LAS VEGAS— Fit to Pass has added a driver health solution, Rebuilt by Espyr, unveiled at the Truckload Carriers Association’s annual convention, Truckload 2022. The Rebuilt program aims to solve both recruitment and retention challenges drivers, as well as improving health.

Fleets can identify their medically disqualified drivers and help restore them to health using Rebuilt. After 30 days of the program, drivers earn recertification and are back in the driver’s seat. To make recruiting unknown drivers easier, Rebuilt offers fleets the ability to retain their known drivers, rehabilitate them, and recertify them to continue working for the same company.

“It’s an easy move for carriers to make, but some are skeptical of past health and wellness programs,” said Rick Taweel, CEO of Espyr. “However, our approach to the trucking industry goes beyond improving the health and well-being of drivers. We understand carrier recruitment and retention challenges. Fit to Pass and Rebuilt are game changers in driver recruitment and retention. We reach and engage drivers on their terms, so they maintain their livelihoods while allowing carriers to continue to run their business with known and experienced drivers.

According to Fit to Pass, taking advantage of the Rebuilt program saves time and money to return a healthy, recertified driver compared to recruiting outside the organization.

“There are approximately 3.6 million drivers in the United States, and research finds that 45% to 55% of drivers have been issued a DOT medical card for a year or less, putting them at risk of being medically disqualified,” Bob Perry, Fit to Pass consultant and trainer trucker, said Fleet owner. “Worse still, over 7% of all drivers are medically disqualified. That’s more than 250,000 drivers who can no longer drive. Moreover, the main health problems that make them disqualified are preventable. Our mission is to help carriers realize the ROI of Rebuilt and how Fit to Pass and Rebuilt can effectively change the lives of their drivers.

A medically disqualified driver can agree with their carrier that they want to join the Rebuilt program; Rebuilt then interviews the driver and assigns them a coach. Interviews are flexible and can be done on site at the carrier, over the phone or even on Zoom.

Once in the program, drivers receive a package including the Rebuilt manual, training equipment and meals – dinners for each night of the program. Menus are also included to guide program users to healthy choices for breakfast and lunch.

“We train them twice a day,” Perry explained. “In the morning, cardio. In the afternoon, strength training. We walk them through their training with their bands that they have, and we give them a training routine to do.

Once a week, drivers are dispatched to local CVS sites, a program partner, where they use the sites’ health check stations.

“We’re getting a read on where they’re at and seeing how they’re doing,” Perry said. “We then send the company a report every week on how they are doing and how they are progressing.”

Perry said it takes about 30 days to complete the Rebuilt program, or about four to five weeks.

With the Rebuilt program, Perry pointed out, “you save the driver you know today before you hire the next unknown.”

“Experience has shown us that the majority of these drivers have good driving records. They just don’t know how to handle it [health aspect], because we don’t teach that in school,” he continued. “They are not taught. They don’t know how to make better health decisions down the road, better food choices.

A major aspect of the Rebuilt program is health coaching and training, focusing on simple, clean eating; track calorie and fluid intake and avoid overeating.

One such aspect of training is known as the “pre-trip refrigerator check,” which Perry associated with a driver’s pre-trip safety check. The training aims to get drivers to replace food choices on the road with healthier options and to ensure they prepare their food and drink choices with the diligence they exercise during safety inspections. their vehicles.

“If you have a fleet, which may be 200 or 2,000, chances are 50% of that fleet will have a one-year card or a 90-day card,” Perry warned. “We lose them quickly. If they have a one-year card, it means they have already been diagnosed as prehypertensive; they have already been diagnosed that they might be pre-diabetic; or, they have sleep apnea. If you don’t do anything between that window, chances are they’ll fail – and you’ll lose them and you end up losing a qualified pilot.