Trucking Organization and Mental Health Disorders of Truck Drivers

Abstract

There are over 3 million truck drivers employed in the commercial transportation and material moving occupations, one of the largest occupational groups in the United States. Workers in this large and growing occupational segment are at risk for a range of occupational health-induced conditions, including mental health and psychiatric disorders due to high occupational stress, low access and use of health care, and limited social support. The purpose of this study was to explore male truck drivers' mental health risks and associated comorbidities, using a cross-sectional and quantitative design. Data were collected from a random sample of 316 male truckers between the ages of 23 and 76 at a large truck stop located within a 100-mile radius of Greensboro, North Carolina, USA, using a self-administered 82-item questionnaire. Surveyed truckers were found to have significant issues affecting their mental health, such as loneliness (27.9%), depression (26.9%), chronic sleep disturbances (20.6%), anxiety (14.5%), and other emotional problems (13%). Findings have potential to help researchers develop interventions to improve the emotional and occupational health of truck drivers, a highly underserved population. Mental health promotion, assessment, and treatment must become a priority to improve the overall trucking environment for truckers, the transportation industry, and safety on US highways.

Alcohol Consumption, Smoking, Job Stress and Road Safety in Professional Drivers

“…Furthermore, obtained differences in terms of Job Strain between drivers in both clusters (i.e., higher Job Strain rates for participants in cluster number 1) result consistent to other empirical research documenting the critical relationships existing between: a) job stress and both addressed addictive behaviors [34, 78,79], b) job stress and traffic accidents [49,80,81], and c) addictive behaviors such as alcohol consumption, lifestyle factors and safety outcomes [81,82]. It also suggests the need for the development of comprehensive interventions on psychosocial factors at work, keeping in mind the recent growing evidence on the impact of working conditions and its related processes, such as fatigue [83], burnout [52] and social support [84], contributing to the emergence of new risks for health [85], and welfare of professional drivers [86].…”

Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Health-Related Factors, and Long Distance Heavy Vehicle Crashes in Western Australia: A Case Control Study

“…20 Shattell et al found that a large proportion of drivers with depression do not seek professional treatment. 21 Bulmash et al also reported that patients with untreated depression displayed significantly slower steering reaction times and experienced a significantly increased number of crashes in a driving simulator compared to those without depression. 22 In Australia, the 12-month prevalence of affective disorders, including depression in adults aged 16 to 85 years is 6.2% overall and 5.3% for males.…”

Buprenorphine/naloxone maintenance for “poppy husk” dependence: A retrospective study

“…This finding is significant from the point of view that majority of the patients were truck drivers by occupation. Truck drivers have been consistently found to be working in difficult conditions and having significantly greater fatigue and mental comorbidity (Sabbagh‐Ehrlich, Friedman, & Richter, ; Shattell, Apostolopoulos, Collins, Sönmez, & Fehrenbacher, ). Understandably, abuse of natural opiates, particularly poppy husk, has been found to be significantly greater among Indian truck drivers (Karia et al, ).…”