The past year has been a tough and uncertain one and there has been an increase in stress and strain on almost every industry and its workers.
For a lorry driver, mental health problems can be a huge hindrance when on the road. It’s important to check up on your drivers and make sure they are ok, even if it’s just a simple chat. Your lorry drivers are integral to your company, and if they are struggling with mental ill-health, it can impact business.
Driving for long hours with no one to talk to can be hard, especially if they have other stresses and worries playing on their mind.
Why Looking After Lorry Driver Mental Health Is Important
A person’s mental wellbeing can have a massive impact on their life. If they are not feeling happy or something is bothering them, then your driver could become unfocused and make mistakes.
Driving whilst distracted or with your mind on something else can be disastrous, especially if you’re driving a heavy goods vehicle.
Driving for long hours can be a very draining task, both physically and mentally. You should care for drivers’ mental health as much as you do their physical health as both can and will affect how they perform.
What Can You Do To Help Your Lorry Drivers’ Mental Health
Driving for long hours and distances is often very monotonous and boring. The brain needs stimulation to work efficiently. So, make sure your drivers have something to stimulate the mind, that can be something as simple as; access to music, podcasts or even a way to call someone whilst driving so they can always talk to someone if they want to.
It’s important that your drivers take regular rests and know that they can take a break if driving is causing too much strain on their physical or mental wellbeing.
Implementing A Mental Health Policy
If you don’t already, it may be time to implement a mental health policy within your business. Make sure your drivers know who they can talk to within the business and ensure they are familiar with mental health services and support available to them.
It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture or even face to face, just a simple Email or posters put up around the workplace can help someone. Talking about mental health honestly and openly within the workplace can also help reduce stigma and encourage employees to come forward if they need support.
If your driver is struggling with their mental health, you can help by taking away some of their day-to-day worries. This can include making sure they have all the updated information needed to get to their destination and give them a fair and achievable amount of time to complete their tasks.
Sometimes minor things can add to stress so you can help your drivers by keeping on top of the little things that need doing to make driving easy and less stressful. This can be making sure the vehicle is safe and running smoothly and that there is always enough fuel or places to refuel on their route and that the menial tasks like cleaning the vehicle are taken care of.
LPW Truck Cleaning Services
LPW are truck wash specialists and the largest independently owned truck wash company in the country with almost 50 years of experience under our belts.
LPW has truck washing stations around the UK, all of them conveniently and strategically located to make washing your truck easy for you and your drivers. All of our truck washing sites offer a high quality, eco-friendly truck washing service for a great price and to a high standard.
At LPW we understand the importance of a well-cleaned vehicle. Your vehicles are a display of your company and you want to look at good as possible when they are on the road.
We aim to provide you with the highest quality cleaning for your vehicle possible, as quickly and efficiently as we can. We use the best quality tools to wash your vehicles and hand finish the finer details, like chassis and wheels.
LPW offer a nationwide mobile fleet washing service, available to all businesses across the UK. No matter where in the UK your business is situated, we’ll be there no matter the distance, no matter the time, no matter the weather. We can come and clean your fleet during business hours or after depending on what you would prefer.
LPW take care of everything so you don’t have to. we use our own environment agency approved effluent containment and disposal systems. this means we can collect the wastewater and take it with us when we leave. All of our detergents are of ISO 9002 quality, free of solvent and caustic elements.
Get in Touch
LPW Europe is the leading fleet cleaning company in the UK with almost 50 years worth of experience in fleet cleaning. If you have any questions about our services, don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can call us on 01708 463400 or email us at info@lpweurope.com.