Rolling safely on 18 wheels

By Cavan DaPonte, AMTA Driver Developer

Personal safety today looks very different than in the pre-pandemic world, and for many is  unrecognizable.

The use of face masks and nitrile gloves originating in medical clinics, emergency rooms, and hospitals have now come out of the clinics, emergency rooms and hospitals and have become the norm for convenience and grocery store employees, money handlers and typical pedestrians on our next-to-bare streets and highways. We, as a transportation community, are the face of the frontline in the battle against COVID-19 tasked with moving the necessities of our daily lives across international borders and throughout our communities. One day, it will be our drivers who distribute the vaccines putting an end to this pandemic for the entire world.

What does personal safety look like right now for the transportation industry? Social distancing, personal isolation, heightened hygiene, an increased level of knowledge, and a greater level of kindness has been what we all – as Canadians – have been asked to do. Some may argue the understanding and kindness parts of that list weren’t asked of us, but it’s just what we, as Canadians, do best. Society is currently responding to truckers and the transport industry positively, emphasizing the importance of getting supplies where they need to go in the timeliest manner; however, if we don’t prioritize the importance of our own health and safety as truckers, our “superhero” capes will quickly deflate, leaving drivers self-isolating or, even worse, laying ill in a hospital bed.

With that in mind, here are some important techniques and tips to implement into your daily routine to help ensure you and your wheels keep rolling. The novel coronavirus targets the respiratory tract of its host leaving them short of breath as the exchange of oxygen in the lungs is hindered. Some deep breathing exercises throughout the course of your daily driving should be easy to accomplish in the cab of your truck. Take time to fill your lungs fully to capacity and expel all the stale air from the deepest reaches of your lung; do this often, and repeatedly throughout your day. Increase your consumption of warm, clear, caffeine-free fluids to help prevent the virus from nesting in the mucosal lining of your mouth, nasal passages, and throat this will also assist with maintaining a proper hydration level, which is always key in illness prevention. Circulate the air in the cab of your truck frequently; opening the driver window and passenger side sleeper berth vent can move the air in the cab of your truck very quickly which is helpful to get rid of stale air that can harbor bacteria. Of course, all the tips mentioned here are to be performed along with the requested increased handwashing, use of hand sanitizers, and wiping down of the surfaces of your cab with disinfectant wipes or sprays and while avoiding touching your face.

Using respirator masks and nitrile gloves as an added barrier to bacteria and viruses is a great measure to take as long as they are used correctly; the benefit of wearing gloves is lost if they are worn in public or touch public items (e.g., pens, countertops, doorknobs) and then not changed before re-entering personal space, such as the cab of your truck. Failing to change out personal protective equipment (PPE), and disposing of them accordingly, while transitioning environments can cause a cross-contamination and introduce germs into your personal environment. Masks have a maximum efficiency time limit of 45 minutes before they become saturated with droplet formation which decreases their effectiveness and defeats the purpose of their use. Surfaces that should be disinfected include (but are not limited to) fuel or fleet cards, cellular devices, CB radio handsets, pens, logbook/document cases, cab door handles, wallet and credit cards, and identification cards or licenses. Hazards present themselves to humans in a fast and ever-changing manner these days; while we all have the right to refuse unsafe work, we can also control many of the safety risks related to recently emerging health issues. Knowledge is power and education is the highway to that power. If we all make it our individual responsibility to act on the education being provided to us from all directions, we will reach a solution to COVID-19 at a much greater rate with the transportation industry as the cavalry in this war we all face. Stay healthy everyone, our safety rolls with you.