Jul. 10--HESPERIA -- At the Pilot Travel Center, truck drivers were lining up Monday to audition for a possible new CMT reality show about giving makeovers to truckers.
They could use it.
According to a Transportation Research Board report, truckers are more at risk than average Americans for a number of health problems. Obesity is rampant. Many don't bother to wear seatbelts because their stomachs get in the way. About one in four have sleep apnea. Half of them smoke, compared to 20 percent of the general U.S. population.
Government numbers say the trucking industry also has the most fatalities of all occupations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says truck drivers account for nearly 15 percent of all worker deaths in the most recent data available, from 2005. (The death rate per 100,000 is higher for other occupations.) Of those trucker deaths, 80 percent involved traffic accidents, the bureau said.
Truckers stopping for lunch in Hesperia said that the job just isn't conducive to healthy living.
Martin and Monica Haugen, a husband-and-wife trucking team from Menlo, Iowa, said that there simply isn't time to exercise.
Driving 20 hours a day between the two of them, they have precious little stopping time.
"Do I shower, exercise or sleep? Those are my choices," Monica said.
Truck stops are not designed with truckers' health in mind, said Stanley Lyons from New Orleans, who was eating at the Wendy's adjoining the Pilot Travel Center.
"There aren't any facilities. You could walk around the parking lot, but it's noisy and you're breathing exhaust fumes. Who wants that?" Lyons said.
In some states, such as California, truckers have few places where they can legally park their rigs, limiting them almost exclusively to truck stops.
But at most truck stops, produce is difficult if not impossible to find and is often old and rotten, said Maria Baker of West Virginia, and truck stop restaurants invariably serve fast-food fare.
Baker's husband, Bill, said they often stop at Wal-Mart, which usually has parking spaces for truckers, and stock up on healthier food, but California Wal-Marts do not have parking for truckers.
Hal Brooker, a driver from St. Petersburg, Fla., said his wife sends him along with fresh, healthy food, but it doesn't last more than a day or two.
"Exercise and diet are our biggest challenge," he said, adding that he has put on 50 pounds since he began driving.
Several of the truckers said that their companies encourage them to be fit, but with minimum daily mileage requirements, their actions speak louder than their words.
Monica said delivery deadlines can put truckers in the dangerous situation of driving without enough sleep.
"Fatigue is a huge issue. You start to see things that aren't there."
Todd Lewis, who was conducting interviews with truckers for the reality show and previously worked on the CMT program "Trick My Truck," said working with drivers for the past four years has been an eye-opener for him.
"There are no healthier alternatives for them."
He hopes the new program will encourage truck drivers to take more initiative to get in shape.
Truck drivers interested in auditioning can still catch Lewis today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. inside Wendy's at the Pilot Travel Center between I-15 and Highway 395.
