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MINNEAPOLIS — Sometimes nice guys like Don Logan, a FedEx Freight driver based in Topeka, Kan., do finish first.

Like any truck driver on top of his game, there are countless reasons why Daniel Norgaard, an independent owner-operator, looks forward to competing in the National Truck Driving Championships.

This is in reference to the article headlined “High Turnover Means Trucking Companies Need New Strategies to Recruit, Retain Drivers” that appeared on page A3 of the Transport Topics Top 100 For-Hire Carriers supplement bound into your July 16 issue.

It is an unfortunate reality that truck drivers tend to be among the more unhealthy folks in today’s workforce. Most of this stems from the physical and mental demands associated with the hazardous mix of climbing and straining, sedentary driving and a heavy reliance on fast food and truck-stop snacks.

Driver turnover at small truckload fleets rose sharply in the first quarter to 71% from 55% in the fourth quarter of 2011, the largest quarter-to-quarter increase in seven years, propelled by financial pressures and other factors, American Trucking Associations reported.

Fleets are exploring every option they can find to sweeten their compensation packages to reward, retain and attract drivers as freight capacity tightens, according to industry officials.

The increased use of technology in truck cabs means that hearing is not as important in commercial driving as it once was, the National Association of the Deaf said in a petition asking that 45 drivers be exempted from federal hearing standards.

Driver turnover rates for truckload carriers unexpectedly dipped at the end of last year, but the American Trucking Associations economist who runs the survey characterized the shift as a temporary “reprieve” rather than a durable change in trend.

Truck owners are allowed to tint the windshields and side windows of a truck’s cab, which could protect drivers from harmful sunlight, the International Window Film Association said.

Why do cars run into tractor-trailers stopped on the shoulders of roads? How could anyone miss seeing a tractor-trailer? It happens all too frequently.