According to Dr. John McElligott, co-founder of St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund and volunteer medical advisor to the fund, the biggest problem in trucking is health.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen in trucking and women in business is a big deal these days \u2013 without women, we would not make it through the day,\u201d McElligott explained. \u201cWomen still outlive men. How can that be, you may ask? Men \u2013 the older they get, the more they continue to work. Women end up having to stop working in order to take care of the man. Men are known to go until their 50s and 60s without ever seeing a doctor. It\u2019s not like that with women. But in trucking, women don\u2019t have as much access to healthcare with their lives on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
During a recent Women In Trucking Association webinar, \u201cWomen\u2019s Health on the Road,\u201d McElligott shared his expertise on the top five health concerns facing women truck drivers today.<\/p>\n
1. Heart disease<\/h4>\n
\u201cThe best pump you\u2019ll ever own is your heart,\u201d McElligott stated.<\/p>\n
According to McElligott, studies show that one in four die from heart disease. Women who exercise at least 30 minutes a day can lower the risk of dying early by 27%. In-cab exercises could include free weights or even a mini trampoline, advised the winner<\/a> of Rolling Strong and Women In Trucking’ Accelerate Your Health Wellness Competition.<\/p>\n Women are three times more likely to experience migraine headaches than men, McElligott stated, as 85% of migraine sufferers are women. Job stress, anxiety, hormonal changes, and sinus issues can all increase the likelihood of migraine headaches.<\/p>\n When asked how women can safely treat migraines while on the road, McElligott explained that migraines have “auras” \u2013 symptoms that arise before it becomes a full-blown migraine \u2013 that are caused by specific triggers. By seeing a doctor, truck drivers can help identify what\u2019s causing the migraine and safely figure out a plan to treat them to eliminate them entirely.<\/p>\n \u201cObesity is like being in a torture chamber; it\u2019s very intense,\u201d McElligott said. \u201cSome recent studies say 50% of truckers are obese, but that\u2019s not what we\u2019re seeing in our health clinics. In fact, we\u2019re seeing more <\/i>patients suffering from obesity.\u201d<\/p>\n Women are five to eight times more likely than men to have thyroid problems \u2013 which has a strong hand in obesity. \u201cObesity is easy to treat, but if left untreated, it can lead to other health concerns including heart disease ,\u201d McElligott said.<\/p>\n Joint issues are also a common symptom of obesity, specifically in the knees and especially in truck drivers. Ten million women suffer from knee pain, also due to wider pelvic bones and estrogen.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have no idea how many drivers I\u2019ve seen jump out of their cabs, putting immense strain on those joints,\u201d McElligott explained. \u201cDon\u2019t jump out of your cab. Three-point exits out of the cab are recommended to help sustain the health of your joints.\u201d<\/p>\n According to McElligott, one in eight women develop invasive breast cancer, while 12 million women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year.<\/p>\n By knowing your family history and getting regular mammograms after the age of 40 \u2013 earlier if strong family history \u2013 women can stay on top of their health.<\/p>\n As almost all cervical cancers are caused by HPV, or human papillomavirus, McElligott recommends women truck drivers get annual pelvic exams and PAP smears because early detection is key for both breast and cervical cancer. Both are highly treatable when caught early.<\/p>\n Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a condition that affects a woman\u2019s hormone levels and is known to cause ovarian cysts, obesity, and acne. Because of the hormonal imbalances, PCOS is known to have depression connections, McElligott explained.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to see a doctor,\u201d he said. \u201cMen are known to not go to a doctor until they have a problem that might be too late to fix, that\u2019s why seeing a doctor is so important. For example, a driver suffering from PCOS came to see us at St. Christopher and we helped her conceive a child.\u201d<\/p>\n McElligot added that life is changing. More and more women are taking the reins, so take the reins over your health, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cLung disease is on the rise for women,\u201d McElligott said.<\/p>\n Why is that? \u201cThe answer is simple, McElligott stated. \u201cSmoking is one of the leading causes of respiratory diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n Research shows that at least 47% of women are affected by respiratory diseases such as asthma, emphysema, hay fever, chronic bronchitis, and more.