Connor: Hello and welcome to the fourth episode of Big Rig Banter. A show about all things commercial driving and transportation-related. I’m your co-host, Connor Smith.
Troy: And I’m your co-host, Troy Diffenderfer.
Connor: The date is June 7, 2017, and today we’re going to be examining the mind and body roadmap, so buckle up and get ready to roll on the road down to healthy living with Big Rig Banter.
Music – Whether you’re hitting the road or kicking back in the cab, it’s time to take a load off with Big Rig Banter. Powered by AllTruckJobs.com, your source for finding the trucking jobs drivers really want. Get ready to shift into gear and let the conversations roll.
Connor: Alright, thank you all for joining us again for another episode here. As I mentioned, we’re going to be talking about healthy tips on the road, ways to stay fit, good habits to maintain on the road, and just in the ins and outs of staying healthy, staying radiant.
Troy: Before we get into all that, Connor, why don’t we talk about some news topics.
Connor: Sounds good.
Troy: Alright, and our first topic for the news today is about Tesla releasing a little preview of an electric truck. I know Connor, you’ve written about electric trucks previously and you’re kind of the go-to expert when it comes to technology in trucking. So, what do you got for us?
Connor: Expert may be a bit of an overstatement there but, I do like to keep up on the electric truck phenomena. I covered the Nikola Truck before, the Nikola One truck, which is half of Nikola Tesla’s namesake there. Two different companies, however. But now Tesla, the famous electric car company, has also released their semi-truck, projected to be on the road in September. So, the founder of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, provided a glimpse of the new vehicle at a Ted Talk during the 2017 Ted Conference in Vancouver. It shows this really cool, impressive-looking space-age tractor-trailer truck. It’s got a high roof, appears to be trailer height and probably a solar panel in it is what people are saying. Really all that’s been released is just this artistic mock-up so far. But…
Troy: Yeah, it’s really cool. I’m excited. It’s almost like a space race when it comes to Tesla and the other companies so it will be exciting to see it move forward. But, what else were you going to say?
Connor: One of the other features that people were talking about is the fact that it doesn’t have any rearview mirrors on the sides.
Troy: That is weird.
Connor: So, they’re saying, how is it going to be street legal? However, I’m guessing it’s going to be cameras. They’re going to have probably cameras that can outdo any visual, you know, the feedback you can get from a mirror. Yeah, so, not many other details are really out on this truck other than the fact that Tesla’s definitely entering the heavy-duty trucking market, and we’re just going to have to keep tabs on it. But, like you said, it’s the race to who can do it first and who can do it the best, so we’ll have to see. Obviously, the trucks are going to be somewhat self-driving, that trademark Tesla features from with their model S and some of their other vehicles, and so it’s aimed at being a much safer truck than others on the roads, just with all the technology and the sensors and everything. So, that’s still a huge issue, is having these trucks being able to make judgments themselves that maybe human drivers couldn’t make as quickly as a computer. That kind of leads us on to our next news topic here.
Troy: Yeah and you know we hate to be the bearer of bad news sometimes, but there are a lot of dangers out there for truckers and that includes some terrorist attacks. There’s an article recently about the TSA putting out an internal report warning of the potential for terrorists who use trucks as weapons. We’ve seen attacks like these. This past July in east France that happened, and it killed 87 people. And there was also a similar attack in Berlin, so we know these issues are real and terrorism and trucks… it happens. The TSA even put out some countermeasures and that includes parking in secure areas, making sure your rigs are locked, refusing rides for hitchhikers and other strangers, and kind of ensuring the route compliance for drivers.
Connor: That’s all basic stuff, but in the context of terrorism it becomes a lot more dire to stick to those countermeasures. Yeah, we’ll have to be working together to avoid similar situations with trucks being used as weapons in the future. Hopefully, the rise of autonomous vehicles could help with that. I know that like, we’re not necessarily rooting for self-driving vehicles to become a reality, although it could be one solution to avoiding attacks like those in the future. Alright, and onto our final news topic for the day. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, that’s the CVSA, is having their 30th annual international road check, which started yesterday and is running until tomorrow, June 8. Where inspectors are going to be leading drivers through a 37-step procedure that includes an examination of both driver-operating requirements and vehicle mechanical fitness. So, that’s pretty much everything involved with your day-to-day driving experience. Drivers are going to be required to provide items such as their driver’s license, hours of service documentation, motor carrier registration, and shipping documentation. And inspectors will be checking drivers for seat belt usage and other things like the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Then, the actual vehicle inspection includes checking items such as the brake systems, cargo securement, coupling devices, driveline, driveshaft, exhaust systems, your frame fuel systems, lighting devices; also your steering mechanisms, suspension, tires, van – just everything. Just the whole rig is going to be looked at so much sure you have all of your ducks in a row and that it’s all looking good for this inspection. It’s an important time to really nail this road check.
