Trucking is hard work. Truckers are especially vulnerable to Shoulder injuries and strain; trucker shoulder is a real thing. The everyday duties of a trucker involve repetitive shoulder movements. Just consider how the following affect your shoulders:

• Getting in and out of the cab
• Securing your load
• Unloading and loading cargo
• Holding a left-pull steering position for hours to compensate for the rightward slope of the road
• Large steering movements

It’s no wonder drivers experience conditions such as chronic joint inflammation and shoulder pain, bursitis, rotator cuff tears, labral tears, and many other similarly painful issues. And missing work due to shoulder pain is expensive as shoulders are notoriously slow to heal and can require rest and extensive PT. 

Prevention is a far, far better option. Here are 5 ways to protect your shoulders so you can keep on trucking.

Tip #1: Healthy Eating and Exercise

One of the most effective ways to prevent shoulder injuries is to have strong shoulders. Eating healthy foods that help build muscle plus regular strength training exercises will keep your shoulders strong and safeguard the tendons, joints, and ligaments that are prone to strain. Regular stretching will keep everything limber and loose. Make shoulder stretches a regular part of your daily routine; if you’re driving, you need to be stretching. Warm up a bit before you get behind the wheel to keep your shoulders flexible. 

Tip #2: Practice Good Body Mechanics

Good body mechanics help avoid injuries. This means you pay special attention to your movements to make sure you’re doing them correctly and safely. Examples include the following:

• Keep your seat closer to the steering wheel. If your seat is too far back, you’ll need to turn the wheel with straight, extended arms, which puts a lot of strain on your shoulders. It’s far safer to sit a bit closer so you can use back and arm strength to help turn the wheel.
• Keep your shoulders level with your collarbone when lifting items overhead. If you sense your shoulders rising up to your ears, you’ll start to experience discomfort pretty quickly. 
• Keep your shoulders down when pushing loads and distribute some of the weight to your legs by bending your knees.
• Break down large loads as necessary and ask for help if you need it.

If your employer offers training in these types of mechanics, take advantage of the learning opportunity.

Tip #3: Have Good Posture

Good posture reduces the risk of injury. A strong core and back help with good posture, so don’t neglect these areas in your fitness routine. 

Tip #4: Drive Safely

Sudden, fast, hard steering necessitated by an emergency is hard on your shoulders. Drive safely to avoid the need for such movements. 

Tip #5: Make Some Things Easier

Driving is hard work and there’s not much you can do about that. But you can try to make other parts of being on the road easier on your body. One example is to opt for an aluminum tread plate toolbox over a steel model. Aluminum is much lighter weight than steel and requires much less strength to open and close.  An underbody mount model will prevent you from lifting and raising your shoulders every time you need to access your tools or equipment. And barn doors that open outwards are easier on your shoulders than a hinged upward opening lid. 

The Bottom Line

Follow these tips to keep your shoulders strong and healthy.