Project 61: Helping Truck Drivers Live Longer, Healthier Lives

The average truck driver lives to 61 years old. That is not a statistic that should be accepted as normal, and Project 61 is a national nonprofit on a mission to change it. In Episode 23 of Always Pneumantic, Never Static, host Marcus sits down with Lindsey Bryan, Health and Wellness Manager at Project 61, for a conversation that every pro driver, OTR driver, and fleet owner needs to hear. Truck drivers have the highest rates of obesity and diabetes of any occupation in the United States, and the lifestyle that comes with the job makes getting healthy feel impossible. Lindsey breaks down what Project 61 is actually doing about it — real stories from drivers who made small changes and saw real results, practical meal planning and snacking strategies built for life on the road, exercise routines that work in a cab or at a rest stop, and the free app powered by Offshift that puts all of it directly in your pocket. No gym required. No subscription fees. No excuses. Download the app and start adding years to your life today. New episodes every Wednesday at podcast.bulktransit.com.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
The average American is expected to live to nearly 77 years old, a truck driver,
depending on the study 61. Some studies say even lower numbers, like
57, start to creep into the conversation. Think about that for a second. The people hauling the

(00:22):
food in your refrigerator, the medicine in your cabinet, the fuel in your truck, and the products
on every store shelf in America are statistically dying nearly two decades earlier than the
average person. And maybe the most haunting part of all of it. Most drivers are aware of
this. They know what ten hours behind the wheel does to the body. They know what truck stop food,

(00:48):
bad sleep, stress, isolation, caffeine overload and years of sitting can turn into
diabetes. Heart disease. Sleep apnea. Strokes. Depression, burnout. The list is endless,
but today's episode is not about the guilt associated with those things, and that's a very
important point. Today's episode is about hope, because what you're about to hear is just not

(01:13):
some doctor in a lab coat wagging a finger finger at truck drivers telling them to just eat
healthier. That's not it at all. This is a real conversation about survival in an industry that
often works against people keeping it alive. Today, Lindsey Bryan from project 61 joins us
to talk about the movement trying to change one terrifying number. And she said something during

(01:36):
this conversation that really stuck with me. It doesn't have to be this way.
Not with massive overnight transformations, not with fad diets, not with impossible workout
routines, but with small bite sized changes. One less soda. One walk around the

(01:57):
fuel island. One phone call home. One better night of sleep. Because maybe the difference
between 61 and 71 starts with one better decision today. This is one of the most
important conversations that we've ever had on this show. So settle in. This is always pneumatic.

(02:17):
Never static. You are listening to always pneumatic, never static. The Totally
Pressurized podcast, brought to you by Bulk Transit, where we keep the lines clear, the tanks
empty, and the conversation anything but dry. Whether you're running powder pellets or anything
in between. Pull up a seat, crack the windows, and let's hit it.

(02:41):
How's it going out there? Bulk and spur. Welcome into always pneumatic, never static. Thank you so
much for joining us today. I am your host, Marcus. As always, you can find everything that you need
to get your hands on that has some sort of connection with this podcast.
online at podcast.bulktransit.com. Some sort of connection? What are you talking about, Marcus? Well pretty simple.

(03:05):
First and foremost, all the episodes are up there at that website, so bookmark it because there's a
new one every single week and they are chock full of awesome content that you are going to enjoy
while putting the miles behind you. There's also quizzes up there that you can take after every
single episode. Test your mettle a little bit. Put the brain to work in a different avenue than what

(03:26):
you work at every single day. Uh, and besides that, there's contact with me. That's what you can get
at the website. You want to be on this show? I want to have you on this show. But there's all these
thousands of miles between us. How do we make it work? Well, first and foremost, you can go to
podcast.com and you can send me an email. There's a button right there. Just click it. You'll hit me

(03:48):
right in the pocket. Uh, the other way that you can get in touch with me is to network with any
driver that you've heard on this show. If a drivers come on this show, he's joined me because
I've called him from my personal phone. I have stopped short of giving my personal phone number
out on this podcast. To this point, I'm not saying I won't do it sometime, and I'm not saying it

(04:10):
won't happen by accident some other time. What I am saying is right now, if you want my phone
number, you gotta go either to any terminal, obviously the terminal managers and your, uh, your
dispatch and everything like that. They can all get you my phone number pretty quickly and easily
too. Uh, but if you know a driver that's come on the show, first of all, talk to that driver about

(04:32):
their experience on the show. I think they're going to give you positive feedback and then get
in touch with me. We'll take anything you want to talk about and try to turn it into an episode. And,
uh, we've had some real fun ones lately, and we've also had some pretty serious ones lately. And
that's the cool part about this podcast. We get to talk about it all. Maybe it's what you're up to

(04:52):
when the truck is stopped. Uh, maybe it's your hobbies. Maybe it's project cars. Or maybe we're
talking about, uh, paperwork and, you know, the ins and outs of pulling hoses and making sure that
pneumatic trailers are operating as they should. I'm a chameleon. We can talk about whatever you
want, but you gotta let me know that you want to talk about it. So once again, podcast.bulktranist.com

(05:14):
is the website that's where you can get Ahold of me. That's where you can listen to
all of these episodes. So bookmark that puppy ASAP. All right. Now we're going
to turn a corner. Um, all the the fun little whimsical stuff that I talk about with the
website and all the fun that we have over there is great. But today's episode is a very focused

(05:36):
one, and for good reason. We are here today to talk about driver health. Most
importantly, the statistic that really shakes everybody to their core when they hear it, and
that is that the average life expectancy of an American truck driver is just
61 years old. That is terrifying, if I may be so

(06:01):
frank. The average life expectancy of the average American is 77 years. So we're talking
16 long years, uh, on average, that truck drivers don't get to spend with their loved ones, don't
get to spend, uh, enjoying the golden years out there. And that's a big, big problem. And today's
guest is going to talk a lot about how we go about fixing that problem. Not with big wholesale

(06:26):
change, not with sweeping regulation, not with miles of red tape, but with just one, one
small incremental change a day. And maybe you can make more than one small incremental change a day.
Okay. Maybe it can be you. You make one change with your, uh, with your food, one change with your
exercise, one change with your sleep, and one change with your mental health and your

(06:51):
preventative maintenance. And there you go. So we call it five. You know, change one thing in five
different aspects each day. All of a sudden we're talking not baby steps anymore. We're making
strides at this point. Lunges. If I do say so myself. Because, you know, there's a little exercise
reference in there. Give myself a round of applause for that one. I don't often push the

(07:13):
buttons about things that I say, but I do have control of the buttons, so I might as well pat
myself on the back every now and then when I get a good pun in there. But all jokes aside, this
episode will give you a mountain of different ways to go about changing your
health habits. Now, some of you might just be in love with a truck stop roller dog, and I get that

(07:36):
those things are delicious. As long as they haven't developed a lot of cracks, that'll prevent
them from rolling. That's how you know that they're old and hard. Um, I love myself a good
truck stop. Okay. I actually favor stopping at a love's or a flying J over your standard chevron
or shell station because I love the spread in there, and I am not the most healthy person in the

(07:58):
world when it comes to road trips. I like to get on the salt so I don't have to stop and go to the
bathroom. And I like to get on the sugar because it's delicious and fun and it makes me feel young
again. However, it could make me be younger at the end of my life, and that's something that we all
have to understand, right? This is not an easy subject to talk about because health problems are

(08:22):
so prevalent in the trucking industry. You've seen the guys, you might be one of the guys that
struggles to get up and into the truck, struggles to do the work because they've packed on weight,
because they've been doing this job for 20 years, and they've been sitting in a seat for ten, 12
hours a day for 20 years. And you know something about truck drivers that you probably already

(08:43):
know since you're probably a driver listening to this, you guys aren't real good at taking time off.
So you got to think about that. The normal workday. Like let's say that you're confined to an office
and they force you to sit all 40 hours of your week. That's great. Tack on another 20 and you've
got the average truck drivers, uh, amount of sitting that they're doing in a week. Have that

