The Rolling Strong Gym has opened at a truck stop in North Little Rock, Ark., and others are planned elsewhere along Interstate 40. The president of the Richardson, Texas, health club company and government and industry officials are watching to see if the truckers will work out. I'm really hoping it catches on and they flourish. Transportation Department officials also hope so. About 70 percent of truckers are seriously overweight, said department transportation specialist Jerry Robin .
Excess weight creates a higher risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Overweight truckers also may be less safe on the road. A 1994 study found the accident rate doubled among seriously overweight drivers, Robin said. Some big trucking companies find the fitness argument so compelling that they are opening fitness centers in their terminals, said Bill Rogers , research director for the American Trucking Association Foundation, an educational arm of the industry group. The trouble is that truckers spend most of their time away from the terminals, Rogers said. That's where Rolling Strong comes in.