Overweight drivers at risk for loss of career and even life.

Dirk van Wyngaarden was 43 years old when the 340-pound trucker fell out of his cab in 1996 and landed on his right ankle, shattering his tibia and changing the course of his life. The Appleby company driver from Brantford, Ontario, Canada, lay on the icy ground in excruciating pain and wondered if it was his excess weight that had caused such damage.

The 6-foot-4-inch trucker had not always been overweight. In fact, he weighed 165 pounds when he graduated from high school. But 25 years and 175 pounds later, he was classified as obese. Because of his weight, he was at risk for major diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, sleep apnea, cancer and joint injuries like he suffered in the fall.

It’s been a tedious process to deal with his injuries and adopt a healthier lifestyle, but at 53, he’s back to driving.

More than 60 percent of adult Americans (about 127 million) are categorized as being overweight or obese, according to the most recent Centers for Disease Control studies. Each year, obesity causes at least 300,000 deaths in the United States and costs approximately $100 billion in health care. The statistics are even worse for truck drivers.

Studies show that approximately 73 percent of drivers are overweight and more than 50 percent are obese.