(09:05):
driver stay out and just run, run, run and reset his clock when he needs to reset his clock and
get another load and go. All of a sudden, we're talking about 80 hours a week or more that you
might be sitting, you might be sedentary, which is really, really bad for your health in the long
run. And unfortunately, it's sort of an aspect of truck driving that lends itself to

(09:29):
drivers not being as healthy. But today's episode is going to give you not only the motivation,
but some good ideas on how to make small, incremental changes. Um, and the person that we've
got here is very dedicated to the mission, and the mission is getting that number 61 and
raising it, uh, just poking it every now and then from underneath. So it goes a little bit higher

(09:55):
with every single decision that we make. Um, fantastic stuff that you are about to hear from
the health and wellness manager of project 61, Lindsey Bryan. I can't thank her enough for giving
us as much time as she did today. This next hour that you're about to hear is so chock full of
great ideas and inspiration for you, that I think there's going to be some drivers that make some

(10:18):
changes after they hear this episode. If that's you. Get in touch with me and let me know. I want
to give you your flowers on this podcast for making the small incremental changes. Maybe you
don't need this podcast to make those changes because you've already made them. Let's talk about
that. Every bit of conversation that we have in this lane will help drivers

(10:40):
somewhere. It doesn't matter if they're bulk or spur drivers or if there's somebody that's
listening to this podcast because they want to know more about Bulk and Spur. Maybe they're
thinking about dropping an application, and maybe pneumatics is always given them, uh, that that
little excitement in their life and they want to get back into it. That's great. I'm so happy that
everybody that's listening to this podcast is listening. Know that this is one of those ones

(11:04):
that we can actually affect change with. Uh, and that makes this episode very near and dear to my
heart. I've babbled enough, though. Uh, this interview goes almost an hour, so strap in if
you've got some windshield time. This is the perfect one to listen to and have a conversation
with yourself about where your health is at. So without further ado, let's get Lindsey Brian in

(11:29):
here and get moving.
All right. Welcome back in here to always pneumatic, never static. Now, you guys have heard me
do, uh, introductions many times on this episode or on the show. Excuse me. And I'm. I like a big

(11:50):
fancy introduction, but I have to be honest with you, I don't think I can do this next guest
justice with a big, fancy introduction. So I'm going to get into it and just start asking
questions and let her give her own big introduction. As we talk through all this super
important information that we have to talk about today, I told you in the open, we are here today to

(12:10):
talk about Driver Health and joining us today from project 61. She's the health and wellness
manager at project 61. And her name is Lindsey Brian Lindsey. Thank you so much for being here
today. I can't thank you enough. Uh, this is so important and near and dear to my heart what you
guys are doing at project 61. We are just as grateful for you having me on at such a great

(12:32):
opportunity for us to share what we do and just another way to help reach drivers. Absolutely. And
we got a lot of them listening. So let's dive right in. Tell me about the main mission and focus
of project 61. We really describe ourselves as a movement, but ultimately what we are trying to
do is move the needle on the life expectancy of truck drivers. The 61 and

(12:57):
project 61, unfortunately, is referring to what is often cited as their average age expectancy
61 years of age. And I have to pause after I say that because I get the chills every single time.
It's unacceptable. It shouldn't be that way, right? And so we are building out all sorts of

(13:18):
different resources apps, education pieces, making partners within the industry and also
outside of the industry to figure out how do we fix this? Because it's it's not going to take just
one person or one organization. It's going to take a whole bunch of people. Absolutely. And a whole
bunch of like minded people that I think we all, if you work even adjacent to the trucking

(13:43):
industry. Lindsey. One thing that you'll learn, and I've learned this over my nearly four years
making podcasts for drivers, you will develop such a big soft spot in your heart for drivers. They
are such a good group of people. Hardworking, salt of the earth give you the shirt off their back
types, so it totally makes sense to me that you get goosebumps when you see that the average life

(14:05):
expectancy in such a crucial lane is only 61 years old. Um, can you talk to me a
little bit about really why the name was kind of the, the, the center of the movement there. I
mean, it obviously it carries so much gravity when they go, somebody says, why project 61? And you tell

(14:25):
them that? What type of reactions have you had to this name and, and do people take it seriously
when they realize that that is actually the average life expectancy for a truck driver? You
know, it's a number that's been cited for a very long time. And what's interested we we're holding
on to that number as part of the name, but there are some studies that even cite that number being

(14:46):
lower. I have seen as low as 57 years. And so it depends on the study you're looking at, depending
on how many participants and whatnot. But ultimately the idea behind it is still the same.
It's still unacceptably low. There's still work to do. And so really our hope is that

(15:07):
when it's a little bit of a shock factor and usually it is um, sometimes the the
less expected reaction is that there's concern that it will scare people away from the trucking
industry. And to that, I would say it doesn't have to be 61. That's the good news. And that's

(15:27):
exactly what we're working on. And big picture, I think it's going to take some time for us to move
that number. And when we say a long time, we're probably talking about a decade or more. But for
individuals who jump on board with us and start to make some small. What I describe as bite size
lifestyle changes. We can move that number pretty significantly and especially when we start early.

(15:51):
So rather than scaring people away from the industry, we want to say, hey, it doesn't have to be
this way. But truckers know. They know the risks. They know that it affects their health. This is
not news to them. It's probably shocking. Maybe. Hello, that number is. But what we want to do is
say. But it doesn't have to be that way. And also we can make those changes easy. Right? Bite size,

(16:14):
like you said, baby steps. You know, I've, uh, I've talked to other people involved with project 61
in the past, and that is a real, uh, main theme of a lot of our conversations. We talk about these
incremental steps, small changes every day rather than wholesale large changes. And I find that very
poignant, that that's the way that we're going to move that number two is by one, one choice per day

(16:39):
per person, and you can really move mountains. Um, and I will say, I guess the thing that.
Well, actually, before I go any further, first and foremost, I want to tell you where you can go and
follow along. If you're sitting on break in your truck right now, jump on over to the website.
project-61.org. There's a ton of good information there. Um, and maybe since we're bringing this up

(17:01):
right now, this is a good time to mention the pledge. Lindsey, I noticed when you and I were
emailing back and forth. You have a link to the pledge there on your website. Talk to me a little
bit about the pledge and how that kind of follows the incremental change, uh, path that we're talking
about here. The trekkers health pledge is really for anybody within the trucking industry that

(17:24):
agrees that that number 61 is unacceptable. And so it is a pledge to
do anything and everything that you can to stand behind our truck drivers that are out on the road,
whether that be just spreading the word about project 61. And so this can be just a simple
conversation here and there, and it can come up naturally. I'm sure it does at times, but it can go

(17:48):
all the way up to, hey, let's talk about how can you sponsor project 61, sponsor a truck driver
who's out on the road that needs that support or needs one on one coaching in particular? Um,
in-kind donations. There are plenty of ways to support without giving money directly. And so that
pledge is standing up for we have to change this, but also hopefully finding a way to make

(18:13):
efforts to do so. I love it. I you know, I feel like the pledge is something that we've kind of lost
as a society a little bit, you know, like I'm 41 years old. So back when I was in school, elementary
school and beyond, we were getting pledges hand delivered to our classroom almost every week that
we would sign. And they were always, you know, I won't do drugs and I won't do crime, and I'll, I'll

(18:36):
exercise and eat healthy and that always it. It might seem like lip service or smoke and mirrors
at first, but one thing that you realize is when you start at a young age and you start to commit
people to these different pledges that they're saying, yes, I will sign my name here in crayon, and
I promise to do this thing. It really does move the needle. And and I think that, uh, that I love

(18:59):
that kind of grassroots style that you guys are going for here because, um, you know, some of the
resources that you're offering are there free to drivers, right? Like the app project 61 app, which
you can find more about at project 61.org is Scott free for drivers and it's packed with
amazing information. Can you talk a little bit about the app? Absolutely. So it's free to drivers.

