Lady Godiva
06-15-2008, 11:33 PM
Burning Out Doesn’t Mean Spinning One’s Tires
Copyright Sandy Long
A person is going down the road screaming obscenities at passing vehicles, goes home and cannot eat supper, cannot make love to their spouse, yells at the kids, kicks the cat, cannot sleep, is late for work in the morning and wouldn’t smile if a VW full of clowns suddenly appeared before them or they got a new truck. What is wrong with this person? Most likely burnout.
Trucking is a high stress job. Dealing with traffic, shippers, receivers, dispatchers is enough to stress out anyone, add in performance pay, breakdown, poor food, inadequate rest, DOT, weather and family problems, you have a volatile mix of stressors.
Stress is a major player in a driver’s health and safety both on the road and at home. Stressed out drivers aren’t as alert, exhibit road rage, have heart attacks and other health issues such as diabetes, mental problems and drug and alcohol problems. They can become less productive as sleep patterns are interrupted causing late deliveries and pickups. Attitudes change making what once was a very congenial and cooperative driver into a cranky, hard to deal with non team player. Marriages break up, kids act out and finances go down the tube.
Too much stress can be identified by looking at one’s behavior closely and is the first step in correcting the problem. If you notice any of the above symptoms or a friend or family member points it out to you, pay attention to what is going on in your life.
TAKING AN AUDIT OF YOUR LIFE
You think you might be stressing out. Burnout or over stressed is usually not just one bad thing going on in your life, but either a combination or accumulation of several bad things. Some of these might be: a death in the family, fighting with your spouse, a child acting out, illness in your family or yourself, money problems, a bad employer, loneliness, depression, bad equipment or weather delays. At times the final straw that sets you over the edge might be so insignificant that you miss it consciously such as a shipper that won’t let you use the restroom, not a big deal to those of us who are experienced drivers usually, but combined with any one of the major stressors listed above can become a contributor to stress overload.
TAKING ACTION
You find that it is really bothering you that your boss doesn’t seem to care if your truck runs or not, doesn’t pay you enough to pay your bills or runs you beyond your limits. Start looking for a new job, develop your options; that in itself sometimes bumps us enough that we can ease the stress.
If you are having family problems, then do something about them. Find someone to help; a counselor, a minister, another family member or a lawyer. A counselor can help in the event of death or severe illness issues also.
If you are lonely to the point of isolation, find another driver every day that is willing to visit a few minutes at least, join a dating site or join an activity group to attend when you are home. Make a few new friends and start a cell phone circle of people that you enjoy talking to.
MANAGING YOUR STRESS LEVELS
Learn what your warning signs of excessive stress are and watch for them to appear so you can take action before you reach that burnout level. For short term relief, take a break, eat a snack, call a friend, park and watch the sunrise or sunset…what ever relaxes you. Eat as well as you can, take vitamins and get some exercise outside of your job description. Avoid alcohol, it doesn’t help in the long term.
Many companies are recognizing that drivers stress out at high rates and are starting to encourage regular home time. Just getting out of the truck for a couple of days on a regular basis can go a long way to resolving many of the issues that might be causing you stress. Plan some fun activity for at least some part of your home time…forget about trucks or whatever else is bothering you for a few hours.
Stress causes us sometimes to act like dogs chasing their tails…we get in a rut and cannot think of a way out of stressful situations. Identifying the stressors in your life, changing the ones that you can, learning to deal in a positive manner with the ones you cannot change and understanding that you are prone to stress related problems will go a long way to allowing you to better deal with the stress you face. The Serenity Prayer has it right:
The Serenity Prayer
http://www.truckstopcanada.ca/forum/Image8.gif
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
Finding serenity inside yourself is hard but it is less hard than dealing with the reactions of burnout. Remember that burning out from stress is like burning out of a parking lot spinning your tires, it can cause irreparable damage and doesn’t accomplish anything positive.
