Worklete: A New Way to Build Good Trucker Habits

As we’ve covered here in the past, there are several companies that use technology to help trucker safety. Trucking is a job that takes a toll on the driver and can cause many physical ailments. There are companies that help with safety on the road by installing cameras and sensors instead of mirrors. Others use technology to monitor trucker vitals and notify them when they should be taking a break. Worklete takes a more old-school, albeit still technologically-centered, approach. Worklete is a company founded on the belief that proper training on how to move optimally reduces the likelihood of musculoskeletal injuries. (The freight and transportation industry is the leading industry for these injuries.) “We’re focused on human movement,” Worklete CEO Ben Kanner said. “Most don’t know how to use movement... We want movement to be taught.”

It’s actually a rather simple process. First, the person taking the training receives written instructions on how to, for example, lift something. This movement isn’t limited just to carrying boxes or other heavy items that need to be carried on the job. Worklete even covers things such as how to get into the truck. Then, it gets combined with behavioral science and presented to the person on a regular basis. Kanner calls these small science sections “micro-learning modules” and they are presented in small 5-minute bites.

This makes it where a load of information isn’t dumped on a worker over a short period of time. The likelihood of the information that’s being taught is optimally retained isn’t as high as it is when spread out over time. It takes 30 days to change a habit after all. This mission to help people and improve the way safety knowledge transfers wasn’t started by Kanner, but by his father.

Kanner’s father was a safety consultant for three decades. He followed in his father’s footsteps and used technology to expand his ideas. His father was limited by the technology of his time.“It took him over 30 years to train thousands of firefighters,” Kanner said. So the son took it upon his shoulders to carry his father’s task. It’s poetic, in a way. Some of these services are even offered for free on their Youtube channel. According to Kanner, the demand for their products and services doesn’t disappear. People always need to keep their staff up-to-date on the safest way to go about their workdays.

“There is a huge knowledge gap on how to get these things done,” said John Post, Worklete’s chief product officer. “The human bodies all work the same.  Freight workers have to be especially careful in how they move. They are at a higher risk.” Some companies can even track their employee’s health improvements. According to some companies, it’s extremely apparent how different the rate of injuries is compared to before they used Worklete.

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