Over the course of 2018, Pot-O-Gold’s drivers have really stepped up their game. There has been a big push for safety here at this company. We hired a safety specialist who maintains safety compliance for all of our divisions. We have adopted the Smith Driving course which is the gold standard for driving. We have also been incentivizing safety with quarterly and yearly safety bonuses. Each year, every driver has a chance to get $2000 in bonus money: $250 per quarter and $1000 at the end of the year. Our criteria for these bonuses is very strict, but our drivers persevere and continue to exemplify safety. At yesterday’s safety meeting over $35,000 was given out in bonuses. Twenty-five (25) of our Central Louisiana drivers walked away with the $1000 bonus.
In 2018, Pot-O-Gold’s Central Louisiana Division didn’t have a single at-fault accident. Our drivers are so good that our lawyer and our safety specialist aren’t even talking about motor vehicle accidents anymore. Our drivers have built that much trust with this company. Instead, they are talking about other safety precautions that plague every person who gets behind the wheel of a vehicle. This quarter’s topic revolved around one thing. I’m going to give you the same speech that was given to the drivers.
- Every hour, one person in the United States dies in a traffic accident, in part, because of this one thing.
- This one thing is a factor in over 100,000 crashes per year in the United States, with somewhere between 500,000 and 800,000 people are injured.
- More than half of all crashes leading to a truck driver’s death are suspected to be caused, at least in part, buy this one thing. For every truck driver fatality, another 3-4 people are killed.
- An estimated 20% of all motor vehicle accidents are caused, in part, by this one thing.
- An estimated 21% of all fatal motor vehicle accidents are caused, in part, by this one thing.
- This one thing…
- Impairs your coordination!
- Slows your reaction time!
- Makes you less able to pay attention to the road!
- Decreases awareness!
- Impairs your vision!
- Affects your ability to make good decisions!
- Impairs your memory and your ability to process and retain new information!
- Increases your moodiness and aggressive behavior!
- Greatly increases your risk of crashing
- This one thing contributes to all major psychiatric conditions, including depression, anxiety, and suicide.
- Your risk of cancer increases by 40% because of this one thing.
- This one thing is a key factor in determining whether or not you will have Alzheimer’s disease.
- This one thing increases the likelihood your coronary arteries will become blocked and brittle, greatly increasing your chances of heart disease, stroke, and congestive heart failure.
- Blood sugar levels can be so affected by this one thing that you could be classified as pre-diabetic.
- This one thing increases a hormone that makes you feel hungry, suppresses a hormone that tells you when you are full, and make it harder to burn fat.
- You are 32% more susceptible to infection because of this one thing.
- This one thing…
- Makes you emotionally irrational!
- Makes you more forgetful!
- Makes you less creative!
- Makes you significantly less attractive to others!
Lack of sleep.
Getting a full night’s rest is paramount to feeling your best. Nobody can function at 100% without a full 7-8 hours of sleep a night. There are those who think they can operate on 4, 5, or 6 hours of sleep a night because they have done it for so long. They are not at their best. You will find that these people generally have an irritable temperament and a bit of extra weight on them. To get adequate rest, you may have to retrain yourself.
- Stick to a sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
- Avoid caffeine and nicotine. Caffeine can stay in your system for 8 hours (a cup of coffee in the morning is fine). Smokers often wake up too early because of nicotine withdrawal.
- Avoid alcohol before bed. Alcohol causes lighter stages of sleep, impaired breathing, and earlier wake times when the alcohol wears off.
- Avoid large meals late at night. Eating causes the body to think it’s daytime, affecting your metabolism and overall sleep quality.
- Don’t take naps after 3 pm. Late afternoon naps make it harder to fall asleep at night.
- Relax before bed. Create a relaxing bedtime ritual, like reading or listening to music.
- Make your bedroom dark, comfortable, cool, and gadget-free. Keep your bedroom as free from bright lights and distractions as possible. You sleep better in a comfortable bed with the temperature on the cool side and without anything to distract you, like a TV, cellphone, or computer. If you use an alarm clock, turn the face around so you don’t worry about the time.
- Don’t lie in bed awake. If you find yourself awake for 20 mins or more, or if you are lying awake anxious or worried, get up and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy.
I really hope our readers take this to heart. Get some sleep. Everybody loves to sleep.