The Truckload Carriers Associationwill offer numerous activities related to health and wellness at its Annual Convention in Kissimmee, Fla., March 4-7.


The convention's health-focused activities include:

-A health and wellness pavilion in the convention's registration displaying a variety of industry-specific health and wellness materials.

-A weight-loss station where visitors can experience what it feels like to "wear" 30 extra pounds in the form of a special "weight vest."

-Interactive wellness demonstrations highlighting services that are available to trucking fleets and will offer body mass index, blood pressure, and blood glucose and cholesterol level testing. It will also provide information about sleep apnea, offer a weight loss station, and distribute health education materials.

-On Tuesday, March 6, and Wednesday, March 7, a trucking-in-the-round workshop called "When Your Drivers Are Healthier, So Is Your Bottom Line" will discuss how to implement a successful health and wellness program for trucking staff and drivers.

During his general session remarks on Monday, March 5, Gary Salisbury, TCA's outgoing chairman and the president and CEO of Fikes Truck Line of Hope, Ark., will play a video introducing the contestants in the association's first-ever Trucking's Weight Loss Showdown.

This competition is a battle among 11 TCA-member carriers across North America to determine who can achieve the greatest percentage of weight loss in 10 weeks. The winners, both fleet and individual, will be announced at TCA's Safety & Security Division Annual Meeting, May 20-22 in Norman, Okla.