improvement of various health measures and company management strategies to avoid accidents within the trucking industry. Safety needs to be emphasized at all levels of the trucking companies’ hierarchy as the core value. Otherwise, negative practices may emerge that will lead to a decrease in the health and safety outcomes of drivers. Other potential threats to the safety climate of the trucking industry involve drivers’ dietary problems, high stress, and elevated smoking, inflexible management approaches, negligent approach to training, incompatibility of drivers with the working environments. As a result, various recommendations, such as the provision of fringe benefits in the form of extended healthcare coverages, gym access, healthy dietary provisions, and the introduction of passive avoidance leadership, need to be followed. This way, the safety of drivers and the cargo would be more secure, and a decrease in accidents attributable to poor management and driving conditions would be expected.
References
Bachmann, L. H., Lichtenstein, B., St Lawrence, J. S., Murray, M., Russell, G. B., & Hook III, E. W. (2018). Health risks of American long-distance truckers: results from a multi-site assessment. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 60(7), e349.
McMahon, J. F. (2021). Effects of transformational leadership on safety performance in the United States commercial trucking industry [Doctoral dissertation, The College of Education at Louisiana Tech University].
Murphy, L. A., Huang, Y. H., Robertson, M. M., Jeffries, S., & Dainoff, M. J. (2018). Sociotechnical systems approach to enhance safety climate in the trucking industry: Results of an in-depth investigation. Applied Ergonomics, 66, 70-81.
Reiman, A., & Väyrynen, S. (2020). Occupational Health and Safety in the Trucking Industry–Current Trends and Future Challenges. In Engineering Assets and Public Infrastructures in the Age of Digitalization (pp. 431-438). Springer, Cham.
Sousa, I. C., & Ramos, S. (2018). Working conditions, health and retirement intentions: a case study of truck drivers. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 11(3), pp. 114-129.