By Dave Dein – September 10, 2026
Free wellness video series confronts staggering driver health crisis
The commercial trucking industry has spent decades investing billions of dollars in safety technology, aerodynamics and predictive maintenance to ensure trucks run as efficiently as possible.
Yet, the industry’s most critical component — the driver behind the wheel — has often been left to navigate a grueling lifestyle alone.
The consequences of this neglect are laid bare by a series of alarming health statistics. According to data tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and highlighted by the non-profit Project 61, the average life expectancy of a U.S. commercial truck driver is just 61 years. That’s roughly 15 to 16 years shorter than the national average.
The day-to-day physical realities of the job paint a sobering picture:
- 70% of truck drivers are obese — nearly double the rate of the general U.S. workforce.
- Drivers suffer from heart disease and depression at twice the rate of the average worker, with severe isolation making them 6.2 times more likely to experience depression than office workers.
- The rate of Type 2 diabetes is twice as high among truckers compared to the general population.
- A staggering 87% of drivers operate with hypertension or pre-hypertension.
