4 Ways to Relieve Stress on the Road

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truck driver stress

Stress management can be a considerable challenge for many truck drivers. Many factors contribute to truck driver stress. You have to maintain constant focus on the road while spending significant time away from friends and family.

Combine this with several other demanding merchandise transport responsibilities and your job can easily become overwhelming if you don’t find effective ways to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.

Here are some beneficial tips for staying stress-free on the road.

1. Eat healthy

A healthy body directly contributes to a healthy mind. Maintaining a healthy diet can help reduce irritability and depression, as well as help you feel more awake when driving and get a better overall sleep.

Many people assume eating healthy food requires sacrificing tastiness and simply munching celery sticks for the foreseeable future (not that there’s anything wrong with celery sticks). This is not the case, however, as there are many healthier choices you can make without resorting to boring, bland snacking.

2. Sleep well to avoid fatigue

Lack of sleep can spell disaster when driving long distances. However, sometimes it’s difficult getting the necessary 6-8 hours our bodies need to stay alert and avoid becoming fatigued.

If you’re having trouble getting the right amount of sleep, here are some helpful suggestions:

  • Limit your caffeine intake and avoid it a couple hours before sleeping
  • Restrict your exposure to light before bed (phones, tablets, etc.)
  • As mentioned above, maintain a healthy diet
  • Find a truck stop and take a short nap if you start to feel overly fatigued
3. Be social

One of the main causes of stress on the road is being away from friends and family. This lack of social connection can be a factor in depression.

Be sure to check in with friends and family back home on a regular basis. Also, don’t hesitate to start a chat with fellow truckers at different truck stops.

Another great way to combat loneliness is to bring a pet with you. If your employer allows it, that is.

4. Maintain fitness

Maintaining a daily fitness routine, combined with healthy eating, is a sure-fire way to beat stress on the road. It can, however, be difficult to find the time and resources to exercise when traveling.

Regardless, you should aim to get about 15 to 30 minutes of exercise per day to relieve stress. Start with some easy exercises and modify them as you progress.

Bonus: listen to your favorite podcast or music playlist

Making a playlist full of your favorite tunes can be a great stress reliever when driving long distances. Have a favorite podcast? Listen to a couple episodes per day to keep your mind interested and engaged instead of letting it wander.

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Stop to See the World’s Largest Objects Across the Country

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worldAcross the United States, you can find a cure for on-the-road boredom as you come upon an eclectic assortment of some of the most hilarious and interesting roadside attractions – some of the world’s largest objects of random items.

Huffington Post created this awesome slideshow to highlight the “world’s largest” attractions.

One of them is right in Drive My Way’s hometown. Near the famous Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, you’ll find the world’s largest rubber stamp. Created in the ’80s, the stamp has the word “free” on the front of it.

In Cuba, Mo., a rocking chair for giants rests. Though not the world’s largest, the rocker is so incredibly tall that your semi couldn’t reach the seat.

If you’re feeling patriotic in New York, taking a trip to Lake George to see the world’s largest Uncle Sam.

Though it’s not the title character from “James and the Giant Peach ,” the “peachoid water tank” in Gaffney, S.C., owns claims to the world’s largest peach. Painted to match the state fruit, the construction required 10 million pounds of concrete.

Other favorites include the tallest filing cabinet in Burlington, Vermont, the largest Rubik’s Cube in Knoxville, Tenn., and the largest frying pan in Brandon, Iowa.

Now, go get some cool photos or video of your own by these interesting landmarks and share with us!

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Fueling Our Daily Lives

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national truck driver appreciation weekEveryday, professional truck drivers keep us all operating by delivering many of the basic necessities. We often take these for granted, such as water, food, clothing and fuel. We celebrate National Truck Driver Appreciation Week in the wake of hurricanes Harvey and Irma. It reminds us just how vital truckers are in our daily lives.

