Truckers haul tons of products thousands of miles every year. The work truckers do is essential to the livelihood of millions of people, but it comes at a cost. The physical toll on a trucker’s body can have devastating consequences.

20% of all workplace injuries are back injuries. Truckers are especially susceptible to back injuries, due to the nature of their career. Many factors add to the damages a back can sustain during someone’s time behind the wheel of a semi-truck.

What causes these back injuries?

There are many direct causes of back pain that occur in the trucking industry. There are many things a trucker does every day that threatens the health of the back, such as:

• Lack of exercise: exercise is an essential tool to keep the body healthy. For a trucker, exercise provides necessary movement to counteract the long hours of driving on the road.
• Sitting for a long time: extensive sitting can put a severe strain on the spinal column. While this may be inconsequential if it happens rarely, repetitive and extensive sitting can add up over time. For years, sitting in one position for over eight hours a day, more than five days a week, will take its toll.
• Repetition and lifting: making the same physical actions dozens of times a day, in addition to heavy lifting can cause a back to settle in positions that pinch nerves, or otherwise cause severe pain.
• Poor posture: sitting on a thick wallet, uneven chair cushion, or lounging for hours at a time can act as the bedrock that a significant back injury builds on.

Similar to a repetitive stress injury, a trucking-based back injury is also a form of workplace injury. If you have sustained an injury of this nature, you may qualify for workers’ compensation.

How can I recover?

If you believe you have a back injury as a result of your job as a trucker, contact a doctor immediately. If a doctor even suspects that you may have a back injury, contact a worker’s rights attorney to confirm what you need to do to protect yourself and your future.