Troy: Yeah, and luckily, it’s only a weekend. We know something like this is a pain in the ass so it’s good to have that weekend where you thoroughly go through everything. I know a lot of you truckers don’t really have the time or the patience to go through your entire rig, but something like this is important. You can figure out things that might be broken or things that you didn’t know, or things you were doing wrong, so this trucking inspection is really important.
Connor: That’s right. We’ll be right back after this quick break.
Music – Wherever the job takes you, Big Rig Banter is here to bring you the latest in industry topics, trends, and more. Stay tuned after this short break.
Troy: Alright folks, and now it’s time to get into our main topic. And first, we’re going to hit on some healthy eating habits. I know Connor, me and you have very different eating habits. For lunch, I tend to with any fast food restaurant within a five-mile radius while you tend to stay on the healthier side.
Connor: That’s pretty accurate, yeah. Everybody’s always ratting on you because you bring McDonald’s into the office and then they want it, and you tempt them with the Mickey-Ds.
Troy: I know, what can I say? Me and Ronald, we’re pretty tight.
Connor: But, that’s not to say that you truckers should have the same habits, especially if you’re driving long hours, you’re sitting down. You’re maybe not getting as much exercise as you’d like. You can offset some of that with planning your meals out ahead of time and really just sticking to a nice, healthy diet. It’ll come around to help you out in the long run, it really will. So, to start, we’re going to just look at breakfast. I mean, it’s been said it’s the most important meal of the day. It’s the, you know when you wake up your metabolism is just searching for some calories, and it’ll get your brain going. It’ll get everything about your day just on the right track. So, some of the things that we recommend or we have found are some of the better options for breakfast include things like oatmeal, fresh fruit, low-fat yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, and protein and cereal bars. It’s important to get protein in the beginning of the morning.
Troy: Yeah, guys. Put down the McGriddle, put down that cold slice of pizza and we really want you to pick up something healthy. You need that energy boost, especially when you get up. Coffee’s fine in the morning, but you really need some protein and something to kick start that metabolism while you’re on the road.
Connor: That’s right, and try to avoid any sugar early in the day because that can cause crashing midday to afternoons. And I don’t mean crashing as in causing an accident; I just mean your blood sugar and your overall mood. You’ll become drowsy, so that’s not good. Although, it could lead to crashing, now that I think about it. Actual accidents. However, I digress. And now we’re going to talk about lunch. Lunch is the second most important meal of the day. So, this is where you get the rest of our energy for the remainder of your working hours, unless you’re driving the night shift. So, Troy, what do you usually have for lunch? What is something that you enjoy that gives you energy in the middle of the day that keeps you going, keeps your brain fired up like a coal furnace?
Troy: Well, I would like to say McDonald’s or Taco Bell, but I do tend to eat healthy from time to time. I like a good sandwich, and one of my favorite sandwiches to make is a tomato and avocado sandwich. It’s simple, it’s easy. It’s something you can make on the road pretty quickly and it gives me energy in the morning. Wraps are also a big thing. I love a nice turkey wrap, something with a tortilla – usually whole wheat because whole wheat’s a lot more healthy. Throw some lettuce and cheese, and mustard in there and you got a healthy lunch that’s pretty easy to make.
Connor: Yeah, those are all great suggestions there. They’re foods that are going to give you clean energy, that are going to keep you going. So, yeah, those sound like great lunches.
Troy: And they’re easy to handle on the road. They’re great hand food. Sandwiches and wraps are great… of course, we don’t condone driving while eating, but you do want something that’s pretty easy and that’s not messy.