<\/p>\n McElligott had a simple solution \u2013 stop smoking. St. Christopher has an incentive program called Rigs without Cigs, encouraging truck drivers to stop smoking in steps and ending with monetary rewards.<\/p>\n “St. Christopher has taken diabetes support to the moon,” McElligott said. “We have a diabetic support program within St. Christopher called Driving Down Diabetes, a CDC approved diabetes prevention program.”<\/p>\n The yearlong program, which opened for participants on Feb. 1, focuses on nutrition, exercise, stress management, and more.<\/p>\n While access to insulin is mostly insurance-based, it is available to truck drivers who need it. The U.S. Department of Transportation requires proper documentation that can prove the patient is responsible in properly logging sugar levels, so that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sees that the patient is in true need of insulin assistance.<\/p>\n Many truck drivers are uninsured and have difficulty accessing healthcare in a traditional care setting. There are more than 9,000 walk-in clinics in the U.S. with stretch and flex programs to stay flexible with a truck driver\u2019s schedule and lifestyle. There are telemedicine opportunities, which grew in popularity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There are also supplemental insurances to help truckers pay for medical bills as well as vaccines to stay on top of their overall health.<\/p>\n \u201cIf drivers don\u2019t have health insurance, St. Christopher will help connect the driver with the right insurance provider,\u201d McElligott added. \u201cTeaching institutions are even known to provide grants to drivers in need of treatments, and surgeries including emergent surgery. So there are always options.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe learn something new every day about COVID-19,\u201d McElligott said. \u201cOne of the things I\u2019ve found is patients who go into the hospital, urgent cares, ERs, and who end up dying tend to have low Vitamin D levels and suffer from obesity.\u201d<\/p>\n McElligott urged drivers to get the vaccine as soon as it\u2019s made available to them.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s almost impossible for truck drivers to get the second vaccine shot at the same location, which makes Johnson and Johnson\u2019s one-shot vaccine more attractive to drivers,\u201d he added. \u201cThis is not a seasonal disease like the flu; it is year-round. As it grows, there will be new vaccines to battle the new strains. Some doctors say don\u2019t get the vaccine, but if you have risk factors, especially respiratory disease, you really should get the vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n Mental health didn\u2019t make it on the top five list, but the pandemic has reminded those that mental health is not something to ignore. McElligott recommends women exercise daily, maintain healthy weight, stop smoking, laugh, meditate, and breathe.<\/p>\n He even recommends getting a dog companion<\/a> on the road.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n By Catharine Conway<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Source: https:\/\/www.fleetowner.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The audit is a key tool to know the overall status and provide the analysis, the assessment, the advice, the suggestions and the actions to take in order to cut costs and increase the efficiency and efficacy of the fleet. We propose the following fleet management audit.<\/p>\n Dr. John McElligott, volunteer medical advisor to St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund, shared his expertise on the the biggest health issues in trucking, as well as those most prevalent in women truck drivers. According to Dr. John McElligott, co-founder of St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund and volunteer medical advisor to the fund, the biggest problem…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[133],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9803"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9803"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9805,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9803\/revisions\/9805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. Migraines<\/h4>\n
3. Obesity<\/h4>\n
4. Breast and cervical cancer<\/h4>\n
5. Respiratory disease<\/h4>\n
While these five are the top five health concern for women, there are others that are still facing the general public as well as truck drivers:<\/h3>\n
Diabetes<\/h4>\n
Healthcare access on the road with the help of St. Christopher<\/h4>\n
COVID-19<\/h4>\n
CUT COTS OF THE FLEET WITH OUR AUDIT PROGRAM<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/04\/nueva-ley-auditoria.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"