Drive My Way is committed to building a community that celebrates and supports all professional truck drivers for your sacrifice and hard work tackling one of the most demanding and vital jobs in our economy. Unlike many other careers, truck driving is a career in which your job and lifestyle are tightly woven together. With great sacrifice and commitment, truck drivers help keep us going every day, as we’ve seen with the delivery of critical supplies before, during and after hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Today, we celebrate our partnership with Pilot Flying J, the largest operator of travel centers and travel plazas in North America, committed to fueling life’s journeys for all drivers. This mission would not be possible without the thousands of Pilot Flying J drivers that transport Fuel, DEF, Crude Oil and Clean Fuel to all the travel centers, distribution points and oil fields.

Pilot Flying J is celebrating all professional truck drivers for the entire month of September. If you don’t already have the Pilot Flying J mobile app download it and become eligible for various free food and drink offers this month. Additionally, you can earn entries in their 100,000,000 Points Giveaway Sweepstakes by simply fueling up and swiping your MyRewards card.  65,000 people will win. Therefore, more than 1600 daily winners divided into 5 prize levels ($10, $25, $50, $100 and $500). Points automatically load into each winner’s loyalty account.

Help all of us celebrate each of you. Snap a pic when you win and post it on Facebook. Tag Pilot Travel Centers and DriveMyWay and include the following in your post: @PilotFlyingJ and @DriveMyWay

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Trucker Gives ‘Dead’ Cat New Lease on Life (2 Times)

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truck driver catA 3-year-old cat named BB-8 has 45-year-old truck driver Dennis McDonald to thank for his life today.

Zainab Akande of The Dodo, a website dedicated to the love of animals, tells the story. A road in hurricane-like conditions is not the friendliest place to bring your truck to a stop, but McDonald found himself doing that one morning. After his passenger pointed out a “dead” cat by the side of the road,

 

“McDonald’s intuition and sheer empathy for an animal — one he wasn’t even certain was alive — were what led to the 3-year-old cat’s chance at survival… McDonald saw that the cat was in rough shape, possibly with a broken neck or back — but regardless, he was still alive. (Another) motorist offered McDonald a box to transport him.”

And that’s just the beginning of the story. BB-8 required extensive surgery that was donated. His owner was found but couldn’t take the cat back and he was lost by his newly adopted family. Then BB-8 came back to his truck driver hero for a forever home on the road.

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10 Helpful Hints to Beat Hunger and Summer Heat On the Road

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truck driver heat exhaustionSummer means everything from beautiful drives to unbearable heat exhaustion for truck drivers. To usher in the new season, we’ve gathered a little information on healthy eating and exercise tips for the summer.

Taking care of yourself in the heat is not just a matter of health, but a matter of safety. Consider these tips from The Healthy Trucker:

Exercise in the morning or evenings if possible, avoid the hottest part of the day.

  1. Get acclimated. If you are used to exercising indoors or in cooler weather take it easy at first, give your body time to adapt to the weather change.
  2. Know your fitness level. If you are just beginning a workout regime you may have a lower tolerance to the heat.
  3. Drink plenty of fluids! Dehydration is a key factor in heat related illnesses. Keeping well hydrated helps your body sweat & cool down.
  4. Dress appropriately. Wear light weight, light colored clothing.
  5. If possible, always consider moving your workout indoors to avoid the heat, especially in extreme temperatures.

Keep an eye out this summer for problems like heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

  • Heat cramps are painful muscle contractions.
  • Heat exhaustion occurs when your body temperature rises above 104 degrees F. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, headache and cold, clammy skin.
  • Heatstroke can be life threatening. Symptoms include confusion, irregular heart rhythm, dizziness, nausea, visual problems and fatigue.

