Leave the commuting stress on the road
It's not good for employee morale to honk at the Lexus in front of you while driving to work.
Huh?
Hello, commute management training - a first-of-its-kind seminar created by Californian David Rizzo that is causing me to scratch my head and say, "Why didn't I think of that?"
Tagging himself Dr. Roadmap, Rizzo offers employers a 90-minute training session for workers who face a difficult drive to work.
"Employees get demoralized and worn out by their morning commute before they even arrive at work," Rizzo said. "Employers pay the price."
Americans waste about 3.5 billion hours a year stuck in freeway gridlock. A grueling commute negatively impacts employee morale, increases absenteeism and decreases productivity.
Rizzo's 90-minute seminar includes tips on relieving stress in the car, what to do if you find yourself stuck in traffic, when to take surface roads and when to stay on the interstate, and a bazillion other useful bits of information.
"I'm not sure I can describe just how bad my head hurts when I have a bad commute," said Dion Ricketts of Indiana, who commutes for a retail job. His drive includes a few hundred traffic lights. "Yes. Train me on how to deal with it, please."
Since the training is new and your company probably hasn't offered it, I asked Rizzo for some of the highlights:
Eat before you leave. Breakfast in the morning and a snack in the evening. Hunger affects people both physically and psychologically. You can handle the stress of a traffic jam better if your tummy is full.
Research alternate routes. You have your regular drive mapped out. Rizzo suggests creating several other routes to and from work. Find paths on surface roads for those days when the highway is tied up.
"You won't have to rely on the traffic reporter telling you where to get off," Rizzo said. "That's where everybody is getting off."
Listen to the radio before you get in the car. Sometimes it's too late once you finally hear the traffic report.
Leave early. "This is the easiest way to relieve traffic stress," Rizzo said. "It's painful, but it works."
Stay in the slow lane on the freeway. When the highway gets backed up, he said, the fast lane jams first. And you can exit easily from the slow lane.
Know which type of backup you're in: incident (truck diesel spill or dog running on the freeway) or recurring (that same old jam that occurs at a certain location). If you are in incidental traffic, get off as quickly as possible. Recurring? Ride it out.
If you do have to bolt the interstate, here are tips for good shortcuts. With surface streets, go for a straight line. If you have to cross a freeway, avoid streets that have onramps. Don't take streets immediately next to freeways; rather keep about a mile away on a parallel road. The best streets are in industrial districts or those that parallel railroad tracks.
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