Some sad statistics on truck driver mental health

In past editions of WA Transport Magazine we have shared with you the Truck Friendly caravan road safety program which endeavours to create a better understanding of the transport industry to RV and caravan drivers throughout Australia.

This understanding is aimed at recreational drivers and holiday makers interacting more safely with the transport industry by giving them the information they need to make better decisions in their driving and build a better understanding for them on how the commercial sector that they share the roads with works.

By joining the Truck Friendly caravan road safety program, caravanner’s and RV driver can find out more about safe towing practices, and how to safely interact with trucks and other vehicles while towing or driving on the highways and recently, another chapter was added to this program which is aimed at building a better understanding of the stresses experienced by many in our transport industry.

This is the message that the program is sharing with recreational drivers…

DID YOU KNOW TRUCK DRIVERS HAVE A VERY HIGH SUICIDE AND MENTAL HEALTH RATE?

• Suicide is the second highest cause of death in truck drivers under 39 years of age. • Mr Michael Kaine is National Secretary of the TWU and he also oversees insurance claims made by some 100,000 transport workers to their superannuation fund. "There are between three and six suicide claims every month — a horrific number," he said. • A Monash University study found the percentage of drivers aged under 35 suffering severe distress was almost double that of the average Australian male of the same age. • Truck drivers are 13 times more likely to die at work than any other Australian worker. • The number of drivers dying on Australian roads has also spiked after a report by the

National Transport Insurance company found driver fatalities had more than doubled last year. • An exodus of truck drivers, fed up with long hours and stagnating wages, has resulted in a nation-wide shortage. • Truck driving is the most common occupation for male Australians, employing 1 in every 33 male workers, or approximately 200,000 drivers. • "Most drivers are on their second or third relationship because previous spouses have said, “I may as well be a single parent. They're doing their job and trying to provide for their families and they're doing that often in the middle of the night, for 14 to 16 hours a day, at huge costs to themselves, their sleep, their relationships and their health,” said, Dr Elizabeth Pritchard,

Research Fellow at Monash University in her study into mental health of Truck

Drivers in Australia. • Dr Pritchard said, “Marriage breakdown, dislocation from family life and fears of infidelity were common among drivers and their partners.”*

SO, WHAT CAN RECREATIONAL DRIVERS AND HOLIDAY MAKERS DO?

There are several programs trying to help truck drivers including ‘Wave to a Truckie’ etc.