Month: December 2015

As a truck driver, much of your daily work is done behind the wheel of your truck. However, long hours spent sitting can also be associated with certain health concerns, including back pain, heart disease, and even sleep disorders. The best way to avoid the risks of sitting too much is to maintain your fitness while on the road—keep reading for a few simple tips you can use to enjoy better health, flexibility, and alertness throughout your trucking career.

Go for Walks

Studies have shown that the best way to negate hours of sitting is to break up that time with periodic activity. Take a five-minute walk as often as possible, such as when you stop for food or gas. You don’t need a destination—simply stroll around the parking lot or take a moment to inspect your truck and trailer before getting back on the road. Getting up to take several short walks throughout the day is the best way to restore blood flow and improve muscle and brain activity after sitting, which offers benefits during the current day as you drive, and well into the future.

Tone Your Muscles

Even if you’ll be spending multiple days on the road, you can take some time to tone your muscles every night when you stop to sleep. There are a variety of simple exercises you can perform to improve muscular strength, either inside the cab of your truck or just outside the door. Taking a few minutes out of your day to complete pushups, lunges, jumping jacks, and chest presses will not only help to tone your muscles, it will improve bone density and circulation, and even help to promote deeper, more restful sleep each night.
Are you ready to enjoy a healthy and successful trucking career in Arizona? At Yuma Truck Driving School, our CDL training programs will help you prepare to enter the workforce as a competent and confident trucker. You can find out more about us when you visit our website, or by calling (888) 647-3239.

CB radio, also called Citizens Band radio, originated as an FCC-regulated personal radio service in 1945. Today, CB radios remain in use by truckers across the country for short-range communications and updates. Learning to use the CB radio effectively and communicate with fellow truckers can help you stay up to date on road conditions and more while behind the wheel of your truck.

CB Radio Use

Truckers mainly use CB radios for informal communication over a short distance—most mobile CB radios can reach distances of up to 15 miles, depending on the unit and the terrain, while base stations typically achieve distances of ten miles between the station and a mobile unit. CB radio signals aren’t far-reaching, but they can be used to update other truckers of changing road conditions, upcoming weather, and even speed traps or open weigh stations and checkpoints ahead. Additionally, truckers may use CB radios to ask for help and advice, such as assistance with a blown tire or recommendations for a good restaurant in the next town. Furthermore, many trucking industry officials also use CB radios for communications, including weigh station and truck stop personnel.

CB Radio Channels

CB radios use a set of 40 discrete channels in the 27 MHz band for communication. However, most truckers typically use only two of these 40 channels, although usage may depend on your location in the United States. Channels 17 and 19 are the two channels most commonly used by truckers; in some areas, those on north- and southbound roads use channel 19, while those on east- and westbound roads communicate on channel 17.

At Yuma truck Driving School, we offer Class A and B CDL training in Arizona to help you achieve your goals as a truck driver. We invite you to contact us online for more information about our admissions and financial assistance options, or give us a call at (888) 647-3239 to discuss enrollment in one of our nationally-recognized truck driver training programs.