Connor: Yeah, and kind of going off of that ease of eating idea, something could that we saw on the internet here is that people are making mason jar lunches, which is kinda cool because you can plan ahead for several meals. Essentially what you’re doing is just making salads or really anything you can put, you know, cold cut meat in there. You can put hard-boiled eggs, different type of things mixed with salads, you know, the normal salad ingredients, but you essentially just store several portions in mason jars and then you can keep them in your fridge if you have a mini-fridge. And they’re just quick, easy, really healthy choices to make. You know, part of the thing with healthy eating is that people don’t want to think about having to do it. They just want to eat the healthy food and move on.
Troy: Yeah, and they want it to taste good too. You don’t want to eat something… You’re on the road all day. Eating is one of them, kind of the best thing to look forward to after a long day and you want something that tastes good as well. Alright, and it’s time for my personal favorite part of the day and that is snacks. Connor, you see me snacking all day in the office. Some healthy, some not so healthy. But, for this segment, we’re going to focus on some healthy snacks, and that’s things like trail mix. That’s a big snack that I prefer during the day. It has some energy, usually some peanuts, some almonds, raisins.. a little chocolate.
Connor: What does all that energy taste like?
Troy: It tastes pretty good, and that’s something you want on the road. What are some other snacks that you kind of prefer Connor?
Connor: You know, I like fruit. Fruit’s good. It can be high in sugar, so if you’re diabetic or something like that, or you’re just sensitive to sugar, you have to watch out how much fruit you actually eat. It can sneak up on you, especially apples. Apples have a ton of sugar, and people don’t realize that.
Troy: And fruit is handheld too, which is also nice.
Connor: That’s correct, yeah. Anything that you can just kind of, you know, you don’t want to be munching throughout the day because that’s not efficient, but picking the right, healthy snacks, as I said, things like fruit, you mentioned trail mix, low-fat string cheese even, if you want a savory, more salty alternative. Hummus and veggies… that’s good. It’s full of protein, it’s full of all the nutrients provided by vegetables, so you know, why not just snack on something healthy like that. Low-fat yogurt, whole grain crackers, beef jerky, and popcorn is a good one. You know, as long as it’s not drenched in butter, obviously. But, yeah, go with simple stuff, but try to make the healthy choice whenever you can, because like I said earlier, it will come back to pay off in the future when you don’t have to spend as much on health bills.
Troy: Alright, and now it’s time for dessert, right Connor?
Connor: Well if you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat? Troy, we have to go to dinner first.
Troy: Alright. Alright.
Connor: So, dinner is one of everyone’s favorite meals of the day, because you know, it’s that last meal, so you really try to make it count. You try to make it special a lot of the time. If you’re on the road, it’s tempting to just stop at whatever rest stop you are checking into for the night and just get what’s available, but still, you do want to have the healthy options available to you. So, Troy, what do you usually get for dinner? What would you think would be a healthy choice, maybe at a rest stop, that would be available?
Troy: Alright, well I want something hearty. I want something that will fill me up. I know I do like snacking, but I try to avoid it as much as I can so something like a stew, is a great alternative. It has meat, potatoes, vegetables. Kind of the essentials. Again, a sandwich is a great alternative. Something healthy with whole wheat bread. What about you, Connor?
Connor: I do try to generally stay away from meat. I don’t eat as much of it as other people. I’m not necessarily a vegetarian but… I’m a big fan of things like pasta. Whole wheat pasta is good. Pesto sauce, maybe, if you don’t want to go with the red sauce. I know that can be quite acidic and give people heartburn. Personally, I experience that often with the more acidic tomato sauces.
Troy: Yeah, throw in a salad while you’re at it.
Connor: Yeah, just go for it. There’s never a wrong time to eat a salad unless your body is craving more carbs and proteins. But you know, you can work that into a salad as well. Maybe this would be a good time to break into one of those mason jar salads that you’ve got lying around. But yeah, just try to get your basic nutrients, your five food groups, whenever you can. You got your grains, your meats, your dairy, your fruits, and your veggies, so you know, build that pyramid, the food pyramid I mean, and just cover all the basics.
Troy: Alright, and now it is finally time for dessert. Connor, I know you’ve been waiting for it. You have a sweet tooth in the office. So, what are some options that you kind of like that are both healthy but also taste really, really good?
Connor: Well, you know, I’m a big ice cream guy.
Troy: Okay, Low fat, though?