(19:22):
It's also free to fleets. And so if a fleet were listening in and thought I don't know, maybe
they're a little skeptical. And that's okay. We run into that. Don't let the app check it out. You can
download it for free. We do not hide anything behind paywalls or anything like that. So
what we're working on right now, and this is just a really fun working project, is what I would

(19:46):
describe it as. We're building out what we call the five axles, which include fuel. So this is our
nutrition and our fluid intake, uh, move, which of course is exercise and activity. But we're not
necessarily talking about body building here. This is can we track some steps. Can we get in some
stretching. Uh we've also got recharge. And so this is sleep of course, but also rest. It's not always

(20:11):
going to be sleep. Sometimes it's a little more complex than that mental drive which is getting
into mental health. And so this is things like meditation and reducing
stress and managing the stress that we can't get rid of, but also true mental
health. Sometimes we need to go to counseling and there's nothing wrong with that either. And then

(20:35):
the last one is preventative maintenance. So this is things like attending our annual physical.
And if we are prescribed medications are we taking them or are we taking them as prescribed.
So we can't take our blood pressure medication every third day and expect that that's going to
be really effective? Right. Um, so it's all of these things that we're building into the app, and we're

(20:57):
doing this in a fun, easy, uh, kind of checklist sort of way, building it out a little bit further
than that. But it allows you to sync up your fitness tracker. It allows you to look at step
counts. And we do step challenges throughout the year where you can compare that to others in your
company or even join up with a team. Um, so even our little team at project 61, we are

(21:21):
competing with steps, and Jeremy's going to outpace all of us, to be fair, but we are sure
trying to keep up with them. Um, and so all of these, again, are just those little ways that we
build in the bite sized pieces and make it more manageable to focus on all of these aspects all
at once. I love it, I love it. Have you thought about putting Jeremy in a truck for ten hours a

(21:43):
day to cut down on those steps a little bit? Because, you know, that's what that's what a lot of
these guys are dealing with it. Look, it's it's hard sometimes. And I think that it doesn't take
somebody that works within or even adjacent to the trucking industry to understand that this is
not a job that lends itself to getting a lot of exercise. Now, that's not to say that some of the

(22:04):
jobs these drivers do aren't physically demanding. I mean, flatbed drivers throwing those tarps. Uh,
some of the pneumatic drivers that we talked to that are climbing up and over the top of train
cars and pulling hoses. This is a physically demanding job, but it doesn't lend itself to a lot
of exercise. And I want to kind of focus right now on that, on that move axis there. Um,

(22:28):
I find it interesting, Lindsey. I've had drivers. I know one driver that sticks out to me right now. I
actually first met him. I walked up to his truck and he was out swinging kettlebells. He had one
kettlebell I didn't know at the time, but the thing was an 80 pound kettlebell, which is wild to
me. But yeah, but he was out there. And I mean, the guy has shoulders like they were carved out of

(22:49):
marble. He just looked so physically fit. And I started to talk to him a little bit and he said,
listen, you're not gonna look like me after even maybe a year of doing this. But he said, the point
is that I made it a habit every day to get out and move my body every time I'm out of the truck,
even if I'm only swinging this thing around a couple of reps, I make sure to do it. And that sort

(23:12):
of mindset there speaks to what we're talking about here with that small incremental change
mindset. And, um, this, this driver, his name is Paris. Great guy. Um, he said, you know what? This
kettlebell takes up so little room in my truck and it does so much for me. and I wonder how many
of those stories you've heard over your time as a health and wellness manager with project 61,

(23:36):
drivers are really creative about the ways they choose to get this movement in. Do you have any
anecdotes or anything like that that you can share about how drivers have kind of cracked the
code to get this exercise in without having like a full on go to the gym three days a week and a
full workout regimen in front of them. Oh, absolutely. And I would say, first and foremost, it

(23:58):
doesn't have to be swinging 80 pound kettlebells. I have heard of drivers using things like a
gallon of water that's 7 or 8 pounds right there, and that's a perfect weight. Um,
our app has got built in exercises that can be done in the cab around
the truck. There's also some that could be, uh, at home with equipment if, you know, if they want a

(24:24):
little variety. Um, but I've heard of all kinds of things, and sometimes it may feel a little silly,
like I've got a driver who does a dance party in her truck every so often, and it reduces
stress. It gets her up and moving. Um, it's a nice little, you know, shake out all the the
knots that sometimes they carry by the end of the day. And she walks away from it feeling just

(24:50):
really positive. So I've heard of some really incredible positive ideas. Fold up bikes.
I've heard of people bringing bikes and scooters and, you know, that sort of thing. And whatever
works. I mean, there's no right or wrong answer here, and that's what's great about it. There's
really not, you know, uh, the fitness bands I have actually said of those downstairs, they can go

(25:12):
into a gallon sized Ziploc bag and they're perfectly contained. Um, I also have one driver, uh,
that I know lives out of his truck. He has a P.O. box that he gets mail at, but he does not have
what you would call a residence in every single time he stops Lindsey. He's always looking for a
viewpoint or a hike to go on, and he's not out there in sweat bands and Nike's. He's out there in

(25:36):
his work boots and his jeans, and he's just out seeing the sights. But what you don't really stop
to realize is, hey, that's a couple thousand steps right there. That's 5000 steps. That's great motion
for your body. And if you're working up an over terrain and things like that, you're gonna feel
better. You're you're going to be healthier, you're going to live longer. And let's not forget, going

(25:57):
out on a nature hike is fantastic for the six inches between our ears. Lindsey. It absolutely is.
And so we're checking multiple boxes there. I think that's important. I tell drivers there's
really two things that we have to aim for when we're talking about activity. One, it has to be
enjoyable if we are hating it day after day, there's going to come a point where we decide, I'm

(26:18):
never doing this again, so we have to enjoy it. And the second thing is that it has to be sustainable.
And so if we are absolutely killing ourselves trying to get in that activity. That's probably
not going to work. We don't want to go from the couch to A5K back to the couch. That's not doing
us any favors long term. There's not a finish line on building healthier habits. We have to do them

(26:40):
forever, and that's hard to hear. Sometimes that can feel impossible. But when we're talking about
small, incremental things like, hey, let's get in a thousand steps, let's do a few lunges on the way
to the restroom. Let's swing around a kettlebell a few times. It's whatever it may be. Do that if
that's what you enjoy and it's sustainable, do it. Yeah, put on the journey record and just get down.

(27:04):
I mean, you know, have a little bit of fun out there to you. I, I that dance party example is so
cool because of I see so many mental health aspects just lighting up as, as you do that more
the first time, you're going to feel like a goofball. After you shake that feeling, you are
going to feel like a million bucks after dance for. I mean, name the last time you went out and

(27:25):
cut a rug on the dance floor and didn't feel like a million bucks. Lindsey. That's exactly it. That's
exactly it. And we can all imagine that feeling. That's actually how my son and I, who was a
toddler at the time, by the way, that's how we survived Covid, is we would have late night dance
parties with what I call DJ data, my husband. And that's how we survived it. So

(27:46):
absolutely it works. Here we are. Yeah, it really does work. And I think that it's it's really
important to have these conversations because the one thing that I love about their being an app
and their being kind of a support system there, is that for me. I am not a I'm not a gym rat. I was an
athlete in school, but we weren't I didn't go to this high school where it's like, you know, you

(28:09):
spend four hours in the gym and then you do two hours of practice like it was a small rural
farming town, like, we gotta go set pipe. We gotta go buck hay bales. We'll get our exercise in then.
And then you kind of just end up at practice doing the thing. So after high school, for me. One
thing that really helped me to motivate me was having somebody else. Didn't matter who is

(28:30):
somebody doing this thing that I'm also doing? Hey, what was your mile time today? Hey, how much did
you bench? Hey, how many steps did you get in has become a huge thing with all these fitness
trackers. Uh, what's your pulse looking like? Just things to bounce off of somebody else. As a
support system and project 61 app can be that for the individual driver or the fleet. Right?

