Health & Wellbeing: How to Ensure You Stay Healthy on the Road

Health and wellbeing have been a huge focus this year due to the global pandemic and the impacts it has had on every individual. Obviously, looking after yourself and your health should always be a priority, but we understand it can be difficult to stay healthy when you’re on the road every day.

Hauliers and truckers fuel the nation and it’s important that they are fuelled in the very same way. Here are some tips to ensure you stay healthy on the road.

A Guide to Looking After Your Health Whilst on the Move

Sanitise Your Vehicle

How often do you clean and disinfect your vehicle? As germs can live on so many surfaces, it’s important to regularly sanitise the inside of your vehicle to ensure they don’t get transferred from the outside. Every time you visit a rest stop, petrol station or services, make sure to wipe down your steering wheel, gear stick, dashboard, and seats.

Stock Up on Hand Sanitiser

Make sure you keep stocked up on hand sanitiser as this will also reduce the spread of germs within your vehicle. When you think about how many different surfaces you come into contact with every day, it’s important to keep your hands clean and sanitised. Especially when delivering to a variety of clients and handling several loads on a daily basis.

Look Out for COVID Hotspots

When you’re travelling around the country with your job, it’s vital you do your research regarding cities and countries you will be visiting. This is to ensure you keep updated with COVID hotspots before you deliver or stop for rest breaks. If you stop in a high-risk place, always remember to sanitise everything when you get back in your vehicle and take a test as soon as you can.

Maintain a Healthy Diet

We all know that our diets have a huge impact on our wellbeing, and we understand that being on the road 24/7 can massively affect your food and drink choices. It’s easy to snack, overindulge and make unhealthy choices whilst you’re driving, but once you start a healthy diet plan and maintain it, there will be no looking back.

Take water to work with you alongside prepared lunch and snacks, so you don’t turn to the unhealthy options presented to you when you stop to rest. Remember to try and take a walk every time you stop too as a little bit of exercise goes a long way. You will feel so much better for it!

Stick to a Sleep Schedule

It is imperative that you feel rested and alert when driving, but sleep is also a vital factor in making sure your wellbeing is looked after. A good night’s sleep is just as important as exercise and diet and, although drivers’ hours regulations are in place, that doesn’t mean once the shift is over, drivers sleep straight away.

In order to get a good few hours’ sleep in, drivers should make sure to soak up the sun on their breaks, reduce blue light exposure before bed, and avoid caffeine in the hours before sleep. Don’t skimp on sleep!

Stay Healthy on the Road

All these factors above are great tips to ensure your working day and environment aligns with your health and wellbeing. In addition to getting outside to help you sleep, this is also a great idea to do every time you stop. Get your daily dose of vitamin D and stretch those legs to help you feel less lonely and tired on your trip.

At Portman Logistics, we always make sure our drivers are happy and healthy. Get in touch with us today to find out more or to ask any questions about what we can do for you.

We are currently recruiting for new drivers, so please contact us today if you are interested – We’d love to hear from you.