The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA), which has taken a leading role in promoting health and wellness initiatives for drivers, issued a challenge at this year’s convention to activate attendees. The challenge saw TCA board members and other visitors tracking their steps using FitBit devices. Throughout the convention, their steps were recorded and displayed online. The competition was organized by NAL Insurance and its Healthy Trucker program.

Our own Kathy Penner, associate publisher, won the competition for non-board members, recording 99,489 steps. Aaron Tennant, president of Tennant Truck Lines, won the competition for board members recording 100,289 steps. Collectively, participants recorded 1.6 million steps and covered 790 miles.

“This challenge was a new way to get the ‘movers and shakers’ of the trucking industry actually moving and shaking,” said Tom Kretsinger, Jr., TCA’s outgoing chairman and the president of American Central Transport. “We had fun with it, but it also helped focus attention on getting fit, which is one of the key objectives in TCA’s three-year strategic plan. Obesity, sleep apnea, diabetes, and all the other risks that come from a sedentary lifestyle can be reduced – or sometimes even eliminated – with some creative thinking and new attitudes.”