Ya’ll be safe and I wish you peace and some serenity in your busy lives.
Copyright Sandy Long
A person is going down the road screaming obscenities at passing vehicles, goes home and cannot eat supper, cannot make love to their spouse, yells at the kids, kicks the cat, cannot sleep, is late for work in the morning and wouldn’t smile if a VW full of clowns suddenly appeared before them or they got a new truck. What is wrong with this person? Most likely burnout.
Trucking is a high stress job. Dealing with traffic, shippers, receivers, dispatchers is enough to stress out anyone, add in performance pay, breakdown, poor food, inadequate rest, DOT, weather and family problems, you have a volatile mix of stressors.
Stress is a major player in a driver’s health and safety both on the road and at home. Stressed out drivers aren’t as alert, exhibit road rage, have heart attacks and other health issues such as diabetes, mental problems and drug and alcohol problems. They can become less productive as sleep patterns are interrupted causing late deliveries and pickups. Attitudes change making what once was a very congenial and cooperative driver into a cranky, hard to deal with non team player. Marriages break up, kids act out and finances go down the tube.
Too much stress can be identified by looking at one’s behavior closely and is the first step in correcting the problem. If you notice any of the above symptoms or a friend or family member points it out to you, pay attention to what is going on in your life.
TAKING AN AUDIT OF YOUR LIFE
You think you might be stressing out. Burnout or over stressed is usually not just one bad thing going on in your life, but either a combination or accumulation of several bad things. Some of these might be: a death in the family, fighting with your spouse, a child acting out, illness in your family or yourself, money problems, a bad employer, loneliness, depression, bad equipment or weather delays. At times the final straw that sets you over the edge might be so insignificant that you miss it consciously such as a shipper that won’t let you use the restroom, not a big deal to those of us who are experienced drivers usually, but combined with any one of the major stressors listed above can become a contributor to stress overload.
TAKING ACTION
You find that it is really bothering you that your boss doesn’t seem to care if your truck runs or not, doesn’t pay you enough to pay your bills or runs you beyond your limits. Start looking for a new job, develop your options; that in itself sometimes bumps us enough that we can ease the stress.
If you are having family problems, then do something about them. Find someone to help; a counselor, a minister, another family member or a lawyer. A counselor can help in the event of death or severe illness issues also.
If you are lonely to the point of isolation, find another driver every day that is willing to visit a few minutes at least, join a dating site or join an activity group to attend when you are home. Make a few new friends and start a cell phone circle of people that you enjoy talking to.
MANAGING YOUR STRESS LEVELS
Learn what your warning signs of excessive stress are and watch for them to appear so you can take action before you reach that burnout level. For short term relief, take a break, eat a snack, call a friend, park and watch the sunrise or sunset…what ever relaxes you. Eat as well as you can, take vitamins and get some exercise outside of your job description. Avoid alcohol, it doesn’t help in the long term.
Many companies are recognizing that drivers stress out at high rates and are starting to encourage regular home time. Just getting out of the truck for a couple of days on a regular basis can go a long way to resolving many of the issues that might be causing you stress. Plan some fun activity for at least some part of your home time…forget about trucks or whatever else is bothering you for a few hours.
Stress causes us sometimes to act like dogs chasing their tails…we get in a rut and cannot think of a way out of stressful situations. Identifying the stressors in your life, changing the ones that you can, learning to deal in a positive manner with the ones you cannot change and understanding that you are prone to stress related problems will go a long way to allowing you to better deal with the stress you face. The Serenity Prayer has it right:
The Serenity Prayer
http://www.truckstopcanada.ca/forum/Image8.gif
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
Finding serenity inside yourself is hard but it is less hard than dealing with the reactions of burnout. Remember that burning out from stress is like burning out of a parking lot spinning your tires, it can cause irreparable damage and doesn’t accomplish anything positive.
Ya’ll be safe and I wish you peace and some serenity in your busy lives.