(28:51):
Absolutely. It absolutely can. We have a way where we can set up teams and so drivers can
compare their steps within their company. And it's meant to be healthy, friendly competition, right?
Nothing. Nothing too crazy. But for some people it's just enough of a motivation of like, hey,
so-and-so's got a thousand more steps than me today. I need to do a few laps around the fuel

(29:15):
stop. Right? That's all we're looking for. So it works great for that. And you said some people, I
am those people. I am that guy. Totally understand it. It helps me so much. Um, I want to talk a little
bit here. Is it not really turned the corner because we're talking about the same overarching
thing here. And that's moving this number from 61 out. And you know, one thing I'll throw in here

(29:39):
before I get to my next question. I have a lot of drivers tell me, uh, especially about this fleet,
about, uh, bulk and Spur. They say I'm retiring here. That's one thing that they love to say. I'm
retiring at this company. I love this company. And if you're out there thinking about that, I want
you to remember one thing as we go through this conversation, general, pretty much down the middle

(30:00):
retirement age for anybody in the in the country that we live in is 65. And we're talking about
you're not even going to make it to retirement age on average. That's that is absolutely
terrifying to me when I when I really break it down like that, because I know a lot of these guys
that are getting close, man, you're on your last four years. You're on your last year or two, and

(30:23):
you don't want to have a health crisis right before you hang up the gloves for good and get to
go out and enjoy those golden years. Um, and I think that kind of takes me to my next question
here. Lindsey. What health problems are you seeing over and over and over again as the health and
wellness manager at project 61, I know you deal with a lot of people. You see so many cases every

(30:46):
single day. What are some of the real, um, A1 type risks that we're seeing and what are the health
implications that come with them? Yeah. So I can actually speak to this quite in depth from a
health data perspective. I used to work for another nonprofit within the trucking industry

(31:06):
that does health and wellness education, and I can narrow it down to the top six,
five of which are preventable, which I think is kind of shocking for most people. So, uh, diabetes
and diabetes complications. Many times, by the time a driver is actually finding out that they're
diabetic, it's severe. There's not often early warning signs until they have

(31:33):
neuropathy. They're having severe vision problems. They're having an amputation even. Um, so
again, that's one that we can prevent or at least delay pretty significantly. Uh,
cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, strokes, cancer, especially lung
cancer. Uh, so for the record, I'm a certified tobacco treatment specialist. I will tell

(31:59):
you the first thing. We got to cut out the tobacco, we have to, um, and the last one, the one that we
can't do a whole lot about is breaks and fractures. Technically, we can reduce
the risk of those when we are exercising. We're actually doing that. We're not just strengthening
our muscles, but we're also strengthening our bones, believe it or not. But many times these are

(32:21):
freak accidents sort of things. There's only so much we can do about that. But, uh, but yeah, the top
five are absolutely ones that can be prevented. Yeah. For sure. You know, you think about, you hear
breaks and fractures, and the first thing that comes to mind is three points of contact. Yes. But
if you have a healthier body, those three points of contact are even more solid, right? It's all

(32:44):
kind of interconnected. Um, I, you know, the heart disease and the diabetes is something that as
Americans, we've heard that it's something that's very prevalent in our society. But it does take a
huge chunk out of the trucking industry every single year. And look, it stands to reason a lot of
you guys are sitting for 10 to 11 hours a day. That is I mean, listen, I sit when I record

(33:07):
podcasts and I record podcasts pretty much all day, but I can get up and walk across the room and
back for 40 good steps. I can bend over at the waist and stretch my hamstrings. I can get a nice
twist in and get a little crack at the back. People don't understand Lindsey how much that
really does move the needle, as I've said multiple times. The incremental part of it is

(33:30):
so important, especially when you're sitting so much all day and that part of the job is
required. Yes, yes. I don't think people realize how hard that is on the body. But I also would
tell people, I think sometimes when we imagine, how do we reverse the damage of that? People imagine
we've got to go run, right? We've got to run for a long period of time to try to reverse that. And

(33:54):
that's not necessarily the case. Now, if you can do that and you've got the energy for it and the
means, great, absolutely do it. But even just being intentional about breaking up that time whenever
possible, uh, getting the heart rate up a little bit. So let's do maybe some speed walking through
the parking lot a couple times. Uh, it doesn't have to be long, lengthy periods of time. Even just 5 to

(34:19):
10 minutes every few hours can make a big difference. It's the longer that we sit, the
longer that the heart is more sedentary and our muscles are more sedentary. And that's where we
start to see those risks just increase more and more and more. You know, I bought a 12 pound
weighted vest. I like my neighborhood walks. And I was just looking for a way to make this a better

(34:42):
thing for me. How do I get more out of this walk? Because here's the deal. I've got a I've got a
repaired knee. I've got no cartilage in one of the the joints in my knee. I'm not running on concrete.
It's just not going to happen. But I can get out there and walk for a solid hour. I pack on that
little 12 pound weighted vest. I notice that I'm burning more calories. It did affect my pace. I'm
not gonna lie to you. I wasn't moving as fast, but I am now. That's okay. Right? It's all it's all

(35:07):
about those incremental steps. And now I'm back up on pace with the 12 pounds on. I mean, again, this
is just more anecdotal stuff to try to illustrate that small changes can happen. You don't need 12
pounds. You could do that with a 6 pound weight. You could pack two bottles of water and actually
get more out of that walk than if you weren't packing those two bottles of water. Right. That's

(35:29):
exactly it. All it takes is little bits. Um, when we think about how we increase
our fitness over time. Ideally it would go just exactly like what you're describing. We do this
activity over a period of time, and eventually it doesn't feel so hard. So we find a way to make it
harder. And whether that's increasing our pace or increasing our distance or increasing the weight

(35:52):
that we're carrying as part of that, even just a backpack that'll do it, throw it through a jacket
and a backpack. You're good to go. Um, it doesn't have to be. Go out and buy all this expensive
equipment. We don't have to get fancy with it, just enough to increase the difficulty. And then
eventually that becomes easy. And then we've got to find something else to do. Right. But but again,

(36:14):
nobody's saying we've got to go run a marathon. Exactly. If you get to that point, fantastic. And
definitely get send me an email and let me know because we'll have you on the podcast and talk
about that. That'd be a very inspirational story. And there are thousands of these inspirational
stories coming out of the work that project 61 is doing. Um, and I love to see it. You know, there's

(36:35):
one story that that somebody involved with project 61 a while back was telling me about
incremental change. And it's always been sort of the big picture for me for incremental change. And,
uh, this this person had a driver who was drinking 24 regular Pepsis a day, every single day, go into
the store, walk out with 24 full sugar bomb Pepsis and drink all of them every day. And the way that

(37:00):
the incremental change started with this driver in particular. And this'll blow you away when I
get to the end of it. But 23 regular Pepsis and one Pepsi Zero Sugar. And pretty soon that
became two and three and on down the line until full sugar sodas cut out of that guy's diet. Tell
me from your perspective, Lindsey, as the health and wellness manager at project 61, how big of a

(37:25):
change cutting out 24 regular Pepsis is, or even just one for that matter, when you're
sitting for ten hours a day? I mean, that's mind blowing. It's amazing. It really is. And I don't
say that to with any minimization whatsoever. That's incredible. Even just one. When we think

(37:45):
about how much sugar is in one of those, you know, I'm thinking about what I know about the body and
how it's processing that sugar. And it is not using that sugar. We are not doing that level of
activity on a regular basis. Even truth be told, your walks around the neighborhood with your 12
pound vest are not going to use the sugar that's in that soda. And so what ends up happening is the

(38:08):
body stores that up, and it's got to get creative with how it stores it up, because it's got a
backup plan and a backup backup plan and a backup backup plan in case we were ever in a famine,
right? Well, we're generally not going to get to that point. We're not expecting that. Right? Right.
And so the body's really having to compensate for every single extra soda that we

(38:29):
drink, even when it's just an occasional one. Even the healthiest person, the occasional one, the body
is like, man, we have to process this. Yep. And it's got to work hard to do so. So when I think about
what 24 of them is doing, but also on the flip side of that, what it means to cut out
that many of them. It's incredible. Right, right. I mean, just the habit, the ritual. Like we're all

(38:52):
creatures of habit, I get it. Pepsi's delicious. I'm not. I'm I'm not partial to Coke or Pepsi. You put
one of them in front of me. I'm gonna put it back. I just love it so much. But I totally understand
the the ritual part of it, too. It's long, road trips are tough, and and I, I've said this many
times on this podcast, you get me. I live seven hours away from where I grew up, so when I go back

