The current research shows that this is not a great time to be an Owner Operator Truck Driver. There are many factors that influenced today’s trucking market, but the major one is the end of the Covid pandemic. The demand for work for owner-operators has significantly decreased, and the owner-operators are having a hard time finding work or they are getting work that pays significantly less. What does that mean for the drivers?
The two major effects are financial and emotional and/or psychological. These two can create a very stressful situation for the drivers and their families. Even though the impact is on the whole industry, here I would like to focus on how it is affecting drivers of our community. Our Punjabi trucking community, at large is male and both young and middle age. The young drivers might have a different emotional impact than the older drivers but the financial stress could be the same. In our culture not doing well in a business is not greatly accepted or looked down upon. I do understand that we all want to do well and be successful and not being successful is not an option. This might be the reason most of us feel bad about the situation and take it as our own personal fault when it is not. Are you able to see or understand this?
In today’s market, economic turmoil is occurring very frequently these days. In the last twenty years, there have been at least 4-5 times that I have experienced or been through. So knowing this volatile market, how are we handling these ups and downs? Are we prepared for both ups and downs or not? How can we be prepared for this? How is it impacting our life, I mean your life as a truck driver? How is it affecting your health, especially your mental health? Again research shows that currently, drivers are going through a mental health crisis. Mental health always has this taboo in our society and normal emotions like anxiety and depression are labeled as something wrong with you. How can we overcome this and seek help when we feel that way? Sharing those emotions with your loved one is also not understood or looked down upon in our culture. So where should we or you go? I bet most of you don’t even feel comfortable talking about this to your partners, siblings, parents, or your best friends. If you do kudos to you.
What I want to do here is to help you find some resources to deal with this crisis or problem. A platform where we can openly talk about this and find solutions. The first and most important step here is to accept it, then talk about it with other people who are experiencing the same stress. There are also other resources to deal with it that we can explore and have access to. Work or job stress has always been a major stressor for people all over the world, especially here in the U.S. YOU ARE NOT ALONE, and everyone feels stressed sometimes in their personal or professional life.
Please share your concerns here and ask questions, and I will make every effort to find solutions or find a resource to help you out. Let’s talk about it, cause not talking or addressing will not take this away.
( To ask your questions please text us at 559-701-8000)
Your Health Coach
Rupinder Kaur, RN MSN Ed.
