The first thing you need to acknowledge is the risk involved with being a truck driver. It does no good to you or your family to deny the physical demands of driving a truck professionally or the toll that these demands place on your body.

Ok, that's the bad news. The good news is that there is something you can do as a professional truck driver about your own health and wellness. The question is: will you?

It has often been said that there are two types of people:

• those who let things happen and
• those who make things happen.

Some professional drivers are more accustomed to doing physical exercises than others. One driver whose truck we saw had a trucker bike on the back of his tractor. Evidently, he rides as part of his health and wellness regimen.

In case you're wondering, neither of us grew up in households where exercise was highly valued. It has always been challenging for us to incorporate any kind of exercise regimen in our lives, especially as professional drivers.

Team drivers have an even more intense challenge because they can roll their rigs down the road around the clock, leaving limited time and even more limited space for health and wellness concerns.

Plan to join us as we provide more information on these topics in the days to come:

• body weight issues, including the so-called definitions of being "overweight" and "obese";
• fighting fatigue, sources of energy, and caffeine stimulants;
• injuries that are common to truck drivers (including some listed above);
• stretching, body weight exercises and other exercises for those with limited time and space;
• fatty foods and their alternatives;
• the costs of using tobacco and the benefits of quitting smoking;
• how to sleep better;
• the under-diagnosed problem of sleep apnea, what snoring may mean and devices to give better sleep (including a CPAP machine);
• the importance of drinking water (and even how you can use water vending machines to bottle your own less expensively);
• tips on how to build your own first aid kit less expensively; 
• having your health and contact info up to date in case of a medical emergency; and
• work place safety.

Unless they are sick, many people tend to take their health and wellness for granted. After all, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," right? The problem with that kind of thinking is that even though something "ain't broke" right now, there are cumulative effects.

Today's pack of cigarettes, lack of exercise, or choice of "chocolate milk and a honey bun" for a meal instead of nutritious food may not hurt you today. But they can take a toll on you eventually. Have you priced the cost of medical care following a stroke, heart attack or cancer recently?

You do preventive maintenance on your truck, right? Why not do what you can for your own health and wellness to reap the same kind of benefit in your body? Long after you retire your truck, hopefully your body will be going strong.

If you're like most professional drivers, you don't have the time – nor are you home often enough -- to take advantage of a gym membership. But you don't need one! You can do body weight exercises that take very little or no equipment whatsoever. You can achieve your fitness and money saving goals at the same time.