(39:14):
to see Mom and dad and my sister, it's a long drive and my the inside of my truck looks like an
unsupervised child was given a hundred bucks and set loose in a 7-Eleven. I get it, I totally
understand and this I, I feel like I'm speaking for a lot of people here. Road trip snacks are
sort of part of the road trip, but the difference is I'm doing that once every four months. You guys

(39:34):
are doing it every single day and I it it makes it a little bit tougher on you. And the nutrition
side of this is a big side of it. Obviously it's one of your five axles that you're working on at
project 61. Um, the the fuel side of things I think has been really interesting from my
perspective. Talk to a lot of drivers doing all these podcast episodes, and I'm noticing a trend,

(39:58):
Lindsey, that I really like, and that is that way more drivers are starting to either meal prep at
their home and take it with them on the road, or they've got all sorts of little pressure cookers
and crock pots and little hot plates and things like that. Even Coleman stoves that they can use
to grill up a nice piece of meat or something like that when they're outside of the truck, at

(40:20):
the truck stop, or at the rest area. Um, from your side, are you seeing that trending in a positive
direction like I am? I absolutely am. I think that as a whole, there's more awareness
about what's in our food. And some of that has been gradual change over a period of time. So
there was a law that passed, I don't know, sometime within the last 5 to 7 years where if a

(40:45):
restaurant is a chain with seven or more locations, they have to post the nutrition
information. It puts it front and center. And so you see it on the menu of how many calories are
in it. And people are aware of it. They're noticing it more. They're learning a little bit more as
they go. And it makes them stop and think, which is exactly what we hope to do with the education

(41:07):
that we provide. We're not aiming for bland, boring diets. That's not the goal. We want you to
enjoy your food, make it flavorful. Make it something that you're going to enjoy eating. But
also, can we reduce the sodium? Can we reduce the sugar? Can we make healthier choices? And we can
absolutely do that by preparing it ourselves. We are not going to add nearly the amount of butter

(41:30):
that a fast food joint is going to add, or saturated fats, or trans fats or sodium. We could
say that about many new nutrient pieces. But yes, that's going to make a huge difference. And I am.
I'm seeing it and I love that that's happening. I love it too. And man, I you just in talking through
that and and talking about the chain restaurants that have to post the nutrition facts, I

(41:52):
immediately thought back to probably even the last time I was at a drive thru, and I was looking
at the menu and thinking, there's that many calories in that. Like I never knew that. It
certainly doesn't feel like that when you're eating it, but then you think about like an hour
or two later. Oh, yeah. That's why I feel like that is because that's the caloric intake. I'm getting
a day and a half worth of sodium. I'm getting three days worth of fat all in 15 minutes or so.

(42:18):
And, uh, you know, the the mental health aspect of cooking in the truck or meal prepping at home and
eating a well prepared, nutritious meal is also sort of understated. You don't understand how much
better the brain functions, um, when you're on that really nutritious food until you've been on it
for a while and you think, man, when was the last time I was foggy? When was the last time I lost my

(42:41):
train of thought? Right in the middle of a sentence? It really does make a difference. And I
love it. Drivers, if you're doing it out there, we always love to share recipes and things like that
on the show, so make sure to stop by our website real quick. podcast.bulktransit.com and send
me an email. I want to hear about the things that you guys are doing out there, uh, in the way of

(43:01):
nutrition or exercise, if you've got some tips and tricks, the best thing we can do is share them so
that other drivers can maybe pick up on that. Nobody is the same. No two people are doing this
the exact same way. Lindsey I assume that's just a given. That's absolutely it. And I think that's
exactly how we as an industry continue to move in the right direction. When I first stepped into the

(43:25):
trucking industry, I was so brand new. I was calling it gas stations. And a driver had to say,
no, no, we call it Fuel Stops. And I went, okay, I will never say it wrong again. But now I know,
right? You don't know until you know. And so I had a lot to learn, I really did. And I
would argue that in my classes that I taught for a long time, I learned just as much from them

(43:52):
as they learned from me, because I've never had to cook, relying only
on an air fryer or only a microwave. Um, so. So it
went both ways. It very much did. Yeah. They've got a these truck drivers have a real good way of of
teaching you about the aspects of life that you don't get to see very often when you're not

(44:16):
living life out there on the road. And, um, you know, something I want to bring up to I. I'm an avid
outdoorsman. You'll hear me talk about hunting on the show quite frequently. And I know especially
being based out there in Ohio, plus all those other terminals that bulk has all over the
Midwest. The deer hunting is impeccable out there. If you are a hunter, that meat that's coming from

(44:37):
that deer that you're getting is so nutritious. Or if you're an elk hunter, even better, 20g of
protein to one gram of fat in, uh, in elk meat fishing. I know we've got a ton of fishermen here.
You guys are hauling out some of the best nutritious food out of these waterways that you
can find. And, uh, how great would it feel, Lindsey, to throw an elk steak on the grill out there when

(45:00):
you're out? I know that space is limited, but this is part of just it's sometimes I think the
aspects of just not thinking about these things is one of the reasons that you never think about
them. They don't get brought up. It's not friend of mine stuff. You just it doesn't click for you. And
that's part of the point of having these conversations is there are so many ways really,

(45:22):
and in an infinite amount of ways it's tripping over the tongue. But yeah, so many different ways
that you could do this. And and we haven't even gotten to one of the most important parts that I
think is pretty underappreciated. And that is the recharge axis that you guys are talking about. Um,
drivers and sleep apnea. Name a better combo. There's constant sleep apnea out there for

(45:45):
drivers, and that is having a dad and three of my closest friends who all wear CPAp.
Um, I'll tell you right now, that's a life changer. If you can get your sleep adjusted it, it can do. I
mean, it can kind of supercharge all this stuff, right? Lindsey, if you're getting the right rest,
the exercise you're getting, the nutrition you're getting, they're all extrapolated to a larger

(46:09):
degree. Is that correct? Absolutely. All of these health axels that we talk about, they are all
interrelated. They overlap in a lot of ways. And so if we're not sleeping well, we don't have the
energy to be putting forethought into what we're eating and planning ahead. And so we tend to make
worse choices. Our coping skills are lower, so we may more be more likely to make impulsive food

(46:32):
choices like, hey, I'm going to go with this candy bar while I'm checking out at the fuel stop. Right.
And that's what tends to happen. So the reverse is true as well. When we're sleeping well, we wake up
with better coping skills. We are thinking with our full frontal lobe, which means we're planning
ahead. We're thinking about the consequences of our decisions. We are much less likely to give in

(46:55):
to those impulse food choices. We've got more energy, which means we're more likely to be
willing to exercise and actually enjoy it potentially, which is the goal. Um, so it all it all
plays in it very much does. And I would say to, you know, I think there's a lot of, um,
misinformation about sleep apnea. I think that we imagine that the average person that has it is

(47:21):
overweight and, and and right, we can go on and on. But that's not always true. And I use my mom
as an example here. She has got sleep apnea. She's had it for a very long time. She is a little
petite woman who snores like a freight train without her CPAp machine. It was unexpected. Hers
came from a series of surgeries where they think it just damaged that little flap in the esophagus.

