Ulch Transport dispatcher Paul Podsadecki was miserable in every sense of the word. He was on a steady dose of Tylenol and antacids to dull the recurring headaches and heartburn. Sleep was fitful when it came at all, and his mood was sour. Fellow employees began to avoid him, and he was officially reprimanded for being too irritable on the job.

Then his new family doctor told him he was going to die if things didn’t change. And soon.

“It was a kick in the butt,” Podsadecki admits, referring to his checkup in the winter of 2014. But the scale didn’t lie. He weighed in at 330 pounds. “I didn’t think I was that big,” he says. “I was embarrassed.”

The news spurred him to action. A basic exercise regime came first, then meetings with a nutrition coach who helped bring an end to the two-liter-a-day intake of Diet Coke. Each step in his personal journey was counted by a new Fitbit – one of the watch-like devices that can monitor physical activity. The steps added up to miles. He began lifting weights. Coworkers saw his mood improve.

It isn’t the only thing they noticed. Today he weighs in at 237 pounds. A solid 237.

“He’s happier. He’s easier to get along with,” says fleet vice president Joe Wilhelm. The dispatcher has even become an inspiration.

Ulch Transport points to Podsadecki and driver Luke Lapierre – who has shed more than 100 pounds of his own – as the reasons why it is introducing a company-wide wellness program. Each of its 55 employees were given a FitBit in late November, along with support from a nutrition coach. Trip plans will soon include information about places where drivers can find healthy food options and safe places to exercise.

The fleet owners just don’t want to lose anyone else.

Heart disease has clearly touched the operation in St. Marys, Ontario. Two decades ago, one of its employees died on the night of the company Christmas Party. Five years later, -another driver had a fatal heart attack while waiting for his truck to be unloaded. In the last three years alone it can count two other fatal heart attacks, and two survivors including one who needed a triple bypass.

“It really hit me that we need to do something,” says Wilhelm, an admitted fitness enthusiast. “We’re letting them get sick and die on us.” Sure, the company has offered an extensive benefits program for several years, but that cared for people after they became ill.

The health challenge is not unique to Ulch Transport, of course. A 2014 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that seven in 10 long-haul truck drivers are obese, double the share of the U.S. workforce in general. They are twice as likely to smoke, too. About 61% recorded two or more risk factors including hypertension, obesity, smoking, high cholesterol, no physical activity, or six or fewer hours of sleep per day. Ontario’s Institute for Work and Health found in 2012 that 53% of its surveyed southern Ontario drivers were overweight, and almost a third were physically inactive.

“Sitting,” Wilhelm says, “is the new smoking.”

The off-duty hours demanded under Hours of Service rules introduce the time needed to make a difference, he insists. Why do they need to be spent sitting in a bunk and watching a movie? “Go for a walk. Go for a jog. Go for a bike ride.”

Ulch has certainly seen the -difference that the latter activity can make. Lapierre has made cycling his exercise of choice after struggling to keep up with his daughter on a short bike ride. Now his trips are measured in miles and hours; unwanted sugar has been eliminated from his diet. His weight has dropped to 213 pounds from the 336 pounds recorded in May 2015. The kids can’t keep up with him these days.

Lapierre now loads his bike into the truck before every trip. Shippers have come to recognize the notes that he posts in the truck window if he’s left for a ride. When there isn’t enough time for cycling, he still asks shunt drivers if he can walk around a yard or warehouse. And he uses his own Fitbit to compare step counts with Podsadecki.

Wilhelm recently saw him climbing up and down cab steps while parked at the fuel island, just because he was off pace.

Now everyone is being asked to join in.

This January, coworkers will be challenged to “Beat the Boss”, comparing their step counts in a friendly race for $50 gift cards. They’ll have the chance to better personal benchmarks throughout the spring. “We’re trying to turn the culture,” says Wilhelm.

It won’t be easy. Making life changes never is. Ulch Transport introduced a smoking cessation program in the 1990s, but that failed because it was too hard to monitor, Wilhelm says. There was no way to know if someone is grabbing a cigarette when away from the fleet yard. But the Fitbit can keep count of motion. The friendly competition, and a few inspirational stories, should help. Lapierre continues to share his stories on a social media feed, too, with a blog that he has bluntly titled Fat Truck Driver.

“I think it’s phenomenal. They’re -taking the lead on something that needs to be done,” says nutrition coach and conditioning specialist Mark Regan, who has worked with Olympians and professional athletes alike. This is the first time he’s had the chance to work with an entire workplace. “Any time they can get out of the truck and move around, I’m all for it. Even in 15-minute segments. An hour of exercise a day is the goal.”

The change in diet is the foundation on which any real change will be made, he adds, referring to Podsadecki and Lapierre as prime examples. Both have shed unwanted sugar from their diets.

There’s no small irony that the fleet specializes in agricultural commodities like tankers of that very sugar, either. “Cucumbers, too,” Wilhelm says, rattling off a list of other healthy goods carried on company trailers.

He just wants drivers to take a close look at which of the products they use themselves.

That will help to ensure they’re fit to drive for many years to come.