Connor: Low fat, yes, and also nondairy if possible, because it stopped agreeing with me over the years. I like to go with cashew ice cream. It’s a good one. It has that nice, creamy consistency, and it’s easy for portion control as well if that’s something that you need to look into. You know, you can just do a scoop a night or after dinner or whenever, but you know it’s easy to measure out and know how much you’re consuming unlike things like a piece of cake, which can vary given the icing and other ingredients in it and stuff like that. I also just like a nice little piece of dark chocolate as well for those health benefits. Dark chocolate is actually one of the most healthy things you can eat, remarkably. But it has to be, I think, 75 percent cocoa and over, it has to be very dark chocolate.
Troy: And you can’t go overboard with it. We don’t want you to have a couple of bars of Hershey’s dark chocolate, but it is a nice little treat to give yourself every night.
Connor: That, and just tea. I just like a nice cup of tea afterwards, you know. Slightly sweetened but it’s a nice thing to help with digestion. I like ginger teas, they’re good for that kind of thing. So, after you’ve had your meal, just to get a nice warm glass of tea in you. It’s going to do wonders. Alright, you know, so in addition to healthy eating, you also have to stay hydrated. That’s very important. It will help with basically every bodily function that you have going on. It’s recommended that the average adult drinks about eight, 8 oz glasses, which equals about two liters or half a gallon a day. So, we can call this the 8 by 8 rule to make it easier to remember. It is best to drink mostly water. If you’re drinking sugary drinks and stuff like that you might as well be subtracting an 8 oz glass of water or more from your hydration regiment. Teas are a good alternative if you are trying to curb some of your intake of sugary drinks or maybe sodas or things like that. Just make sure you stay hydrated. It’s very important to the overall health of your body. And you know, equally important to maintaining your overall health is getting on a healthy exercise schedule. Troy, I know you’ve been looking into some of the best ways for truckers to be fit on the road so why don’t you tell us a little bit about what you’ve found.
Troy: Yeah, I’ll just hit on a few exercises. You can do it in the cab or right outside your cab, which is nice. Things like an inverted push-up, which is just a push-up but you have your feet in inverted above your head slightly, so you can prop them up on your fender or your step up to your cab, which is nice. Dips is another great one you can do right on the front of your fender to work those arms. And then, crunches is another good one. You can do that. Then find a nice grassy spot at a rest stop or even do them in your cab. Lunges are a great way to work the legs, and then finally hand stretching. I know it doesn’t sound that important, but your hands do get cramped and tired from gripping the steering wheel constantly. Now we covered what kind of exercises to do, but Connor why don’t you talk about where we can do them?
Connor: Well as you mentioned, you know, it is good to find things you can do involving your truck or in the cab, but, it’s also if you want a more comprehensive workout or exercise experience, it might be worth considering getting a gym membership. I know that Planet Fitness has the black card, which will allow you to use your gym membership at any location around the country so that could be nice if you could get one card that when you find a location you can just easily keep up with your physical fitness. Maybe some other ways to do that, you could get things like a FitBit or any other tracking device that will help you kind of stay on top and stick to a schedule, besides just meeting your own driving goals and things like that. Troy, I know you were looking into some of the better technologies to do that for truckers.
Troy: Yeah, I was looking specifically into the FitBit and there’s a ton of different versions of it, and that’s probably one of the better pieces of technology you might want to invest it. The prices kind of range. You can get one as low as $50 or there’s some more higher class ones, but a FitBit, really, will track things like your heart rate, as well as how long you’re working out and a bunch of other diagnostics that might be important to you when you’re maintaining your health. I know high blood pressure is prevalent in truckers so that might be something to get so you can monitor that… But, yeah.
Connor: Yeah, and sleep is another one. It can also monitor how well you’re sleeping when you’re sleeping, and that’s another thing that’s entirely needed. That’s super important for truckers to stay on top of as well, from both a legal perspective and a health perspective. So, typically, younger adults, if you’re 18-25, your sleep range should be like seven to nine hours a night, but adults 26-64, which is a gigantic range of people, you’re still going to actually need about the same amount of sleep. Once you get over 65 you actually need less sleep, remarkably, you need seven to eight hours. But yet, a good rule of thumb is just to get a solid eight hours of sleep whenever you can. Make sure that it’s consistent. Make sure that you’re not waking up in the middle of it. It’s important that you reach that REM stage – rapid eye movement – that is when your brain waves are at that right, regenerative frequency.