(47:45):
And, uh, next thing you knew, she was having the fatigue and all the things we would expect to go
along with sleep apnea. But it took a while to diagnose because it was unexpected. Sure. Yeah. And
great point there. It does not take a massive amount of extra weight sitting on your chest to
cause this. My most fit friend, the guy who he he works ten minutes away from his gym. He

(48:10):
goes to the gym for his morning break, his lunch break and his afternoon break. He's a psychopath. I
can't understand the way that his mind works, but he is the most fit and in shape, wedge shaped
human being I have ever seen. And he is one of my friends on a sleep apnea machine. And it does. It
really does not have a type. It's whether or not you're you're afflicted with it or not. And the

(48:34):
point here is no judgment whatsoever. But get that taken care of because it can really change your
life. Um, you know, I, I remember when my dad first got his, uh, CPAp mask, and this is going back over
a decade. It was back when they were kind of just first starting to become popular. And the whole
thing was, I got to sleep with this thing on my face. How am I going to do that? And, you know,

(48:57):
irritation on the nose and everything. First and foremost, the technology has come. So much better.
It's so much better now. And besides that, you don't care what's on your face when you're
actually getting good sleep, right? That's one thing that is hard to connect. How am I ever going
to get to sleep with that? Well, it's pumping oxygen into your blood, so sooner or later you're

(49:17):
going to fall asleep, right. And and the the benefits from there, uh, are just monumental,
Lindsey. Yes. People feel better. They are sleeping better. They've got more energy. They're able to
make better food choices. It's so many things. But I also would add to that I think this is a lesser
known risk of sleep apnea. But when people are stopping breathing multiple times,

(49:41):
sometimes multiple times in an hour, um, some of those numbers get alarmingly high. We just
assume, well, the body is going to trigger us to start breathing again, which is usually what
happens, but it can actually get so severe that people don't start breathing again and they can
pass away in their sleep. And so I think we've got to remember that, for I hear this all the

(50:07):
time. I'm like, I don't want to have to wear that thing. I don't even have to want to want to have
to test for it because I'm not going to wear it. But the consequences are severe.
At least they can be. And of course, that nobody wants me to harp on this part. But the safety
aspect when you're driving, that's significant too. Um, and so, yeah, the technology is better,

(50:29):
though. The masks fit better. I would tell anybody who's had to wear one. If you don't love the one
you're wearing, there are so many different options. Now find the one that fits you and it's
not going to be the same for everybody. No one size fits all. Just like with all the things that
we've talked about. Absolutely. Uh, which brings us to our last axis here that we haven't touched on.

(50:51):
Um, and, and that is well, actually, there's a couple that we haven't touched on, but the mental health
aspect of things, we've kind of gotten to it through all the rest of these. I think it's um,
it's kind of just known that if you do a little incremental step for all the rest of these things,
you're fuel your movement and your recharge. Your mental health is going to start to make leaps and

(51:15):
bounds, uh, in, in the positive direction. And, and I don't want that to go
as like, oh, that's just one that we're passing over. But there, there are some other things that
we can do to help our mental health out there on the road. Lindsey, I wonder if you want to talk
about a couple of those things. The sleep obviously huge, the food huge, the exercise huge.

(51:36):
But what about that windshield time? What can we do to help our mental health when we've got ten
hours worth of road in front of us? And, uh, you know, we might only be stopping once to to grab
some diesel and and an apple, not a candy bar. Right. I think that during that time, we
can think of this as how are we going to fuel our mind? And this is what are we

(52:00):
listening to? Is this music that supports a good mood? We can absolutely listen to some sad songs
and get ourselves in a deep, dark place. Or we can listen to music that makes us feel good and
positive and energetic. And I would also tell drivers an important part of that time, whenever
possible, when it's safe to do so, connect with somebody. There is so much time out on the road

(52:24):
that is spent socially isolated, and I think sometimes it's easy to forget just how isolating
it is until you're in that deep, dark place and it's, you know, 1 a.m. and you're like, who do I
call? Right? Right. That's when it hits like this is this can be a very lonely
job. And so connect with people, even if it's just calling to say, hey, how's it

(52:49):
going? Here's where I'm at. Whatever that conversation looks like. Just reach out to your
people. And that can make a huge difference. That social connection very much plays into mental
health, but also our long term brain health. Social connection is one of the most
significant controllable factors to prevent Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Wow.

(53:15):
Connecting with people. Just talking to people. You know, it's it's amazing to me. The happiest drivers
I talk to do exactly that. They're constantly in touch with family and friends. In fact, just last
week I got three drivers in to do a podcast interview with them. I had scheduled them all at
separate times, in separate conversations, and when I had them all on the phone at once, one of the

(53:38):
guys spoke up and he said, yeah, this is just like what we normally do. And I said, wait, what do you
mean? And he said, well, we were on the phone for like seven hours yesterday. And I said, you guys
are just working on yeah, man, we're just connected all the and all of a sudden it clicks. No wonder
you guys are so happy. You guys are constantly. You're probably breaking each other's balls on
there. You're you're telling stories. You're you're talking about the idiots in traffic that you see

(54:02):
just getting those cobwebs cleared out and not letting them stack up is such a big thing. And
listen, the other aspect here that is very big is, is your family back home. This helps them too. It
doesn't only help the driver, it's really beneficial for the family. I had a story told on
another podcast about a driver who had a young son at home, and the kid always wanted to know

(54:26):
where dad was. So what he started doing is every time he stopped for the night or for a break, he
would grab a rock from the side of the road or from the parking lot or whatever, and he would
write the location that he was on, and he would take those rocks home and give them to his young
son, who absolutely loved it. Because not only do I see all these places dad's been, but I got this

(54:46):
awesome new collection of rocks to play with and I'm always adding to it every single time dad
comes home. Just to fast forward 20 some years, that gentleman is now working in an orientation
department running it, and his son is in medical school, which he was able to put his son through
via a trucking job. But that kid, that man still has those rocks. So you think about that

(55:11):
and the impact that something like that has to have on you as a kid all these years later to
where you're pursuing a medical degree and you've still got a box of rocks with Raleigh, North
Carolina written all over him. I think that's amazing. And and really just kind of a, a very
zoomed in picture, but a picture all the same of how great this type of communication is for

(55:31):
drivers that are out there on the road. And what a big change it can make, not only for them, but for
the family waiting back home. Lindsey very much so. It's helping to bridge a communication gap that,
you know, unless you're feeling it actively and and hopefully most of the time we're not because
we're focused on what it is that we're doing at work. But when drivers are gone longer, that's a

(55:54):
long gap in communication and the family is certainly feeling it. And I imagine most drivers
are too. Whether they realize it or not. And so just trying to fill in that gap where possible.
And sometimes it's just the little things like, hey, here's where I'm at, here's where I'm
traveling through. It's these little treasures, both figuratively and literally. In that case.

(56:15):
I've got some rapid fire questions for you here. And the reason that I wanted to do this segment
with you is because it's not often that I get somebody in the room here with me that has as
much experience and as much education and as much drive for the the overall commitment to project
61 that you have and just driver health in general that you have. So let's go through some

(56:36):
rapid fire questions here. I'm going to throw them at you. Give me your best answer off the top of
your head. Uh, first one, what is the biggest health myth in trucking? Oh gosh,
I'm probably going to rattle some people here. But, um, we tend to see these
very common health fads that come up. And it's it's not just trucking, to be fair. It's

(57:01):
across the board. And we've seen this with things like coconut oil. People thought it was just this
miracle thing for a while. And turns out it's mostly saturated fat. Um, the one that I hear a lot
right now is pretty strict keto diets and carnivore diets. And
it's not to say that they can't have benefits. Clearly, people wouldn't do them if they weren't

(57:25):
experiencing benefits, but there's also some significant risks to them, too. And I think it's
important for people to know that. And sometimes the benefits of doing
these pretty severe dietary changes, they can outweigh the short term risk. But long
term we really have to assess those. And in most cases it's not going to weigh out. So that would

(57:50):
probably be the number one. Yeah. Great point there. And listen there's a reason that all of the
people selling you these fads are in their mid 20s in the best shape of their life. And really
pretty people. They wouldn't have to put those people on those videos if these things worked
every time. 100%. There's a little bit of psychology behind it and marketing in the whole

(58:12):
lot. And so, you know, it being 41 years old, I live through the fad diet, uh, you know, kind of the
inception, Atkins and all the rest of that stuff. And while yes, there's some people that saw some
fantastic success through it, uh, you really have to kind of take everything that's being said to
you in a TikTok video with a grain of salt, I guess, is the best way to put it right. Very much

(58:34):
so. Next, what I've got for you. What do you think is the most underrated healthy truck stop snack
we've all seen? All the lines and aisles full of candy and chips and everything like that. But
there are gems in these truck stops. What do you think the best one sitting in there is? Gosh,
that's a hard one. I think if I were trying to come up with something that I feel confident

