Up Front

Health: a topic that transcends the profession

We recently received an e-mail from professional driver Jeff Dinkelman, who appeared on the cover of the December 2007 issue of Over the Road. Jeff noted in his e-mail that we have been one of the trucking industry’s most outspoken proponents of improving drivers’ health as evidenced by our Healthy Trucking Initiative, along with countless articles in Over the Road, Pro Trucker and the Inside Trucking Online newsletter. Jeff also noted my personal endeavor to get healthy—a month-long stay at a lifestyle “boot camp” where I lost 28 pounds.
     The cover story on Jeff focused on his decision to live a healthier lifestyle centered on a vegetarian diet and regular exercise and backed by an employer that promotes driver well-being programs  “I am not so naive as to think that a reader of an article about me will use it as a catalyst for change,” Jeff wrote. “I work out of a terminal where numerous drivers have said to me, ‘Was that you I saw out there running?’ Then they go on to catalog the reasons for not exercising. That said, however, I admire you for dedicating the ink to a topic that transcends our profession and taps into who we are as people.”
     We appreciate Jeff’s kind words, and we’ll continue to do everything we can do to promote better health among drivers. The industry needs it, and the drivers deserve it.