FAT LORRY DRIVERS...

Good day to you. So there I am, lying on my bed reading Truck & Driver and I come across a piece about a subject close to my heart. If you visit this website then you will know full well how much I try to prove to drivers that eating well is a simple important task. This particular piece in T&D is about Mercedes and their efforts to design trucks for the obese. Apparently 42% of lorry drivers in the UK have a waist of over 38 inches.

The article details how Mercedes go about designing trucks for the overweight. Fine, a truck should be designed for all its users. But it got me thinking why don't they do something about stopping drivers getting fat, then, oh wait, I see a bit about this very thing. Well done Mercedes, lets see, what is it you are gonna do.....

Oh, put a few faddy exercise gadgets in there. And charge a hundred quid for them. Now fine, no other manufacturer seems to be doing anything at all, but this is just pathetic I'm sorry. This relies on bosses buying this daft equipment, when many in UK buy the cheapest of bog standard trucks, but also on drivers using it. The chances of either thing happening? Tiny.

But it's easy to criticise and not provide alternative solutions. So I shall try. As any fan of exercise will tell you the actual exercise part of the equation is about 20%, the other 80%? Diet. Eating well, healthily, properly. What stops drivers doing this? Their circumstances. In the UK it is very hard to eat well if you rely on truckstops and the like, so whats the alternative? Yes, self catering, which is what I do 99% of the time. BUT, and its a big but, it takes effort, and this is because European trucks have zero thought put into them for this purpose. You might get a fridge, if the boss is feeling generous, or even a microwave, but thats generally it. And this stops most drivers cooking for themselves. If the likes of Mercedes really wanted to improve the lot of drivers they wouldn't waste their time coming up with some pointless expensive gadgets that drivers wont use, much less bosses pay for. In long haul trucks fridges should be standard at least. The fact you can spend the best part of £100k on some trucks and still have to pay extra for a fridge is pretty rubbish. And then if you do get a fridge its often tiny, with barely the space for milk and a couple of drinks. Secondly build areas into trucks that can be used for cooking, putting things down, preparing food. No truck has anything remotely like this at the moment, and that's pathetic. Put a hot pan or kettle down anywhere in a modern lorry and you'll melt something

I can't see any of this happening though. Most truck designers just seem to think you need a bed, two seats and a dash and the job is done. Trucks are getting better but still after so many years of big cabs the layout is still really stuck in its ways. Why cant anyone think outside the box a little and actually design a truck with a good usable interior, `i know the manufacturers can, you see them show them off, but they all price them out of the market. All the pointless exercise thing will do is make drivers fatter, because people will eat more thinking they can as they 'exercise now'. Build us usable trucks people.