(58:56):
would be at most every truck stop, it's probably going to be some sort of a trail
mix, another calorie dense. So we have to be realistic about portion sizes, but they're going
to have nuts, which is a great source of healthy fats or unsaturated fats. Most of them are
going to have some sort of dehydrated fruit. And so we've got a little bit of fiber. We've got some

(59:21):
vitamins and minerals that go along with that. And then just me personally, I think the really, really
good ones have a few M&Ms sprinkled in there because sometimes we just need that little bit of
a dopamine kick to keep us going. And there's nothing wrong with a few M&Ms to top off our
snack. I'm okay with that, right? It's if you start farming through and only grabbing the M&Ms, that's

(59:42):
when the problem starts, right? That's exactly it. Uh, biggest mistake you think drivers make with
sleep, Lindsey. Oh, I think I think this goes back to a
common misconception about sleep. So our bodies are really, really good at adapting to

(01:00:03):
a sleep deficit. Meaning, if we are getting not enough sleep night after night after night,
our brain is really good at tricking us into thinking that we're doing a very good job and
that maybe we're not really that tired. And so I hear often drivers who were talking about
like five hours is their average. They're like, yeah, I feel like that's I'm doing pretty good at

(01:00:27):
five hours. And in the back of my mind I'm thinking, how much better would you feel at seven
hours? Right, right, right. But you don't know until you're getting that pretty consistently and it
takes some time to Undo some of the the problems that come with a long
term sleep deficit. So one night of seven hours may not do it. It may take a few before they start

(01:00:51):
to feel those benefits. And so I think it's just the fact that we will and this is all of us, we
will convince ourselves we're doing pretty good on five hours of sleep. And then the cracks start
to show if we really are looking carefully. Boy, they do. Let me tell you guys out there right now,
drivers, you would not want to listen to this podcast if five hours was my norm because I it

(01:01:12):
really does. I mentioned cobwebs earlier, Lindsey, and that's what it feels like to me is just that
the, the, the headspace that I normally have is dusty. It hasn't been cleaned well enough and I
can't get through it as quickly and as as with as much focus as I normally do. Um, seven hours for
me, uh, up to ten on the weekends if I'm really feeling it, you know. But, uh, let's not start

(01:01:34):
talking about my weekend habits, because we'll have to have a whole other podcast, uh, to parse
through all those bad habits. But, uh, uh, just one more here. Um, on that sleep note, one
thing that drivers love is coffee, but caffeine in general. Okay. And I shouldn't put that on. Just
drivers. That's everyone. Already had my caffeine today. Uh, so in your opinion, is caffeine a

(01:01:59):
friend or an enemy of truck drivers, or is it a little bit more nuanced than that? It's as with
all health things, it's a little more nuance. Um, but I'll tell you where the limitations are, where
we can say that it's more good and and maybe less healthy. I don't like to say bad, but less healthy.
So up to 400mg is perfectly safe for the average person. So

(01:02:23):
that's about four cups of coffee. That's not completely crazy right now. I know there's some
drivers that are going to be going no no no no no. Yeah. How many cups does this 48 ounce mug hold.
Because I'm I'm counting you know. Yeah. So 400mg. Um, we have to
ask a couple of questions of what's going in it. And if we're adding a whole bunch of coffee

(01:02:47):
creamer, that's a whole separate issue, but definitely some risk there. Yeah, but if we can cut
it off at a reasonable hour, most people take somewhere between about 4 to 8
hours to fully metabolize caffeine. It varies a lot from person to person. It's a genetic thing
that we have no control over. So this is another one of those things where I will hear drivers say,

(01:03:11):
and this is true of anybody. I sleep just fine after a cup of coffee and we may feel like it.
We absolutely could convince ourselves of that. But it is disrupting our sleep patterns, believe
it or not. So we're not getting as good a quality as what it could be. So if we can be intentional
about cutting it off earlier in the day or six, ideally about six hours before we're going to

(01:03:35):
sleep, that's picture perfect. And so. And you're still going to have your four cups. Yeah. You're
still going to have your four cups. You just gotta cut it off in the afternoon and turn on the water.
That's all right. Yes. That's exactly it. Yeah. So so I'm not a horrible person. I'm I'm pro caffeine
in moderation within some time limits. Yeah. No, I, I totally understand that I'm not a coffee drinker

(01:03:58):
for one very specific reason. People say, oh, you don't like the taste? Uh, check the breaks. I don't
like the taste of black coffee. I love the taste of coffee. Once you start putting all the caramels
and the vanilla and all the rest of it in there, too. And that's the problem, right? I can't if I'm
doing that. You know, if it's if it's one little six ounce cup a day, I'm still probably getting

(01:04:19):
too much sugar and too much fat from all the stuff that I have to put in it to make it
palatable to me. And listen, I don't know that this is a great substitute to make, but for me, I went
to a zero sugar energy drink. It's got a little bit of caffeine in it. I think, you know, 150mg or
so. Uh, cut back the the major caffeine hit that I would get from a big cup of coffee a little bit,

(01:04:41):
and it tastes good as well, but I'm not overloading myself with sugar. I know that's not
the best decision out there, but it's a better decision for me. And I think that illustrates the
point we're trying to make here. Lindsey. Yep. Always going for a better decision whenever
possible. I'll give you another little trick here, because I'm sure there are drivers thinking, well,
I'm not switching to an energy drink or I don't want to get rid of the coffee, a protein shake in

(01:05:07):
a coffee, it gets in our flavor, it gets in the sweetness, gets in a little protein too. So we get
the best of all worlds here. Um, but yeah, that's a great way to replace the coffee
creamer. I never thought about that. It's a fantastic trick. And you know, my wife is a gym rat.
And the flavors of some of her protein powder. It's just like, can you just freeze that and scoop

(01:05:29):
it out for me? Because that tastes like ice cream. Yeah. Um. And, yeah, she's, uh, she's getting that huge,
push of protein every single morning. That's great advice and exactly why we brought you on here.
Again, if you don't ever think about this stuff, if nobody's ever mentioned it to you, it is
completely foreign to you. And that makes these incremental changes kind of tough to do. But

(01:05:50):
project 61 is there for you. Uh, project-61.org is the website. And
Lindsey, this has been such a fantastic conversation, but I have kept you here for almost
a full hour now. So I want to be respectful of your time and wrap this up. Um, first and foremost,
again, project Dash 61 or go there, check out all the information that's on the website,

(01:06:14):
download the app and just play with it for a little bit. See what it can do for you in the land
of incremental change. Um, and right here as we start to wrap up, Lindsey, everybody that comes on
always pneumatic, never static with me, uh, gets a chance at a segment I like to call Final Thoughts.
And this segment is for you. Anything that we might have left on the table, we can discuss it

(01:06:37):
now. Any shoutouts that you want to give? Any other plugs that you want to give for the website or
the app? The point is, the floor is yours and you can take as much time as you need. Lindsey Bryan,
Health and Wellness Manager from project 61. Thank you so much for being here today. Final thoughts
from you here on always pneumatic, never static. Well, thank you so much for having us on and

(01:06:59):
giving us the space to share what we do, share our mission, share a little information along the way.
Um, I would tell anybody who's listening right now, I think sometimes we get in our head and we will
convince ourselves that things are too hard. That is what I call head trash. And we have to just
pull that out and let it go. Sometimes if you are in a place where you're considering making some

(01:07:22):
lifestyle changes, you want to get healthier. You're feeling like it's too hard. Join us. Join
the movement. It can be done, I promise you. We have seen people in dark places
sometimes. Who turned it around and are doing great and are feeling healthier and have reduced
their health risks on top of it. So what have you got to lose? Check out the website.

