Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Truck Driver Lifestyle

When it comes to your well-being and personal care, being a truck driver is no different than any other profession. A truck driver’s diet, exercise routine, skincare, and sleep patterns play a vital role in their overall health. The problem is that most other professions don’t leave workers confined to a truck cab during long-haul runs without being able to stand, stretch, or meal prep. 

There are several ways you can take care of yourself and improve your truck driver lifestyle, including:

We get it—a greasy burger, french fries, and a giant soda are cheap, convenient, and tasty. But they’re also not part of a truck driver’s diet that promotes health. Healthy meals for truck drivers might seem like more trouble than they’re worth, but they’re as simple as making better decisions.

Instead of grabbing bags of chips, candy, or doughnuts, consider fresh fruits and vegetables. Most filling stations keep fresh produce on hand, a luxury that wasn’t afforded to many drivers in the recent past. Replacing sugary sodas and juices with iced tea and water can also make a difference in your truck driver lifestyle. 

One of the easiest ways to avoid junk foods from truck stops and fast food joints is to prepare meals before you head out on the road. If you have a mini-fridge in your truck, you should be able to store enough meals to keep you satisfied for up to a week. 

Pairing your favorite fruit with freshly prepared meals like salads, grilled chicken with rice, or turkey wraps also helps you cut your travel times down by eliminating the need to stop. And believe us, once you’ve tasted the freedom of a healthy truck driver diet, every day is a sundae.

After a long stretch of hauling oversized equipment across the country, you’re bound to feel the effects of being confined to your truck. Your back probably aches, your knees sound like a bag of microwave popcorn when you stand up, and your neck is stiffer than a clutch with a lousy cross shaft. Some people say that’s just part of the truck driver lifestyle, but we disagree.

A quick and effective way to avoid the downsides of being in the seated position for several hours of service is stretching. We’re not suggesting you become a yoga and pilates master, but we recommend simple movements like bending, extending, and straightening. As little as 15 minutes of stretching a day can keep you looser than Gumby in the summer sun. 

If you want to stay limber and comfortable during long rides, here are some basic stretches for truck drivers:

• Neck and arm rotations
• Shoulder and chest pulls
• Wrist bends
• Hamstring hurdler stretches
• Lunges
• Quad extensions

It doesn’t take a rack full of weights and a gym stocked with treadmills to get your exercise in. Working out while trucking isn’t the easiest thing to do, but it is critical to maintaining a healthy truck driver lifestyle. Spending 10 to 20 minutes taking a brisk walk or jog helps revive your body and get oxygen pumping through your system. If you have room in your rig’s cab, you can also store a few dumbbells or free weights. 

Working out while trucking is as simple as taking five minutes to exercise with a few pieces of equipment or performing simple moves, like:

• Dumbbells
• Kettlebells
• Resistance bands
• Jump ropes
• Situps 
• Pushups
• Squats
• Planks

Sitting in the driver’s seat making your way across America isn’t exactly a day at the beach, but it does leave your skin susceptible to sun damage. Prolonged exposure to the sun is one of the most overlooked negatives of the truck driver lifestyle. Unless you’ve taken proactive steps to install UV radiation blocking tints, you should protect yourself with sunscreen.

The left side of your body is especially vulnerable because the driver’s side window and windshield offer little protection during the daylight hours. If you don’t take the necessary precautions, sunburns can leave your cheeks feeling like Will Smith just heard you make a joke about his wife.

It’s easy to get caught up trying to fit in fun activities, errands, and meals, but getting a solid night’s sleep is essential to the truck driver lifestyle. The benefits of a balanced truck driver diet and a stretching and exercise routine diminish if you’re running on fumes. 

To get undisturbed rest, there are simple steps you can take, including:

• Keep comfortable pillows and bedding on hand.
• Use dark curtains to keep sunlight out.
• If parked in a high-traffic or noisy area, play white noise or put in noise-canceling earplugs.
• Follow a sleep schedule as best you can.
• Get tested for sleep apnea if you wake up out of breath or feel like you’re choking yourself awake.