Troy: Yeah, and to help truckers out there are regulations in place that kind of ensure that you’re at least trying to get some sleep and that you’re not spending days at a time on the road. The hours that service regulations focus on when and how long you’re allowed to drive by placing specific limits on the amount of time you drive your truck, and kind of how many total hours you can work before you have to get some sleep. You must follow three maximum duty limits at all times, there are a 14-hour driving window limit, the 11-hour driving limit and the 60 hours per seven days and the 70 hours per eight days limits. So, these are kind of put in place to make sure that you’re not burning yourself out, and that’s a huge hazard, this falling asleep behind the wheel. And, it’s something that we really want you guys to take into consideration. Sleep and your health is more important than making that trucking journey, so when you need sleep, you should be getting it.
Connor: But, you know, that may actually be difficult for those of you who have sleep apnea and other things that might not permit you to sleep very well at night. And actually, sleep apnea is a huge concern in the trucking industry. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s basically just a breathing-related sleep disorder that causes brief interruptions of breathing during sleep. These pauses in breathing can last at least 10 seconds or more and occur up to 400 times a night, so it’s actually a serious, potentially life-threatening condition that often goes unrecognized and underdiagnosed. So, some of the risk factors for sleep apnea include a family history of sleep apnea, obviously, having a small upper airway, being overweight, having a recessed chin, a smaller jaw, or a large overbite. Also, if you have a large neck size considered by the FMCSA to be 17 inches or greater for men, or 16 inches or greater for women, you’re also prone to sleep apnea. Additionally, smoking and alcohol use can contribute to it, and being 40 or older, are all things that might increase your risk for sleep apnea. And, so some of the symptoms to look out for include loud snoring, morning heads – if you notice you’re waking up and you’re still feeling completely exhausted or even nauseous in the morning, that can be a sign you have sleep apnea. You may just be irritable or feeling depressed, and you may not even know why. This could be the cause, as well. So, having a good sleeping schedule affects everything from your concentration to your memory to just your general well-being. Because this can leave you feeling tired behind the wheel, you may jump to things like caffeine. But, over time, excessive caffeine consumption is also not very good for you. So, Troy, I know you were looking into some alternatives for caffeine. What did you find there?
Troy: Yeah, I was actually looking into it for myself at first. I know we’ve had discussions about caffeine alternatives. I tend to go towards the Red Bull or the sodas more often than not, and I know that’s not good for you and it’s not good for you truckers while on the road. I know many of you will choose an energy drink or too many cups of coffee to kind of and stay awake, but there are many alternatives to caffeine that are better for your body. Tea is a big one. There’s things like yerba mate, which is an alternative tea to coffee, and it provides nutrients and kind of gives you that same coffee buzz, but it doesn’t allow that crash that most caffeine products will give you. Another one is smoothies. They’re also tasty. Making a smoothie with some bananas and strawberries and some, a little bit of peanut butter in it is a great way to kind of keep that pep in your step while avoiding that crash. And then a final one is exercise. We’ve talked about exercise previously, and that’s always a good natural way to get your body awake. Doing some stretches when you wake up or even some like calisthenics, that’s a great way to make sure you are up and ready to tackle the day, a great way to continue on your journey.
Connor: Another one I like is just green tea, as well. It has a fraction of the caffeine that coffee has, but, it actually, the way that teas work in your body is that they’re a little bit more time-released. So, when you crash from coffee, you know, it’s because it’s all been used up at once, whereas tea is much more it’s easier on your system and it can last longer with less caffeine, so it’s ultimately more efficient.
Troy: Yeah, and not only can they help you get away, they can actually help you fall asleep. Connor, I know you know of some teas that can help you fall asleep. That’s one of the great natural sleep aid for many people.
Connor: Yeah, chamomile tea, it’s a classic. That’s a good one to relax. And, there’s another one, just sleepy time tea.
Troy: Yeah and even melatonin is a great little tea to add to your arsenal.
Connor: That and larine root. You have to be careful with that one. It can be hard on your organs. But yeah, there are definitely other things to try as far as getting to sleep and avoiding caffeine. But, still, sleep apnea can’t be solved with just a simple switch in your diet all the time. It might actually require some masks or machinery to help you breathe at night. There are monitoring devices that can tell when you’ve stopped breathing and can either continue to push fresh air to your lungs or basically alert you when it’s happened so you can measure that.
