DEKRA Media GmbH – DEKRA Fit & Safe verhilft Truckern zu einem gesünderen Lebensstil

Stuttgart, September 2022 – DEKRA Automobil GmbH wants to support lorry drivers in making their daily work healthier. In cooperation with DEKRA Media and MOOVE GmbH, it has developed DEKRA Fit & Safe, a health promotion programme for haulage companies. Via a web application, their drivers receive tips on topics such as nutrition, fitness and mental health over several weeks. The content is adapted to the challenging working conditions in this profession.

Lorry drivers do hard work every day. Long periods of sitting strain the musculoskeletal system, traffic jams and construction sites cause stress and, due to tight delivery times and the long search for a parking space, there is often not much time to prepare a balanced meal. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that the number of people in this profession is decreasing year on year. The DEKRA Fit & Safe health promotion programme, co-designed by DEKRA Media, is intended to counteract this continuing trend. Even if the causes of the problems lie deeper, their consequences can sometimes be alleviated with simple measures. Dr. Karin Müller, Head of Human Resources and Health at DEKRA Automobil, explains what DEKRA Fit & Safe is all about: "We want to make drivers" everyday work more attractive and healthier. Those who practice this profession do so out of conviction and should not pay for it with their health. With the help of DEKRA Fit & Safe, we inform drivers about topics such as exercise, healthy nutrition and mental health. In this way, we not only help each and every individual. In this way, we are also improving the working conditions within the sector, so that more young men and women will take up this profession again in the future. With our programme, we also want to make a contribution to increasing road safety, because there is a proven connection between the health of truckers and their risk of accidents."

High-quality live-action films from DEKRA Media

In summary, DERKA Fit & Safe is a programme that helps drivers work more healthily and happily. Physical well-being plays a decisive role in this. For this reason, the programme plan designed by DEKRA Automobil in cooperation with MOOVE GmbH stipulates that lorry drivers complete simple fitness training a few days per week. The exercises are tailored precisely to everyday work and can be carried out in less than 20 minutes without additional equipment. In order to motivate and support the participants, DEKRA Media produced training films on 16 fitness exercises with a trainer from MOOVE GmbH. "For the exercises to achieve the desired positive effect, the drivers have to know how to perform them correctly and safely. Our short films, no longer than two minutes, will help them with this. So that we can display the individual steps as accurately as possible, our focus was on finding camera settings in advance of the filming that let us depict the decisive movements in detail," says Daniel Behr, Project Manager at DEKRA Media. Informative introductions and closing presentations frame the execution of the exercise and icons and short text overlays help participants to internalise what they are seeing.

Versatile web application

In addition to the films, the contents of DEKRA Fit & Safe include scientifically sound questionnaires, informative handouts and a videocast. All of the content is being released to the participants gradually via the DEKRA Fit & Safe web application. This application was also developed by DEKRA Media and represents the core of the digital customer journey. Drivers can access the media via their personal dashboard regardless of time and location. They can also use the application to get in touch with a coach assigned to them, who evaluates their questionnaires on nutrition and exercise behaviour, as well as on their general well-being, and gives them individualised tips through personal conversations.

High flexibility enables a customer-specific programme sequence

When specific content is activated is determined by the haulage companies themselves for their drivers. This means that each customer can adapt the process to circumstances within the company and take into account public holidays or company holidays. "DEKRA Fit & Safe has to be compatible with the duties of the drivers. This is why we wanted to enable freight forwarders to decide for themselves when their staff carry out specific programme steps. The application that DEKRA Media has developed makes exactly that possible. It is highly flexible and intuitive to use. Each customer can not only decide for themselves when the programme should start, but can even determine the activation of each questionnaire and each training session themselves," explains Müller.

DEKRA Fit & Safe is rolling out!

After internal test runs, practical tests with several freight forwarders began in September 2022. The participating companies can now use the programme free of charge and pass on their experience to the project team. This is a decisive step for Müller: "With DEKRA Fit & Safe, we have created a product that will sustainably improve the everyday work of thousands of lorry drivers. DEKRA Media has implemented the contents of the programme in terms of media design and programmed a system that meets the most demanding ergonomic and safety requirements. We are now looking forward to the feedback from the pilot companies.“
Of course, this first programme step will only be the start of DEKRA Fit & Safe. DEKRA Automobil and its project partners are already planning to develop the programme further after its market launch in 2023.

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