A Trucker’s Burden: What Stress?

Article written by Tim Miller, CNS

How stressful is your job? Do you think about it while off the clock?

Does it make you anxious thinking about what you have to do tomorrow when you are trying to settle down and eat dinner? Should it? And if so, what do you do to deal with that stress?

Stress tolerance and management are pivotal for people working in high stress environments.

Truck driving, while not ranked in most news articles like lawyers, first responders, and medical practitioners, is a career well known for being prone to stressful situations and burnout.

Let’s understand the stress that trucker’s face.

Studies show majority of truckers deal with moderate to high stress

A new study by DAT Freight & Analytics has found that almost 75% of truck drivers find their jobs physically and emotionally stressful. The survey from 2023 was composed of 504 truck drivers, 337 of whom were owner-operators(meaning they owned the trucks they drove), and revealed the conditions that lead to stress on the road.

Conducted by Censuswide, the survey was of 438 men, 64 women. On a 5 point rating scale, with 1 being not at all and 5 being extremely stressful, the drivers were asked to rate their stress during an average day. 72% responded with moderate(3) to extreme(5). A third of them reported that they worked(not necessarily drove) over 48 hours a week, with 10% reporting over 100 hours in a given week. With only 168 hours in a week, it makes managing sleep, socializing, and general non-work life a daunting task.

A study in 2012 by Shatell et al shared another rising issue revolving around the stressful life of a truck driver. In their survey of a random sample of 316 male truckers between the ages of 23 and 76, they found:

• 54% of Drivers miss time with friends and family
• 54% of truck drivers spend less than 24 hours a week at home
• 63% of truckers cook meals in their truck two to six days a week
• 37% eat fast food two to three days a week
• 63% of truckers sleep 6 hours or less per night, and
• 38% of truck drivers say they take medication to help them sleep.

All of these statistics clearly show a pattern in the average trucker.

Yet all these statistics show are the reflections of what truckers have been dealing with for decades now, a freeing life on the road anchored by the stressful double edged sword it brings with loneliness, heavy workloads, and a thin support system or no support system at all.

What systems have been put into place to assist these drivers in better management of their work-life balance?

Additionally what systems have been put into place to manage the stressors of their job that they carry off the clock?

A truck driver doesn’t stop being a truck driver when their hours of service run out and they are in the sleeper berth. A truck driver doesn’t stop being a truck driver when they finally finish ferrying a load and get a brief respite at home before beginning the cycle again.

The trucking industry is the backbone of the commercial trade, and the truck driver is the backbone of the trucking industry. Lose the driver, and the industry itself is on unstable ground.

Laws and regulations can only go so far as to tell a driver how long they can drive without stopping, whether it be by hours, miles, or shifts in a given time period.

The regulations are there to ensure a work-life balance is possible, but it doesn’t follow the truck driver into their non-work life to assist in the areas where work still follows.

There are no regulations in place to assist drivers with mental and physical health outside of fitness testing. A truck driver is left to their own devices to manage the toll their work takes on them after they clock out.

Issues that arise from stress

Stress is a silent killer, of both careers and people. When money is a pivotal factor, stress becomes how much you can tolerate and not talk about.

Take this hypothetical scenario:

A truck driver during their average day is in the middle of taking a load from Ohio to Nebraska. They are within their hours of service time, but during the trip, they are witness to a harrowing accident between a truck and a silver SUV involving a fatality. They give their statement to the police, and continue on with their trip. Now every time the truck driver sees a silver SUV, their hands clam up, they get flashbacks of the accident, and they are hyper aware of the vehicles every move.

Would this truck driver be able to recognize the symptoms of PTSD? Would they have a company and industry supporting them to treat the conditions instead of punishing them for it?

When it is in a person’s best interest to hide a condition rather than treat it, the problem lies in the system fostering the idea that mental illnesses are an unfit condition and disqualifies one from being able to make a living.

Especially if that system is causing those illnesses in the first place.

There are clear guidelines and regulations given by the FMCSA to disqualify drivers on the grounds of psychiatric mental disorders and an assortment of cognitive impairments related to medications to treat disorders.

While disorders that impair cognitive function and are too risky to allow for someone to be behind the wheel of a giant 80k pound truck, unfortunately, there are no guidelines in place to help prevent truckers from developing some of these disorders in the first place.

