15
UP FRONT
Truck & Driver August 2019
37 PLUS – Paul Gardiner writes for T&D
Summer is finally
here. As the
temperature
goes up, so
should the
amount of
water we are
supposed to
be drinking. The
recommended daily
amount for optimum
health is two litres per
day, but many drivers
are above average
weight so nearer three
litres would be the daily
intake for a large
percentage of us.
This raises some
questions for the
transport industry and
public health. The
practicalities of drinking
our daily recommended
amount of water can
seem impossible to
many drivers. Average
stopping times can be
20/30 minutes betweenstopping and
starting the
engine. The
number of
times
people
need to use
the toilet
increases with
age and many
drivers, on top of the
average six to eight
times per day toilet use,
have other things to deal
with such as their
menstrual cycle, prostate
problems and Crohn’s
disease. The average
driver’s age is about 50,
so this group of people
is the most needy
toilet-using group of any
in UK industry.
I’m sure the irony is
not lost on any of you
regarding the difficulties
encountered in (a) lack
of facilities; (b) being
able to stop safely; (c)being harassed by
over-zealous bosses
about the time the
company is losing; (d)
and refusal at delivery
point of toilet use (which
sadly is still happening).
Which leads us to the
next point. For too long
drivers have been
urinating in bottles.
Laybys have become
emergency toilets and
most truck parking
areas offer the pungent
aroma of urine, with
toilets often situated too
far away for weak
bladders. Imagine the
chaos on our roads
tomorrow if every driver
simply followed what
was good for his or her
health and used proper
toilets all day long and
drank two litres of water,
in the same way as
every other member of
the public. It seems thatas a driver you are just
expected to remain
chronically dehydrated.
The number of health
conditions associated
with a low level of water
uptake could fill this
page. Water actually
increases concentration;
and what do drivers on
the road need most? If
we could make it easier
and quicker for drivers
to use toilets and there
were more of them, then
water consumption
would surely rise with
the increase and ease of
toilet use. The benefits
would far outweigh the
cost to the country as a
whole. Water is a
fundamental basic of a
healthy human life and
we can’t even get that
right! Check out the
37Plus Facebook group
or contact Paul on
paulgardiner1970@
outlook.comDunstable and Leighton Buzzard Convoy
Truck snapper Lucy
Sames sent us details of a
truck convoy that left the
truckstop at Junction 9 of
the M1, ran through the
centre of Dunstable and
Leighton Buzzard and
then in to the showground
at Billington.
“Thousands of people
lined the route, even in the
terrible weather. I took
photographs at five
different locations. It was
all in aid of two armed-
forces charities; more than
100 trucks, vans and
motorbikes took part and it
was an amazing day.
“This is an annual event
that happens every June,”
Lucy concludes.