Troy: Yeah, and if you do feel like your sleep issue is becoming a problem you might want to consult a doctor and actually think about getting a sleep study done, because unfortunately if your sleep apnea is too severe, it might actually disqualify you from driving a truck.
Connor: Yeah, and that hints up another issue of how you can visit a doctor on the road. You know, you may be traveling all over the country and your family doctor isn’t available, obviously. So, what can you do, where can you go, to seek either immediate medical attention or something for a long term or chronic condition? It may be best to just pop into an urgent care center or something like that for minor injuries or common illnesses and stuff like that. They’re also pretty much everywhere in the country. But, if you do need to make an appointment for something very specific, there really aren’t that many other options besides just scheduling an appointment for when you have home time. As a rule of thumb, it’s usually good to schedule time, the appointment a little bit later than when you’ll actually get home just so that you definitely get that attention that you need. And so, in addition to your physical health, you also really have to consider what you’re doing to maintain mental health as well. Depression and mental illnesses are prevalent in the trucking community, and the first step to getting treatment is recognizing the signs and symptoms of mental illness. And so, when we’re talking about depression, either in adults, young children or adolescents, some of the symptoms can include confused thinking, prolonged sadness or irritability, feelings of extreme highs and then extreme lows emotionally, excessive fears, worries, and just general anxieties. People with depression can become socially withdrawn and they can experience dramatic changes in their eating or sleeping habits, as well as strong feelings of anger. With more severe mental illnesses, things like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, people may even experience strange thoughts or delusions. It’s possible that you can see or hear things that aren’t really there. Even suicidal thoughts and substance abuse, you know, the more serious side of what can occur with mental illness. So, again, with recognizing the symptoms, it’s important to acknowledge the fact that there is help out there and whether it’s for your own self or if you see it in someone else, try to get them to seek help, professional help, treatment options, and things like that. Troy, I know you were looking at what treatment options where available. What have you got for that?
Troy: Yeah, there were three main treatment options. Therapy, medication, and meditation. And a good recommendation is to use a combination of these three. Therapy, it’s always good to talk to someone, whether it’s a family member or in many cases a trained professional. Talking through issues like this can be a really important thing. It’s important to get some of that stuff off your chest every now and then. We always need someone to vent to, and that’s huge. Trucking on the road can be a very isolating experience, so it’s important that we have someone to talk to and someone that we can kind of share our thoughts and feelings with. Along with that comes medication. You might be prescribed medication that might help with your anxiety or depression or other mental illness. It’s important not to be ashamed of that. There’s literally millions of people that take medication for their mental illness and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. It might be a good way to kind of help you get back on track and live a happy and healthy lifestyle. And then finally, meditation is another great thing you can do while on the road, just taking a few minutes every day to kind of relax and think over things can do wonders for your mental health. It’s important that you take some me time and really kind of hang out and take some time off to really evaluate what’s going on and see if you can’t figure it out yourself. So, these are three crucial treatments that you might be able to take advantage of, and there’s also hotlines available. There’s a suicide prevention hotline and a variety of other different hotlines that will help those suffering from mental illness. We will list them below so that you can take advantage of them as well.
Connor: And so, kind of going off of the mental health aspect of staying fit on the road, is maintaining a spiritual life, if that’s something that is of use and interest to you. Whatever your denomination and/or spiritual belief system, you’re going to want to try and work it into your life as a trucker because things can move quickly. You can be on the road, you can be traveling all over the place, and you know, it’s good to maintain some semblance of philosophic order. There are churches on the road. If you’re looking for a Christian chapel, there are Hindu temples, temples if you’re Jewish, there’s all sorts of things. Mosques. Or maybe you’re just into, you know, the Dawah and you like to understand the flow of nature and how it relates to the human consciousness and intellect.
Troy: That’s true. It’s important to take a few minutes out of your day to practice whichever religion you follow, as well as try to work in some meditation, and we do have a blog written on the mindfulness of meditation for truckers. And you can check that out at the link below, over at AllTruckJobs.com.
