Destinations Magazine - November/December 2017 - 8

FAST
LANE | TRENDS

First alert for travel news

Rolling Strong ... and Healthy
Personal coaches inspire drivers to shed weight
and boost stamina

"Y

ou are the true road
athlete. Put the right
fuel in your body.
Maintain it the way
you maintain your vehicle. Look at all
the preventative technologies in your
motorcoach such as camera systems
and collision avoidance. What preventative health steps are you taking in
your own life?"
That's the message Bob Perry, COO
and founder of Rolling Strong, wants
bus drivers and motorcoach operators to
heed. His company offers driver wellness
programs to trucking and bus companies
that can help reverse the declining health
of America's commercial drivers.
ABA member Greyhound has been
a client for four years. Major clients in
the trucking industry include Covenant
Transport and R+L Carriers. Rolling
Strong is Cigna Health Insurance's exclusive provider for its transportation clients.
"I'm from a family of truck drivers," says
Perry. "Passion drives me to help men and
women who drive buses and trucks."
Rolling Strong provides each of its
clients' drivers with personal CDL coaches,
all of whom have wellness certificates. All
coaches are either former drivers or have
an industry connection via a family member. The company teams with nationwide
grocery chains, whose 11,000 locations
have pharmacies and automated healthcheck stations where drivers can have their
blood pressure and blood sugar tested and
check their weight.
Wellness coaches are available in
person, by phone, and via Rolling Strong's
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/ NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2017

smartphone app. The platform also gives
drivers advice on making healthy food
choices and contains workout videos.
"I'm a huge fan of Rolling Strong," says
Al Smith, Greyhound's corporate director
of safety and security. Since his company
began partnering with the program,
more than 1,500 drivers-everyone who's
attended its driver training school-have
entered it. (Smith knows about health
issues facing drivers from personal
experience; he drove for Greyhound for a
decade. "I did a lot of eating at McDonald's
and choking down food," he recalls.)
He hopes ABA members will take a good
look at what Rolling Strong offers. "For
a smaller company, what Rolling Strong
does is of almost greater value than it is for
Greyhound," says Smith, because it can
often be much harder for smaller operators
to recruit and retain quality drivers.
"Every month I get a report from Rolling
Strong about the drivers they're working
with," says Smith. "They give me biometric
averages and send a report when they
identify a particular individual who's had
good results."
He eagerly reels off details of reports
Rolling Strong has given him about such
drivers: "She lost 16 pounds since joining.
She now enjoys fruits and baked chicken.
He lost 27 pounds and learned to eat
smaller portions. He also takes daily walks,
has a wellness journal, and is committed to
drinking more water."
"When drivers know that their company cares about them and is looking
out for their health, they appreciate it,"
adds Jeremy Rugenstein, safety and

Bob Perry,
founder
of Rolling
Strong,
helps drivers
get healthy
with FIT, an
in-cab and
hotel room
exercise kit.

driver training manager at ABA member
Indian Trails of Owosso, Mich. His company, while not a Rolling Strong client,
educates its drivers about the benefits
of healthier eating and encourages
them to exercise at fitness centers in the
hotels where they stay. "The more you
do, the more energy you have," he tells
his drivers.
Rolling Strong feels great urgency about
its work.
If operators don't strive to improve
their drivers' fitness, they are going to lose
increasing numbers of drivers, according
to Perry.
The issuance of a commercial driver's
license is linked to whether or not a driver
can pass a Department of Transportation
physical and get a medical card. The card
with the longest term is two years, so if a
doctor gives a driver a three-month card,
he has only 90 days to fix his health or face
the possibility of unemployment.
"If you look at the statistics, the number
of three-month medical cards being issued
is going in the wrong direction," says Perry.
"If a driver is issued that three-month card,
the odds of him making drastic changes are
slim to none."
"Drivers-as they get older-are scared
to death because of what a physical might
find out," says Smith. "If only we can train
them to take care of themselves, then
[maintaining our pool of drivers] will
become less costly."
To learn more about Rolling Strong,
visit www.rollingstrong.com or contact
Perry at bob@rollingstrong.com or
(602) 692-2734. -George Spencer
http://www.rollingstrong.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Destinations Magazine - November/December 2017
