With operators across the US and Europe facing persistent recruitment and retention pressures, Samoilenko has developed compact fitness equipment designed specifically for long-haul drivers, drawing on nearly 13 years of experience in transport and logistics.
The trucking industry cannot hire drivers fast enough. In the United States, the American Trucking Associations counted a shortage of nearly 80,000 long-haul drivers in 2022 and expects it to pass 160,000 by 2030. British hauliers reported a shortfall of about 100,000 HGV drivers during the 2021 crisis and still cannot fill all their vacancies. The largest continental freight markets face the same problem: drivers retire faster than replacements can be trained.
Losing one experienced driver is expensive. A replacement takes months to recruit and train, and arrives without the route knowledge or the customer contacts of the person who left. So carriers have started looking at something they once left alone: the health of the people who drive their trucks.
The job works against the body. Shifts run long, sleep is irregular, and most of the working day is spent sitting. A study by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that about seven in ten long-haul drivers are obese, roughly twice the rate for American workers overall; high blood pressure and sleep disorders are also common. The World Health Organisation lists physical inactivity as one of the main global risk factors for chronic disease. Most drivers end their day at a truck stop, a delivery yard or a rest area. There is no gym, and usually nowhere safe to train.
Big fleets have tried wellness programmes, health checks at terminals and fatigue monitoring. Exercise is harder to fix. It needs equipment a driver can reach at the end of a shift, and little of it exists.
One answer has come from a carrier’s own chief executive. Sergii Samoilenko founded the logistics company Samolet Express Corp. and has run transport and logistics operations for nearly 13 years. He has designed a compact exercise system for use outside the truck cab, and two US provisional patent applications for the equipment have been filed. Fitness gear sold to drivers usually comes from consumer equipment makers. Here the developer is a serving carrier chief executive, and the design grew out of what he saw in his own operations.
“Most drivers spend 10 to 12 hours a day behind the wheel. Even if they want to exercise, there is often nowhere suitable to do so, and they simply do not have enough time,” Samoilenko says.
The system has two parts. The first is a set of dip bars that fold away after use and support dips, push-ups and other bodyweight exercises. The second is a resistance band with several reinforced sections and fixed anchor points; its load can be adjusted for different strength exercises. “The product was developed specifically with truck drivers in mind,” Samoilenko says.
He set up a separate company, CabMate MFG LLC, to develop and manufacture the equipment. Prototypes were tested by his own team. The equipment is now entering the market in the United States and Canada under the name CabMateX™.
The work has drawn recognition outside the company. In late 2025 Samoilenko received the Innovation of the Year distinction in the Fleet Management category at the American Business Expo Xmas Award 2025, for a project that combined digital fleet-management upgrades with on-board fitness systems for long-haul drivers. Entries were judged on innovation and originality, measurable impact, industry significance, scalability and execution.
In July 2026, US Representative Kevin Kiley issued Samoilenko a Certificate of Congressional Recognition, citing his contributions to entrepreneurship, innovation and economic development in the American business community, as well as his support for business owners, international collaboration and opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises. In September, South Carolina State Senator Josh Kimbrell formally recognised Samoilenko’s professional achievements and his contribution to the US transportation and logistics industry, citing his technical skill, innovation and leadership. Within a year, the driver-health project has been recognised by a national award jury, a member of Congress and a state senator.
British and continental European carriers face the same pressures: drivers retire, vacancies stay open, replacements cost money. Keeping the drivers who remain healthy has become part of retention. Compact exercise equipment for truck drivers is one of the products now reaching the market for that purpose. Whether drivers end up using it every day will become clear at truck stops and delivery yards.