Connor: The one thing to kind of note is that meditation isn’t necessarily a spiritual or religious thing. It can just be a health thing. You don’t have to contextualize meditation to make it effective, essentially. You can just sit down in a nice, quiet place and focus on your breathing a little bit until the point where you’re just, sort of, merging with this sense of calm. That’s more or less what you’re trying to do. You’re not trying to really do anything other than to meditate. So, don’t be turned off from the idea. You know, anybody can meditate regardless of their religion, and it will probably enhance whatever religion you follow if you do end up meditating.
Troy: Exactly. And alright guys, that kind of wraps things up for this segment. We hope we were able to kind of guide you through this health road map of mind, body, and spirit. Again, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us on Twitter @AllTruckJobsUSA. We are also happy to announce that we have our very own Big Rig Banter social media site, so you can find us on Twitter @BigRigBanter or on our Facebook page. Feel free to give us a like, a follow, give us some comments and feedback. We do want to hear what you have to say. But first, let’s take a break.
Music – Wherever the job takes you, Big Rig Banter is here to bring you the latest in industry topics, trends, and more. Stay tuned after this short break.
Troy: Alright Connor, so would you rather haul circus animals or secret government UFOs?
Connor: What’s the difference, really? I’m kidding. I would do the UFOs! I would haul those UFOs. That’d be crazy cool, and then I would know all the government’s secrets about all their black projects and their involvement with the extraterrestrial race who has given us their technology since the Second World War. That would be dope. That would be great. I would be into that. The only problem with that is that I would probably end up dead by the end of it because I am bad at keeping secrets. But, yeah, I would probably let it all spill out on Wikipedia, so if any of you CIA operatives or dark government workers are listening to this podcast, you already know that I’m on your list, so.
Troy: Alright, well I would probably choose the circus animals, simply because I don’t think I would be able to keep that secret either. I’d want to tell you. I’d want to tell all my friends. I’d definitely be snap chatting that the whole time.
Connor: All the way.
Troy: Throwing it on the ground. I’m going to haul circus animals. I like animals. I think I’d be able to handle it.
Connor: Would you set them free? Would you drive them off into the wilderness and release them?
Troy: That is tempting. I might have to set them free, but I don’t know if Lancaster, Pennsylvania wants some tigers and elephants running around. Depending on where I’m hauling them I might actually let them go. That is a good point.
Connor: I mean…we don’t have any around here. They’re relatively extinct in this area so you’d be reintroducing them to the wild.
Troy: That’s true, I could create my own little rescue pasture.
Connor: Petting zoo. Circus animal tiger petting zoo. Alright, so for the next “would you rather?” Would you rather listen to your favorite song forever on the road or no music at all?
Troy: That’s an easy one. I don’t think I could handle myself without any music, and I’d be fine with listening to my favorite song. That favorite song is “Firewoman” by The Cult. For you truckers out there, it’s a great trucking song to listen. It’s an ‘80s rock ballad, and it definitely brings the thunder, if you know what I’m saying, Connor.
Connor: I believe I do.
Troy: What about you?
Connor: Well, while it’s not necessarily my favorite, favorite song ever, I think I would choose that option as well. But, I would listen to “Dope smoker” by Sleep, basically forever, because it’s an hour-long song. If you’ve never heard of the band Sleep, they’re a quintessential 90s stoner rock band. It’s just an hour-long of completely detuned droning guitars and chanting. And yeah, it’s an hour-long so I would listen to that because it’s just warm and fuzzy and freaking cool.
Troy: Alright so let us know truckers. If you could only listen to one song, what song would you listen to while on the road? Remember hit us up on our very new social media sites, @BigRigBanter on Twitter and our Big Rig Banter Facebook page. For our final “Would you rather” Connor, let’s say you’re driving down the road and you see a hitchhiker along the side of the road, who would you rather pick up between Chuck Norris or the Rock?
Connor: Ooh, that’s a tough one. Well, first of all, because Chuck Norris, if you get into trouble, in any capacity, he will save the day. But, he doesn’t necessarily seem like the best conversational partner.
Troy: That is true.
Connor: And the Rock is like a really nice dude, and I feel like he could just be cool to hang out with in general, while maybe not being so proficient in fighting crime.
Troy: He is pretty jacked though.
Connor: He’s still probably really good at it. I mean I’ve seen some of the Fast and Furious movies so, he’s got that motor vehicle experience. So, that’s a tough call. You know, I’m going to go with the Rock.