When you’re done exercising or when you’re on the road, here are a few snacks that can keep your energy up even under the summer sun as Trucker News shared:

  1. Pumpkin seeds
    Lightly roast them before a trip and keep them stored in a plastic storage bag or other container, and you’ll have a high protein snack at hand for your trip.
  2. Roasted chickpeas
    Chickpeas are a great source for protein, with just one cup of chickpeas offering 39 grams of protein, according to the USDA.
  3. Greek yogurt and granola
    Add granola to Greek yogurt, which has about 10 grams of protein for every 100 grams, and you’ve got a delicious high protein snack.
  4. Hummus dippers in a jar
    In a Mason jar or similar container, add hummus to the bottom and then add cut-up carrot sticks and celery sticks. Put the lid on and store it inside your cooler or your truck’s refrigerator. Depending on the amount of space in your cooler, you could make a few of these up before a trip to have on hand.
  5. Mixed nuts
    Toss some of your favorite types of nuts in a plastic food storage bag and you’ve got your own personalized trail mix for the road.

How to Protect Yourself from the Sun Over the Road as a Truck Driver 

Download the complete guide for 5 easy tips for sun protection while on the road.

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Furry Friend Helps One Driver Hear on the Road

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Truck driver Pete Kleckner and Snickers are practically inseparable both on and off the road. Source: Overdrive Online

Pete Kleckner and his dog Snickers have a relationship that is extra special, even for pet owners. The truck driver depends on Snickers for more than just cuddles. The highly trained service dog is his ears on and off the road.

According to a feature in Overdrive Online,

“The independent contractor from Crookston, Minn., never leaves home without his good buddy. The dog has been trained to respond to five sounds: an alarm clock, intruders, fire alarms (and strobes) door knocks, door bells and back in the day, a landline phone. When they arrive at the truck stop and she hears anything outside she doesn’t like, she will bark or put a paw on him. If someone is outside the truck trying to talk to him, Snickers will alert him.”

Snickers accompanies Kleckner, who is deaf, almost everywhere he goes on his route. She joins him at rest stops and restaurants. One of the few exceptions? Shipping docks. As Kleckner says, those are “too cold.”

While not all human-animal trucking teams include a service animals like Snickers, Kleckner and his dog are part of a growing number of drivers who are bringing their furry friends on the road – a perk allowed by some trucking companies and appreciated by independent owner-operators.

Like their humans, pets can’t do a long drive without breaks to stretch their legs. Apex Capital Corp. notes that “most TA and Petro Shopping Centers offer dedicated areas for pets that need some exercise or a rest break … Waste bags and trash receptacles are also available for easy cleanup.”

What else do you need to know about pet friendly rest stops from Apex Capital Corp. before you hit the road? “Iowa 80 (Walcott, Iowa) does not currently allow pets inside the main buildings, however it does offer a Dogomat Pet Wash, which is self-served and open 24 hours.”

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How to Switch Sweat for Showers for Drivers on the Road

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showerbag-onegirltruckingYou’ve been on the road all day, finally pull into a much-needed rest stop where you plan to shower and clean up before dropping off a load. But the shower is broken or looks like might actually get you dirtier.

Maintaining good hygiene on the road can be difficult. That’s why Bethany from One Girl Trucking offers a few suggestions get rid of the grime. Step one is to be prepared.

“I keep a messenger bag as my go-to shower bag loaded up with all of my essentials in my truck at all times, so that I do not have to remember to throw a bag in the truck each week I go out or repack said bag because I will always forget something.”

As you know, not all rest stops are created equal. Petro and TA Truck Stops often receive high marks for shower quality. At these stops, drivers automatically receive two free towels and a bath mat. In her article, Bethany cautions against Love’s and Pilot/Flying J stations because they have significantly fewer showers available.

What can you do when no showers are available and you’re running short of time?

Bethany recommends:

“Keep facial wipes handy along with action wipes for quick, good smelling, adult-sized body wipes. Also, the best thing about these wipes are that they will not make you smell like a baby and they are perfect for a quick shower without having to use actual water.”

Have your own suggestions? Share them with us here, we’d love to hear from you!

