Health over haul: Empowering truckers for life — Taking the Hire Road

This week on Taking the Hire Road, Jeremy Reymer, founder and CEO of DriverReach, is joined by fellow entrepreneur and DriverReach partner Mark Manera, founder and CEO of Supply Chain Fitness, to discuss the importance of driver health during Employee Health and Fitness Month.

While working in a local physical therapy clinic, St. Louis native Manera had the opportunity to provide care to truck drivers. That motivated him to move his career in health and fitness to the logistics industry. After spending time with drivers and learning their lifestyle, he was able to use what he had learned to establish a definition of driver health and cater a new business idea to them specifically.

This led him to found The Trucking Fitness Co., now known as Supply Chain Fitness.

The company specializes in corporate health programs for those in the logistics space. The programs focus on exercise, nutrition and accountability coaching through an app-based platform that users — including drivers on the road — can access anywhere, anytime.

The goal is to be a one-stop shop for logistics companies — a place they can lean on for all their health and fitness needs.

“If we are going to treat health like we treat safety in the industry, then we need to all be speaking the same language,” Manera said. “So we built out specific programs for everyone in the industry — office staff, warehousing, dockworkers, mechanics and more. However, we definitely strive to keep the driver at the forefront because they live such a unique lifestyle compared to most others.”

A driver’s work life is mostly sedentary, but improving diet and fitness is complicated as the demands of the job can limit the times and locations available for exercise and healthy eating. Rather than forcing them to radically alter their fitness and nutrition habits overnight, Supply Chain Fitness has the ability to meet individuals where they are — what Manera calls a “habit-based approach.”

“We know being on the road is tricky. We focus on building lifestyle behavior changes that they can do regardless of where they are and what is available to them,” he said. “From a nutritional standpoint, whether it be fast food, meal prepping or a truckstop, we are helping them make the healthiest choice given their circumstances and helping them to establish lifelong habits.”

Everyone on the app has access to someone at Supply Chain Fitness who can answer questions and help them make changes as needed.

“Drivers make so many sacrifices day to day — long hours on the road, time away from family — and then when they finally retire and can enjoy the fruits of their labor, they’re not healthy and can’t enjoy it,” Manera said. “I am very passionate about this because I know I can help.”

To learn more about Supply Chain Fitness, visit its website or email Manera at mark@supplychainfitness.com. Manera can also be found on LinkedIn.

Click for more FreightWaves content by Britni Chisenall.

More from Taking the Hire Road:

Leading through learning

Lessons in leadership and leaving a legacy

A trucking workforce conversation with FMCSA’s Hutcheson