For truck drivers trying to lose and keep off weight, supervisor support is key

Recent research from the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences suggests that truck drivers who have supportive supervisors are significantly more likely to maintain weight loss over the long term. The new research, “Weight loss maintenance among truck drivers in the SHIFT randomized controlled trial, USA,” was published in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine journal and makes the case that when it comes to maintaining health changes, having what participating drivers called a “supportive boss” made a difference for one of America’s most at-risk professions.

The 18-month study followed 452 commercial truck drivers and found some remarkable insights. Drivers whose supervisors demonstrated family-supportive behaviors managed to maintain 83% of their original weight loss (about six pounds) a full year after completing a health promotion program. Drivers with the least supportive supervisors regained all of their original loss plus about three pounds.  The findings suggest that when supervisors help workers balance their job demands with personal life, those workers are much more successful at sticking with healthy changes they have made.

Why it matters

The data make it plain: as a profession, long-haul truck driving puts workers at risk for obesity. How so? Truck drivers are exposed to long and variable work hours, prolonged sitting, shift work, foods high in saturated fats and sugar, unfavorable environments for healthy food or exercise, social isolation and stress. Such factors can result in gradual weight gain and difficulties losing and maintaining weight loss. Excess body weight places people at risk for other serious health problems including high blood pressure, diabetes and sleep apnea.

“Despite the need for health resources and supports for long-haul truck drivers, effective health promotion and body weight management programs for drivers are few and far between,” said Ryan Olson, Ph.D., Professor at the Rock Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Utah, and former OccHealthSci faculty member, who led the study.

The SHIFT Program

So, what did the research team create that made the difference? They developed and implemented the Safety & Health Involvement for Truckers (SHIFT) program—a six-month intervention that combined mobile technology and training, team competitions, weekly self-monitoring with feedback, incentives and coaching. Drivers competed in groups through a mobile app, tracking their progress and completing online training modules about body weight management and healthy eating, sleep, and physical activity. They also got personalized coaching calls and earned rewards for participation and achieving their goals.

After six months, participants in the program had lost an average of about five pounds, while drivers in the control group gained about 2 pounds. While this result may seem modest, The SHIFT study is one of only two randomized controlled trials globally with truck drivers to observe a between-groups difference this large.

The long-term results

When the research team checked back in with participants after 18 months, they discovered that, overall, the benefits of the intervention had largely disappeared—except for among a certain group of drivers with supportive supervisors.

Drivers who had what the research team calls “family-supportive supervisors” —or bosses who help them balance work and personal life—had maintained their weight loss.

“We found that having a family-supportive supervisor was a major factor for long-term weight management success for drivers in the SHIFT trial,” Professor Olson said. 

According to Olson, supportive supervisors are those who listen when their employees have work related problems, help them figure out creative solutions to conflicts between work and life and generally demonstrates that they care about their employees as people.

Additionally, the study details how drivers who actively engaged with the program throughout its duration were much more successful than those who demonstrated a limited commitment.  These highly engaged participants who completed almost all program activities lost an average of about 7.5 pounds and kept it off, while drivers who participated less actually gained nearly 5 pounds by the 18-month mark.

The findings point to some practical changes that trucking companies could make right now. Training dispatchers and driver managers in supportive supervision could make a real difference in driver health outcomes. Such supportive supervision is already established to have broad ranging benefits for worker well-being, and we can now add the benefit of indirectly helping employees succeed in long-term health behavior changes. The research also suggests that health programs will benefit from integrating formal follow-up support after the initial intervention ends.

But the researchers are quick to point out that while behavioral programs are important, the bigger solution requires changing the working conditions that may cause truck drivers to gain weight or struggle with body weight management in the first place.

The bottom line? When it comes to helping truck drivers stay healthy, it really does take a village – including a supportive supervisor who understands that a driver's success and well-being depend on more than just what happens behind the wheel.

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Weight loss maintenance among truck drivers in the SHIFT randomized controlled trial, USA was co-authored by OccHealthSci affiliate researchers, including Drs. Ryan Olson, Brad Wipfli, Kent Anger, Layla Mansfield and colleagues Drs. Ginger Hanson and Diane Elliot. The research was supported with a grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (R01HL1054950) and by the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences via funds from the Division of Consumer and Business Services of the State of Oregon (ORS 656.630).