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Duty vs. Daddy: One Trucker’s Story of Finding Work-Life Balance

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With long stretches on the road and only short, intense bursts of time at home, maintaining work-life balance comes as a challenge. Veteran trucker Trent McCain took the extra time to connect with his daughter in the cutest way possible.

Shaun Cronin of Irish Examiner tells the story of How McCain’s 9 year old daughter, Joselyn, struggled to find a babysitter for her doll, Abbie, so she called on “Grandpa Trent” for help.

McCain reported on Facebook that “he didn’t want his daughter thinking he’d neglected the doll all day.”

McCain certainly made sure we wouldn’t forget about him or Abbie. According to the Irish examiner, to assure Joselyn that Abbie was in good hands, he posted pictures of his trip throughout the day. Read more here.

McCain isn’t alone in his efforts to balance work and family time. Countless drivers invest in both their jobs and families. Roadmaster Trucking School offers a few fun ideas for CDL truckers working on building and maintaining strong family connections.

  1. Postcards and letters: Handwritten notes are rare. So, taking the time to write a short, meaningful note brighten your child’s day.
  2. Social Media: McCain used Facebook to share pictures and moments from his daily life, with family and friends. Social media is particularly useful if you’re crossing time zones because you don’t need to coordinate meeting times.
  3. Home Time: When you are at home, use the time to do something memorable. In addition, avoid missing important moments in your children’s lives. Helping yourself and your kids savor the moments together make the moments apart easier.

A work-life balance is an important part of being a CDL driver.  Let us help you find yours. Drive My Way lets you select lifestyle preferences to find the best jobs that fit your needs. Register here to get started!

What Lights This Trucker’s Fire? Barbecue, of Course

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You may have heard it said “Watch and learn.” For truck driver Craig Grubb, barbecue is an entirely different matter—one where watching and learning is serious business.

Grubb’s Rub

“I watch the Pitmasters shows on TV. That’s where I learned to blend my own spices,” says Grubb, who also scours recipes online routinely.

If the truth be told, Grubb, a company driver for Smith Transport out of Roaring Springs, Pa., is a talented pitmaster in his own right. He makes his own barbecue sauces, experiments with sauces he finds at mom-and-pop shops and even created his own secret dry rub blend. In fact, the recipe is so secret, he won’t share it with anyone.

Grubb loves hosting pig roasts for his friends in the summer.

Firing up the Barbie

Grubb does however confess he often coats his meats with yellow mustard before adding a layer of his dry rub to them. The vinegar base in the mustard helps tenderize the meat, explains Grubb, who knows a thing or two about barbecue.

And he should. After all, he’s barbecued for more than 20 years. An aficionado of smoking everything from pork ribs and brisket to game birds and pork shoulder, Grubb immerses himself in recipes and research and prides himself on his technique.

“Everyone barbecued when I grew up, so I started doing it myself,” recalls Grubb, a CDL driver for 30 years, born into the business.

“Barbecuing is a big hobby,” Grubb adds.

Grubb’s smoked pork shoulder

At the Grubb household, big hobbies call for big gatherings.

Whether it’s a full-on pig roast or not, Grubb fires up the smoker, invites friends and family over to share in the feast, and a party ensues. In addition, Grubb brings leftovers on the road with him.

Grubb shares advice about smoking meats, too. To keep your meats from drying out, continually fill up your water pan, he says. Always smoke your meats “low and slow” at about 220 degrees. Have patience. Also, perhaps most importantly, “have friends willingly try what you cook,” Grubb advises.

“Having friends makes up a big part of it,” he says. A sense of community comes together around barbecue.”

Smoked corned beef

Also, Grubb recalls fondly the time last year he smoked two pork shoulders and built a big bonfire for friends and family in attendance.

“If you come to one of my barbecues and you go away hungry, it’s your own fault,” he says.

With Memorial Day right around the corner, we want to know what type of cooking gets you fired up, drivers. Connect with us here and share your specialty with us for a chance to be featured on Drive My Way.

