The Texas Department of Public Safety inspected 7,980 commercial motor vehicles during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s International Roadcheck 2018, placing nearly a quarter of those inspected out of service. Roadcheck was held June 5-7 nationwide. Results from the nationwide effort have not yet been announced.

A total of 1,975 commercial vehicles — about 24 percent of those inspected — were placed out of service for a variety of safety violations until appropriate repairs could be made, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Issues with brakes and defective tires were among the most common infractions that led to out of service violations.

Also during Roadcheck 2018, drivers were checked for complianc [...]

“It sort of resets me,” says Echols, who has been driving for 21 years, some of it over the road. “I find breathing meditation to be the simplest and most effective. I think there are benefits physically to it as well. If you concentrate on your breathing, you can’t focus on anything else.”

Echols doesn’t know any other drivers who mediate, and he suggests that the majority of truckers think meditation is “wacky, kooky stuff.” He adds that for the many drivers, meditation comes across as weakness or worse, for some, as an anti-Christian or Eastern-based religion in opposition to their own religious beliefs. “Mediation is just sitting still. If you tell people to sit still for a [...]

Truck drivers have a higher-than-average risk for diabetes, which affects over 30 million Americans. That’s largely because the sedentary nature of truck driving contributes to obesity and lack of physical activity, which increases the risk for Type 2 diabetes.

DIABETES TYPES. Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes, occurs when the body develops insulin resistance and is unable to use insulin properly. This causes an inability to regulate blood glucose levels properly, causing levels of blood glucose, or sugar, to rise too high.

Only about 5 percent of people who have diabetes have Type 1 diabetes, which is not as straightforward as Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabete [...]