BACKGROUND
The Trucking Wellness Programme was launched in 1999 as an initiative of the National Bargaining Council for the Road Freight and Logistics Industry (NBCRFLI). The programme is a primary healthcare delivery system dedicated to the health and wellness of those employed in the Road Freight and Logistics Industry, driver spouses and commercial sex workers.
The lifestyle of a truck driver can often be very difficult with gruelling hours, long distances and prolonged loneliness. The trucking industry, faced with the challenge of rising fuel costs, safety and constant driver shortages, now faces an even deadlier threat from the impact of HIV/AIDS. Loneliness has encouraged many drivers, married or single, to find comfort on the side of the road, which is generally in the arms of the sex worker. Many of these workers are driven by the high unemployment rate to provide a service that will place food on the table for their families. The consequences are devastating, with STI's and HIV/AIDS being spread from one truck stop to another without any discrimination.
The effects of HIV/AIDS can be felt in the constant search to replace lost drivers, either through high absenteeism or death. The impact of driver health not only affects their own lives but it ultimately affects the economy at large as goods are unable to be moved across the country efficiently.