May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month—but being aware is certainly a full-time deal.
The average truck driver will spend up to 12 hours a day driving, and more often than not, with an arm up on the window ledge or hanging outside the window along the cab’s door.
We get it—it’s a comfort thing. But skin cancer is anything but comfortable, and it’s the most common form of cancer in the US.
According to the American Cancer Society, the lifetime risk of getting melanoma (skin cancer) is about three percent (one in 33) for White people, 0.1 percent (one in 1,000) for Black people, and 0.5 percent (one in 200) for Hispanic people, but each person's risk can be affected by many factors, chief among them being the amount of exposure to sunlight.
SkinCancer.org said that one in five Americans will develop skin cancer by the age of 70.
The Canadian Cancer Society said that approximately one in four Canadians is expected to develop any form of cancer over their lifetime. Specifically for melanoma, it is estimated that 11,300 Canadians were diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer in 2024, which, given Canada’s 39 million population, works out to 0.03 percent, so much less than its American cousins.
Still, regardless of borders, with truck drivers spending nearly 12 hours a day driving, this group is at a higher risk of developing skin cancer.
So, how can truck drivers avoid the so-called “trucker’s tan”?
Yes, you could just wear a long-sleeved shirt on a hot, sunny day or put on sunblock, but for adequate skin care, that sunblock would need to be applied every 90 minutes.
Looking for a solution, Service Truck Magazine found www.truckerstan.com, an online company that sells what it calls a well-tested and patented device that sits within the cab’s driver-side window to actively prevent the arm from being pelted by harmful rays of sunlight.
Developed by Scott Catuzza, a former truck driver, he said that he felt the pain of a sunburned left arm whenever he drove. His solution is the Arm Rocker Sun Blocker, which, last we saw, was going for $70.
The Arm Rocker Sun Blocker is curved to allow the arm to sit snugly within and features two thin posts that slip down between the glass and rubber weather-stripping of the window to provide driver protection.
To find out more, such as where to purchase, visit the website: https://truckerstan.com/shop.