(01:07:47):
Download the app. Um, you're welcome to email me as well. I will always give out my email address. It's
Lindsey Lindsey at Project 61 org. There you
go. And that's I mean that's a risk you're taking here because you never know how many people are
listening to a podcast. But she's there. She's willing. So reach out, get in touch with Lindsey

(01:08:10):
and uh, get in touch with project 61 as well. Go take the pledge over there at the website. Or if
you email Lindsey, you can link to it from her email signature. Um, this is available to you. It's
available to all drivers and it is absolutely free. So go over to the website once again, project
Dash 61. Lindsey, you were fantastic. Today we'll be getting you back in here for sure. This has been

(01:08:33):
awesome, and I know that a lot of truck drivers got a lot of good out of this interview today, so
thank you for being so gracious with your time. Of course. Thank you.
You know, it's not always the most frequent thing on this podcast. When I sit back and I really have

(01:08:57):
to take a few minutes and think about what we just talked about. This is one of them. And there
are those moments. And the reason I'm calling this out is because I see it as a moment like that,
where something just changed in the air. Something feels different now that we've had that one
hour conversation with Lindsey, Brian, and hats off to her. Thank you so much, Lindsey, for coming on

(01:09:21):
this show, giving us as much time as you did. Um, you know, I aim for about 45 minutes for these
interviews. You'll notice that they almost all run an hour. Most of that is my fault because I'm a
little bit of a of a chin wagar, if you know what I mean. But I just couldn't get out of that
interview without talking about everything that we wanted to get to, and we did a great job of it.

(01:09:43):
And listen, even after an hour talking to Lindsey, even after all that great conversation, we still
probably only scratched the surface on what can really be done here and what project 61 is really
aiming to do over the long haul, and that is increase the life expectancy of truck drivers. We
all know you guys, all of us that are what I would consider in the industry, but not drivers or, uh,

(01:10:07):
you know, trucking industry adjacent. We've all met enough drivers to know that you guys are are just
an amazing, incredible group of people. I said it earlier when we were just welcoming Lindsey in
Salt of the Earth, some of the best groups of people that I've ever met, not just individuals.
I'm talking groups. Eight, ten, 12, 14. People that are in a group chat all day that are

(01:10:33):
just some of the best people I've ever had the pleasure of getting on the mic with. And it's that
that we all know, all of us that are trucking industry adjacent or work in the industry and not
drivers. It's knowing that about the group of drivers that comprise all 3 million of you in
general, knowing that this is such a good group of people. Are there bad apples? Yeah, in every single

(01:10:57):
bunch, but there's few fewer of them in this bunch, at least by my experience. And I know
what Lindsey is aiming for and what I was aiming for by doing this episode today is to try to help
anybody that wants to take the help, anybody that's willing to make one incremental change or
two incremental changes and just work on it over and over and over again. You know, this is not a

(01:11:21):
race that ends. You heard Lindsey say it. These are decisions that we have to turn into habits. And
that's okay. That's not easy, but it's okay. And I really think that today's episode, uh, can be
that that, uh, effective change there. I do believe that deep down in my soul, I wouldn't put so much
effort into making sure that we got Lindsey to talk about all those things that she talked about

(01:11:44):
if I didn't think it was going to help. So, again, I do want to really drive this point home. I drove
it home in the open. I'm going to drive it home again. If you listen to this episode and you
decided that's it, I'm making a change. I don't care what that change is. You can say I decided to
sleep on my left side instead of flat on my face, and it changed my sleep pattern. I'm happy with

(01:12:08):
that. I don't care, maybe you're on the 24 regular Pepsis right now, and you're going to start the
baby steps and do one Pepsi Zero Sugar. Pepsi a day doesn't matter. I want to hear the
stories because those are what propagate other drivers to making these decisions that will
inevitably help them live longer, healthier and happier lives. We talk about it all the time on

(01:12:34):
this podcast. What is the one thing that we always say, almost regardless of what the subject matter
is, we want everyone to get home safely. Why is that? Well, because we want you to live a normal
life. We want you to be able to spend time with your family. We want you to go out and do fun
things and have great experiences, profound experiences. But we want you to have more than 61

(01:12:58):
years to do that. And I think a lot of people would tell you 61 is way too young, 61 is is
gone too young 100% of the time, especially when the average in the country outside of the
trucking industry is 77 years. Think about what you could do with those extra 16 years and a
little bit of juice still in the knees, right? You could be golfing, you could be fishing. Maybe

(01:13:20):
you're gonna get back in the race car and see if you can't spin a hot lap. I mean, the opportunities
are endless, but if you really want to bring it home and you really want to feel the gravity of
what we talked about today, go ask your family. Go ask your family when you get home from this, from
this next route you're on. And ask them, hey, if if, if I could give you 16 more years at the end of

(01:13:43):
my trucking career, would you like that? I mean, I look, I understand, I know what the answer is going
to be. Um, it's it's not hard. I'm not being facetious here. I'm saying it's obvious.
Right. And so that's why we should start to make the changes. I know that I draw on the inspiration

(01:14:03):
of these types of conversations to make the incremental changes in my own life. I am not the
picture of a 41 year old chiseled out of stone, dude. All right, I'm a little soft around the
middle. I like my sodas and pizza just like anybody else. But if I can get myself one less
soda and sub it out with a glass of water and one less slice of pizza and sub it out with a green

(01:14:25):
salad. Man, the differences start to add up, just like the
facts have added up against us here. Just like we know this is a sedentary job, it is what it is.
But you guys are crucial to this country. And when you stop to think about the fact that you're the
ones filling all of our fridges and all of our cabinets with all of the food and nutrition and

(01:14:49):
health products and ointments and everything else that we all use as humans every day, you guys are
the ones putting those on our shelves. Without you guys, we don't have them. So we want you to go
longer than 61, not just to get us our products. That's not what this is about. This is about
getting to spend time with the people that you love and as much time as possible. And I think

(01:15:11):
that would be the answer if you started to just randomly sample the population and say, how much
time do you want to spend with your loved ones? The answer is typically going to be as much as
possible. Well, we did a lot today. We gave a lot of good information and had a really good
conversation about how we can help maximize that time for every single individual listening to

(01:15:32):
this show. So again, get on over to our website, podcast.bulktransit.com and
email me. Tell me about the changes that you have made. And maybe before you even do that, head on
over to project 61.org and take a look at some of the free resources they have over there.

(01:15:53):
Again, the app is free. You can download it right after you stop listening to this. Heck, if you're
not driving. Uh, go ahead and download it while you're listening to this because it will help and
it will affect change. And all the great people at project 61 are very dedicated to that. And hey,
Lindsey gave out her email on this on this episode. I feel for her, uh, because that's a brave

(01:16:18):
thing to do. You heard me. I'm not giving out my phone number, but she gave out her personal email
and I can vouch for it. That's the one that I set up the interview with. That is her direct email. Uh,
so utilize that if you want to talk to her. If you've got some questions for her, she will help
out. Uh, but there is a ton of resources on their website. Again, for the last time, project

(01:16:40):
Dash 61. Get over there and check it out. That's going to do it for us today. We want to
hear what this episode did for you. So make sure to reach out. We'll get you on the air, or we'll
just tell everybody what you did. If you don't want to come on the air, that's fine. I got enough
words up in my frontal lobe to last us for a lifetime. So tell me your story, and I will share

(01:17:03):
it on the show if you don't want to. Come on. There's more ways, uh, to, uh, to to pluck a chicken,
if you will. I've never liked the the adage there's more than one way to skin a cat. Don't
really feel like we should be skinning cats. And when you say cat, you're kind of implying that
we're talking about house cat. You're not like a cougar or a bobcat. Anyway, I digress. There's more
than one way to pluck a chicken, so send me your stories. Let's talk about it. Let's continue this

(01:17:28):
conversation in the future so that more drivers can live longer than that. Average life expectancy
of 61 years. Thank you so much for being here today on this very special episode of Always
Pneumatic, Never Static. I'm going to say, as always, stay safe out there. But you know what else I'm
going to say? Stay healthy out there, drivers. We'll talk to you next week on an all new episode of

(01:17:52):
Always Pneumatic, Never Static. Wednesday, 5 a.m. local time. Be good.
And that's all she blows for today's episode of Always Pneumatic, never Static. Your number one and
probably only Pneumatic Trucking podcast, brought to you by Bulk Transit. Thanks for rolling with us
today. Till next time, stay safe, keep those lines clear and keep it pumping.