Prime Inc., North America’s most successful refrigerated, flatbed and tanker trucking company, has challenged its fleet to get out of the truck and walk or run throughout the month of November. This bi-annual Walk/Run Challenge, along with its bi-annual Bicycle Challenge, the Fittest of the Fleet Competition, and the Transformation program, is part of Prime’s award-winning Driver Health and Fitness (DHF) program. More than two thousand drivers have participated in one or more of the programs, and hundreds more have used the DHF DVD to change their nutrition and exercise behaviors.
“Drivers that complete the DHF thirteen-week program are losing an average of 19.6 lbs. or 7% of their body weight,” said Siphiwe Baleka, Prime’s Driver Health and Fitness Coach. “We have had twenty-three drivers lose 30 lbs. or more, seven drivers lose 40 lbs. or more, and four drivers lose 50 lbs. or more. David Nelson lost 60 lbs. in just thirteen weeks without skipping meals.”
To get drivers to initiate more exercise into their routine, Baleka started the month long walk/run challenges. Drivers use a smart phone app to log and map their activity in a friendly competition to see who can get the most miles. According to Baleka, “We specifically chose November because that’s when the holiday season starts and people tend to gain weight. We wanted to get our drivers in shape before all of those holiday meals. We do the challenge again in April when the weather starts to break and springtime motivates us to get outside.”
Steve Thorkveen won the April challenge after logging 195 miles, ahead of Robert Odom who logged 163 miles. Leading the November challenge at the half-way point is James Peters, who also won the 29- carrier team Healthy Fleet Challenge this past July by walking more than 1 million steps.
“We track the BMI of our fleet. We offer programs and challenges at every level for our drivers. Our drivers are losing weight, preventing diabetes, coming of medications, coming off CPAP machines, keeping the weight off. We are now doing primary research on the nutritional deficiencies of our drivers and finding a solution for that, too. I just don’t think any other carrier does as much for the health and fitness of its drivers,” said Baleka. To learn more about Prime’s driver health and fitness programs, contact Siphiwe Baleka at Prime, Inc. by email at sbaleka@primeinc.com.
