Loughborough University and Leicester Diabetes Centre (LDC) have developed a seven-hour Driver CPC module designed to improve the health and well-being of the UK’s HGV and other professional drivers. The Structured Health Intervention for Truckers (soon to be renamed Transport) or SHIFT is the result of 12 years’ research into the causes and cures for the current poor physical condition of the average truck driver led by Stacy Clemes, professor of active living and public health at Loughborough’s National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM).
At a launch event organised by the DfT at the NCSEM, Clemes (pictured) said truck and bus drivers “faced many challenges to adopting a healthy lifestyle”, including long periods sitting in the cab, sleep deprivation as a result of long and often unsocial working hours, poor dietary options when out on the road and demanding work schedules that gave drivers little or no control over their daily lives.
“Vehicles are improving all the time but the profile of driver health is declining,” she added.
Unlike most other safety-critical professions such as airline pilots and train drivers, HGV and PSV drivers are only required to undergo a basic D4 medical every five years between the ages 45 and 65 and every year from age 65. Clemes questioned whether this represented an adequate check on the mental and physical condition of professional drivers and asked why it wasn’t required for younger drivers.
Loughborough’s research has found that 78% of truck drivers are largely inactive and 54% of drivers aged between 45 and 65 are classed as having obesity compared with the national average of 38% or under. Of drivers aged 25 to 34, 46% were classified as having obesity – more than double the 22% of the UK population.
The NCESM started looking into the state of health of UK drivers because of the “dearth of research” into this large but largely ignored group of essential workers.
After conducting hours of interviews and surveillance among drivers, a proactive programme of interventions to help address the key issues was developed in partnership with the LDC, focusing on persuading drivers to eat better and exercise more. These are based on interactive group sessions designed for diabetics, developed by the LDC and used throughout the NHS, but adapted specifically for professional drivers, who were also given exercises they could do in their cabs while on rest breaks.
These were tested with 382 drivers working for a major operartor over four years and the results were positive, both in outcomes and the welcome given by drivers.
Results included an increase in 1,008 steps taken, a reduction of 24 minutes sitting and an increase of six minutes activity in a typical working day. Results for rest days were even more impressive, with an extra 2,012 steps and a 40-minute reduction in sitting.
Drivers previously classed as having obesity saw an average weight loss of 2.4kg as a result.
After the trial, research among drivers and transport managers taking part found 100% support for the proposal to make SHIFT into a DVSA-approved one-day Driver CPC module. With the support of Wincanton this has now been done, with expanded sections on diet and mental health.
This is an optional module for Wincanton drivers but the haulier wanted a shortened one-hour version – dubbed Short-SHIFT – to include in its compulsory one-day DCPC module that all drivers at the firm are required to complete.
Wincanton now has 65 trainers able to deliver Short-SHIFT and seven approved to deliver the full seven-hour SHIFT module, and since October 2023 5,500 drivers have done Short-SHIFT.
“There has been over-whelming positive feedback, with 77% planning to make lifestyle changes as a result,” said Clemes. “The full SHIFT module has been optional at Wincanton since January 2025.”
• Loughborough University is continuing its research into the mental and physical well-being of professional drivers and has developed an online survey for drivers to complete.
