There are thousands of truckers transporting large shipments across the States every single day. It’s often a well-paying job, but there are some issues that can lead to trucking accidents.
A trucking accident isn’t often like a regular motor vehicle accident because of how large these vehicles are. Victims may suffer serious or fatal injuries in an accident with a trucker. Many trucking accidents aren’t caused because of user error, negligence or distractions. Instead, a trucker’s health could seriously affect their driving. Here’s how:
Trucking strains a driver’s physical health
Trucking isn’t a luxurious job. Truckers often don’t get regular meals because they have to meet deadlines. This means that they often have to eat high-calorie fast food. A constant diet of this kind of food can lead to many kinds of medical issues, such as high blood pressure and obesity.
Truckers spend days and weeks seated in the same place, which can cause a great toll on their health. Without moving and some exercise, truckers have an increased rate of developing a medical illness.
Another issue that arises when truckers are faced with deadlines is sleep deprivation. Many truckers drive through the night, often causing them to lose sleep. When they do sleep, it may only be for several minutes to an hour. This kind of living can lead to sleep deprivation and insomnia, which can be just as bad for truckers as drunk driving.
Mental health issues are caused by the isolation and hours
One thing to understand about truckers is that it’s a very isolated career. For days and weeks, truckers may not have any company. As a result of the isolation, truckers may develop mental issues, such as depression and anxiety. At times, mental illnesses may strain a trucker’s ability to drive, which could lead to an accident.
Unfortunately, once a trucker develops a physical health problem, they’ve very likely to develop a mental health problem, and the other way around – essentially creating a vicious cycle. Eventually, a trucker’s health can cause a vehicle accident.
