PDMD founder Dr. John McElligott hopes to improve truckers’ quality of life.

The recently opened Professional Drivers Medical Depot in Knoxville, Tenn., is the first in a series of truckstop medical clinics planned to open across the United States.

Each PDMD clinic will be dedicated to an outstanding driver who lives to serve his country. The Knoxville clinic, located off I-40/75 at Exit 369, is dedicated to professional driver Charlie Gibson of Desoto, Texas, who has driven a truck since his first run in 1945 in the service during WWII. Gibson’s photo will be displayed at the clinic in Knoxville.

The truckstop medical clinics are the first health care centers dedicated to serving truck drivers on the road, PDMD says. The organization’s mission is to improve driver health by increasing the accessibility of health care on the road. The organization also includes a nationwide hospital network, which provides quick emergency evaluations, diagnostics and lab screenings.

“There is no medical care for truck drivers on the road unless they go to the emergency room,” founder Dr. John McElligott says. “This will make it more convenient.”

McElligott supervises the Knoxville site and is funding all future sites to be built in the next three years. The clinics will provide services such as DOT physicals, drug and alcohol screening, treatment of work-related injuries and personal illness, prescription refills, flu shots and pneumonia vaccines, among others. Each service is offered at a flat rate so uninsured truck drivers can afford health care. Truck drivers with insurance will receive a bill to provide their insurance company after treatment, McElligott says.