Truck driver well-being is an industry priority

Healthy and happy truck drivers provide numerous benefits to the road freight industry. They are more alert, reliable and responsible – ensuring their vehicles and cargoes reach their destinations intact and on time.

A sickly driver is more at risk of being involved in an accident, incurring major costs to the employer and its insurer through loss of the vehicle, trailer and cargo.

If a sick driver is killed in an accident, although tragic, the employer is faced with the further cost of recruiting and training a replacement driver.

One of the mechanisms that helps to keep truck drivers healthy on South Africa’s many major transport routes is the 20 Wellness Centres and five mobile wellness units strategically located throughout the country.

Most trucking accidents in South Africa are attributed to driver fatigue – a common problem in the industry. This is not the only cause, however. Sickly drivers suffering from tuberculosis, high blood pressure, diabetes, colds and flu, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV-related conditions can contribute to a poor level of health in a driver, which adversely affects his/her performance.

The purpose of Trucking Wellness is to improve the overall health and well-being of the country’s drivers and reduce the potential for driver ‘downtime’ and accidents.

Trucking Wellness started out as a joint project called Trucking Against AIDS, run by various South African road freight companies, trade unions and the government; and was co-funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. That operation has evolved into Trucking Wellness as it is known today.

The Trucking Wellness project is designed to create awareness of HIV/Aids and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among long-distance truck drivers, commercial sex workers and the communities around the various truck stops, as well as to provide the necessary counselling and treatment.

Managed by the Corridor Empowerment Project, the Trucking Wellness clinics operate mostly after hours and at night, and offer a number of services to drivers free of charge and in a safe and confidential environment.

Most of the comfortable and homely clinics are built into specially adapted 12-metre freight containers, each staffed by a professional nurse and co-ordinator, where drivers can receive treatment for a variety of health problems from backache and flu to high blood pressure. More importantly, drivers are encouraged to be counselled and tested for HIV and Aids and other STIs.

CareWorks provides confidential counselling, pathology tests and appropriate antiretroviral treatment for HIV-positive drivers, if necessary, through the Wellness Fund.

Since the project was launched by the National Bargaining Council for the Road Freight Industry in 1999, the clinic services have expanded to provide education, primary healthcare, food supplements, condom distribution, voluntary HIV testing, as well as referral to the treatment service provider, CareWorks.

“If even one employee passes away as a result of an accident, in addition to the financial implications of the loss of the family breadwinner, the emotional loss felt by both the employee’s family and his/her colleagues at work also has huge impact on the company,” says Tony D’Almeida a specialist for the People Partnership Department at UTi, which actively supports the Trucking Wellness project.

“Also as a result of an accident, the insurance costs in the retirement funds risk premiums are raised at additional financial cost to the members of the various industry funds,” he adds.

Besides the loss of morale among fellow employees, accidents affect the company in other ways.

The largest cost is that of the vehicle and the load it carries.

“One truck can cost over R1 million to replace, and often the value of its contents is incalculable,” says D’Almeida. “The commercial value of the load can be worth many millions, and there is the additional consequential loss that non-delivery can also cause.”

Con Roux, commercial manager for the N3 Toll Concession, which is also involved with Trucking Wellness, has seen an interesting trend. “Many insurance companies are coming on board because it is in their financial interests to make sure that truck drivers are healthy. One trucking accident can cost millions, and ultimately someone has to pay up. In most cases, it’s the insurers.

“Ultimately, it really is in everyone’s interests to make sure that this project succeeds.”

Roux emphasises the social responsibility element expected of trucking companies with regard to the quality of life of their drivers, as well as other road users who are negatively affected by accidents. “There is definitely a moral high ground to be taken here,” he says. “The consequences of the ill-health of drivers are a major national problem for the industry. By getting involved in Trucking Wellness, a transport operator is strides ahead of its competitors in terms of social responsibility.

“Brand awareness is vitally important in this industry,” adds Roux. “And companies are starting to realise the value of being recognised as an organisation that cares enough about its employees to make their wellness a priority.”

UTi is one company that sees positive results of this.

“By constantly encouraging our drivers to stop at the clinics and focus on their health, well-being and wellness education, we are getting a lot of acknowledgement from within the industry for being a company that cares about its employees,” says D’Almeida.

“There has been a significant increase in the number of drivers who want to work for us, which allows us to be more selective and ensure that we get the best candidates. UTi is now recognised as a company that drivers want to work with and for, and as a leader in the industry.”

“UTi relies on its brand for recognition within the industry, and just one accident can do irreparable damage to the company’s service reputation, given that branding is always prominently displayed on the vehicle,” he adds.

Louis Hollander, human resources director at Imperial Logistics, adds: “As Imperial Logistics is the largest logistics company in South Africa, with a major responsibility toward its employees’ health, it makes sense to participate in a project that promotes better health for our employees. Employees who are not healthy are a major risk toward not only themselves if they are drivers, but also to other road users.

“Absenteeism and employee replacement costs adversely affect the company. The company benefits from Trucking Wellness, as employees are treated by their mobile clinics and do not have to take leave to go to government hospitals or clinics.”

Magretia Brown, Labour Relations manager for the Road Freight Association, concludes: “Trucking Wellness results in healthy employees, a prolonged employment relationship and increased productivity, which in turn has a positive effect on the overall performance of the business, and the South African economy on the one hand.

“On the other hand, it also provides for a healthy individual, with an enhanced personal and family life,” she says.

“Driver well-being is obviously a primary focus point in this industry because [drivers] play such an important primary role.

“However, many other employees are also relied on in this industry, and as such the programmes are managed in such a way that they can reach and serve any employee within the industry,” she adds.

Trucking Wellness provides the ideal solution to a growing issue at no cost to companies themselves. The clinic services are free to the drivers (and anyone who may require them), so companies can address the well-being of their drivers free from financial repercussions.

Catherine Larkin

CVLC Communications