Troy: I’m going to agree with you there. I was a huge wrestling fan. I grew up with the Rock, so I smell what he’s cooking all the time and I would definitely want to bring him on the road with me. We could talk about his great wrestling moments as well as his career… talk about the new Baywatch movie that’s coming out. That’s a free plug for the Rock right there, for that Baywatch movie.
Connor: That one was for free.
Troy: Yeah, so, I would definitely go with the Rock as well.
Connor: I mean, at that rate too, if Chuck Norris is hitchhiking, he’s picking you up, you know, so it doesn’t really a scenario we can even play out.
Troy: I got ya.
Connor: So, for our next topic, I’m going to ask you here Troy, what is the most annoying thing on the road when you’re driving? We both drive here to work every day, but what do you think is the most annoying thing when you’re driving? What really grinds your gears? What irks your chain or whatever the expression is?
Troy: I’d have to say, just to give you listeners a little background, our office is in downtown Lancaster. It’s in the city, and I think roadwork in the city is probably the most infuriating thing that I have to deal with on a daily basis. It seems like every single road often has roadwork. It’s often one lane. I’m sitting in traffic waiting in one lane to move while another one is at a standstill. So, I’d have to go with that. I know they’re constantly working on these roads, but they seem like they’re never done and they’re always taking a toll on my vehicle. So, that’s got to be the most infuriating aspect of traveling the road. What about you Connor?
Connor: I mean, that’s a big thing because Pennsylvania does have the most roads, I think, out of any state in the United States. So, we probably experience that more than most places. But, actually, the thing that gets me the most annoyed on the road is people not using turning signals. It’s not hard. It’s a little lever that you push down with one of your hands, and it’s doing you a favor by indicating to other drivers not to cut you off or drive around you or anything like that. So, if anybody who is operating motor vehicles is listening to this right now, use your turning signal, because I will find you and I will jump inside your car and pull it down for you if I see that again.
Troy: You’re getting pretty heated.
Connor: I’m serious.
Troy: Alright, so let’s hit on our final topic. This is probably one of our favorite ones, Connor. We got to talking the other day about our pets, and then we started talking about what it would be like taking our favorite pets on the road. We’re both cat owners, and we’re both very proud fury friend parents. Your cat’s name is Gooby, am I right?
Connor: His real name is Buddy, but cats, as most people know, never just have one name.
Troy: That is true.
Connor: Somehow the names of the cats continue to evolve with every interaction so, at the moment, yes. My cat’s name is Gooby Daniel or Abra-ca-Daniel, whichever you please.
Troy: So, what would it be like taking him on the road?
Connor: He would flip out. He would hate it. And then he would get tired and fall asleep. And then he would repeat that activity indefinitely until he had returned to his place of residence. He’s not an outside cat. So, he wouldn’t do very good. He’s only a year old, so it wouldn’t work. What about you? Who would you bring? Which cat would you bring on the road with you?
Troy: I would bring my little princess. Her real name is Hailey but everyone calls her Big Girl, because she is, in fact, a big girl. She’s big and gray and adorable and cute and luckily for you, we’re both going to post pictures of us with our furry friends. So, you can check out, and we also want to see you post pictures of your traveling companion, so feel free to post them on our Facebook page and our Twitter. I think Big Girl wouldn’t mind it. She tends to just chill out, and she does only like me. I’m the only one that’s allowed to pet her or else she will claw you, which is pretty cool because I feel honored that I’m given the opportunity to pet her as much as I want. I think she would just chill in my lap while I’m driving along the road. She would sleep a lot and she does like to eat. I’m sure she could help me with my healthy eating diet on the road too.
Connor: She sounds like a natural-born commercial driver.
Troy: She is. She is the best.
Connor: Well there you have it, folks. Thank you all for joining us again for another episode of Big Rig Banter. Tune in next time for our episode on the current driver shortage entitled, “Fixing the Driver Shortage for the Long Haul.” I’m your host Connor Smith.
Troy: And I’m Troy Diffenderfer
Connor: And this has been Big Rig Banter.
Music – Thanks for tuning into another edition of Big Rig Banter. For your next job, check out AllTruckJobs.com. The premier online source for finding the best driver jobs in the country. Browse hundreds of positions by freight or drive type to get back on the road with confidence. Click subscribe to keep the conversations coming. Until next time, on Big Rig Banter.