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Percy, the Trucker Cat: Lost and Found

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mprnews.orgWe saw this story on MPRnews.org and immediately thought it would resonate with our audience of CDL truck drivers. If you have a trucking job or a pet, you will love this story!

The story of Percy begins, as all great stories do, at a rest stop in Ohio.

Truck driver Paul Robertson and Percy had been constant companions in the truck’s cab for over a year. The two live in the truck, and have clocked thousands of miles together, after Robertson adopted Percy from a Twin Cities animal rescue. Percy settled right into the trucking life.

“He’s just great, he’s the calmest,” Robertson told MPR News host Tom Weber.

Robertson even built Percy a platform so he could ride shotgun and look out the window. The orange cat spent many an afternoon basking in the sun on the dashboard, and picking up an internet following. Robertson frequently shared photos of Percy’s life on the road on Facebook.

But when Robertson woke up the next morning at the Ohio truck stop, the passenger window was down and Percy was gone.

This had happened before — typically when there was a bird outside. Percy, through either sheer luck or impressive levels of cat ingenuity, would step on the controls and roll his own window down.

Panic set in.

“I don’t know if he’s been gone five minutes or an hour or three hours,” Robertson said. “I do the classic parent thing: I grab the food bag and I went around the truck. Shake, shake, shake. Calling: ‘Percy! Percy Percy!'”

No Percy. Not a meow. Not a peep.

Robertson scoured the rest stop, shaking the bushes and traipsing through scrub. The weather report compounded his fear: A storm was coming. Temperatures were dropping.

Devastated, Robertson went on Facebook. “This day can totally eat it,” he wrote. Percy was missing.

“Within minutes, I got texts from Sweden, from Portland, Ore.,” Robertson said. With his photography, he’d built a large community around the country and the world, specifically with roller derby players. He loves to photograph the sport.

Suddenly, people were offering to call all the nearby shelters on his behalf, and one person even showed up at the rest stop to help search for the cat.

After a fitful night of sleep in the truck, Robertson had to move on.

mprnews.orgPeople assured him they would keep looking. They would put out traps. Percy was chipped. He’d done everything he could.

“I just felt so low,” Robertson said of pulling out from the truck stop. He gets choked up even talking about. “I suddenly felt like I was abandoning my child. Man, that really sucked.”

He made his first delivery without Percy, at a factory. Then he made his second, to a mining plant in Indiana. He’d now driven 400 miles without his cat co-pilot.

In the mining plant yard, he went to get the paperwork for his next run.

“I’m feeling as low as a snail’s belly,” he said. “I grab the paper, I turned around, and I look. I think: Here’s a stray cat coming out from under my truck. … It doesn’t remotely register to me. I’m thinking my cat is 400 miles behind me, dying in the snow.”

Then he looked again.

“I suddenly recognize him. He just looks up at me with the big eyes, like: ‘Dad?'”

Robertson scooped him up.

“I took him into the truck and we cuddled and snuggled and he was rubbing his face on me,” Robertson said. “Oh my gosh, he stunk.”

Percy had hidden underneath the cab of Robertson’s truck for more than 400 miles, through the rain and the snow and two deliveries. He reeked of diesel ash. If cats really do have 9 lives, Robertson said, that surely shaved one off for Percy.

His best guess is that Percy found a space on top of the transmission, on the frame or by the fuel tanks.

“He found a spot, wedged himself in, and clearly wasn’t coming out for nothing,” Robertson said.

That night, just after midnight on February 26, he logged back onto Facebook.

“CALL OFF THE SEARCH!!! PERCY IS OKAY!!!” he wrote. He thanked everyone for their help, and signed off: “This little orange furry soul means the world to me. Thank you for caring about him too.”

Read the full original story here.

Do you have a great pet story of your own? Connect with us here and tell us about it for a chance to be featured on Drive My Way!

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