Overwhelming stress can easily factor in the development of depressive and anxiety disorders. And while treatment by medical professionals allow for drivers to still be considered fit, drivers are still left to figure out how to cope in their own time.

Coping mechanisms in handling those stressors are only punitive in the extreme cases where truck drivers might turn to illegal substances or alcohol off duty to relieve their conditions.

Removing drivers from duty due to illegal substances, driving under the influence, etc. Mandating a SAP program to allow convicted drivers to rehabilitate and gain fit for duty status again.

These are all reactive procedures for when the driver is already shown to have disabling disorders or coping processes that put others at risk.

What could FMCSA do better to assist drivers in their time off the clock to mitigate the stress of work and maybe even stop these conditions from developing before they start?

In an industry that is heavily regulated in every phase, from how many markers are needed on a truck to what kind of receipt is acceptable for fuel tax recordkeeping, they are surprisingly lax in how to handle stress outside of hours of service and what proper procedure could be in place for maintaining driver fitness.

There is plenty to show what is fit, how to test for it, but nothing on how to protect the fitness of the driver.

We’ve come a long way in fighting off the stigma of mental health and therapy. Truck drivers are well known to be considered “macho,” “gritty,” and “tough” based on the rigors of the job, but just like first responders, are subject to more stress than the average worker.

Mental health counseling could be a mitigating factor in handling the day to day stress of a truck driver.

In the previous scenario, that truck driver who showed clear signs of PTSD could resort to alcohol to manage his jitters and fears around silver SUVs, and if left untreated, could cause the driver to maybe take a nip of alcohol before work to help the nerves, and eventually even drink openly while driving to completely stop the traumatic feelings.

This same driver could have been flagged by either their company or the FMCSA to speak with a mental health professional either alone or with other truck drivers to talk about their experience.

Simply having a means to process trauma in a healthy way, could be the coping method that separates a future SAP driver from a driver who got help for his extreme stress. Even without an actual mental health professional, providing social support outside of work also meets a need for many truckers that are suffering from the loneliness of the road.

It doesn’t take a singular traumatic event to push a driver from fit for duty into a driver managing under duress. Tolerance for stress does not equate “macho” or “tough,” it is simply delaying true processing. Just because a driver “could” seek mental health services on their off hours, doesn’t mean they will. Especially if their sleep, social life, and overall health is already off balance.

Men in general have long been subjected to the stigmas of sharing their feelings, emotions, struggles, and weaknesses. There is more to lose in standing both socially and professionally in their eyes when admitting faults.

Tim Miller, CNS

A societal shift in tone has taken years to fight this stigma and will need to continue in areas that still cling to the notions of feelings and mental health do not equal masculinity.

When off work social sites of men consist of bars and sporting events, it is easy to find a popular coping method of choice being alcohol. While toeing into the personal lives of truck drivers would be subject to much disdain, there is a balance to be found.

Hopefully in the near future we can see the FMCSA undertake a restructuring of priorities and align with this shift in tone when it comes to mental health and driver fitness.

What can be done to help?

• Identify the stressors that the industry creates and finding a means to mitigate those stresses.
• Where time and money are of the essence, find ways to incentivize managing stress where the driver does not have to lose sleep, time with family, or money.
• Take a less punitive reactive approach, and a more rewarding, proactive approach towards protecting the drivers that keep the industry running.
• Create a campaign towards educating drivers on the benefits of therapy, a healthy diet, and good sleep in an industry where speed, convenience, and sacrifice are the norm.
• Spotlight an industry where mental health goes hand in hand with safety of both the driver and the public.

Imagine an industry where drivers are able to unwind their day, speak about the things that are stressing them out, and are given proper tools and strategies to handle these stressors, or even get rid of them altogether.

To even get to that point however, a truck driver must feel safe to even admit these problems without fear of judgement or repercussions. Safety, while acutely focused on physically in the transportation industry, has a long way to go to be supported properly.

DOT Compliance Programs (PSM)

At CNS, our DOT Compliance Programs focus on Proactive Safety Management (PSM),a mindset that will ensure your fleet’s safety and compliance is always in order and ahead of the FMCSA.

Our PSM Motor Carrier Program includes:

• ELD management
• Driver Qualification File Management
• New driver on-boarding
• Driver safety meetings
• CSA score management
• Policies and handbooks
• Vehicle maintenance
• and more