Sleep Apnea Requirements, testing and Mandates

pearlpro · Feb 9, 2012

http://www.overdriveonline.com/the-apnea-hurdle/

Ive been pretty vocal about sleep apnea testing and the coming Mandates, it seem's the Sleep Lobby has gotten the greenlite to push through the newest Mandate and when you go to get your next Physical YOU WILL BE SCREENED.

If you overweight, you wont have a choice, your in the bullseye, if your BMI is higher then 30 your going to be forced to take a Test in your Doctors office, then a Home sleep test, If you have Insurance it will be a IN LAB 1500.00 or more test...If you dont have Health insurance, TOO BAD, No waivers, no bypass...if you have OSA your medical card will be Month to Month...

Youll be forced to wear a CPAP machine which is like small air blower that provides Air pressure into and out of your lungs, it requires a headworn mask and Hose and 4 to 7 hours of nightly "compliance", you dont comply your Med card is revoked, your out of work...no waiver, no excuse, no BS....

Todd Spencer at OOIDA is in Washington right now fighting for US, DRIVERS, It seems the Sleep Council believes that fully 1/3 of the driving workforce has OSA..Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Drivers because were overweight, and we work long odd shifts driving are the Ideal target for an Industry looking to generate a INSTANT profit as soon as this goes into full time MANDATE LAW.

Imagine the amount of money to be generated from Drivers, lets see at, 1500-2500 per IN LAB Sleep test, then the CPAP Machine @ 500-1500.00 and then Medical/Sleep lab visits @ 200.00 per month for the first three months, then 6 Months, then Yearly in addition to the Physicals...at DOT Approved clinics....
Lets see 2 to 3 million drivers, and quickly the added costs become an Industry thats now Government Mandated and YOU have no say PERIOD....

If your a person whos suffered from these issues and found this to be a cure, God Bless, But Im one of the ones whose simply pulled out of line because Im Fat, Ya Im a big guy, Now Im labeled SLEEP DEPRIVED, DANGEROUS, STYGMATIZED tsting and screening because LAWYERS are waiting for the next crash to label the Driver SLEEP DEPRIVED, DANGEROUS....Were labeled because we choose to drive trucks all night, and live on the road, and enjoy freedoms that many other workers never get to experience. Were the last cowboys roaming the range because we love what we do, what our fellow drivers/brothers do, we enjoy the open road and waking up in a different place every day. We also work and earn a living as small business and you know we dont have a voice in WASHINGTON other then OOIDA

Im raising my voice here, and I hope some of you write Todd at Landline and express your feelings on this issue, its going on right now, The Lawmakers whove got this country into trillions of dollars in debt, are Passing new laws when they cant even manage the country, The take years to reduce the HOS by an Hour and add driving time when most of us know is NOT the time to head downtown, these same lawmakers are sitting in judgement of our Industry and calling us DANGEROUS, SLEEP DEPRIVED, RECKLESS when most of us have done this far longer then these people have been around....Please voice your opinion, Let OOIDA know how you feel.

Thanks.

asjssl · Feb 10, 2012

I have been using a cpap for 5-6 years ...LOVE IT..it changed my life...I used to fall asleep @ stop light...its not just a mask ...I use the nosse apparatus ....I can't sleep without it...you are making cpap use to be a bad thing....the goverment is onto somthing ...I agree they can go overboard ...but if you have any bit of sleep apena..IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE...

Sent from my ADR6300 using EO Forums

Going Long · Feb 10, 2012

I just went through this..I'm a big guy,pretty good shape(I run Flatbed now).
Home sleep study..$1500..results,inconclusive.
Sorry you will have to take the in lab(at a sleep study facility)..ok go spend the night..hooked up to ALOT of wires,camera watching you,microphones listening..yeah real comfortable,no pressure.

You need to get at least 3 hours of sleep,REM sleep is nice but they want delta..you can't fake it.
Half way through your sleep,if you stop breathing more than 5 times per hour they wake you up and fit the mask..I didn't have to.

Results:you don't have sleep apnea..but you may want to have surgery to cure your snoring.

Uh huh..thanks.

All to the tune of $4563.00..my insurance.

So now they're after the big people..like he stated above..mandatory testing if BMI of 30 or higher.

I sailed through the DOT physical no trouble..received my 2 year card after this study was done..they had issued me a 2 month card.

I'm now cutting weight..yes I should've done this earlier..sometimes it takes motivation like this to get you going..I WILL NOT go through this again.

Good Luck to all who have to take this,yes it can improve your quality of sleeping..if you have it.

beachbum · Feb 10, 2012

I think the number I heard yesterday was a BMI of 35 will have to be tested.

For myself I'll not worry about that since I'm losing weight to get down to about 160 pounds, right now I'm at 220 and that is down from 235.

You will have a couple of years to lose the pounds to keep from the testing requirements, that's how long the FMCSA said it will take for rule making on the subject.

greg334 · Feb 10, 2012

Now the ooida is speaking up?

When they could have made a stink about this, they chased the issue with farmers needed CDLs or something very trivial.

beachbum · Feb 10, 2012

As usual OOIDA comes to the party late and as usual there against this, I do agree that this is nothing more then a money grab by doctors since before they came up with this term we all servied just fine.
BMI
Want to sleep better in the truck buy a good mattress. Yes they do cost up to a
Grand but you'll. Sleep like a baby. Try that and lose weight then you'll have no problems with the BMI part of the reg their going to pass

LDB · Feb 10, 2012

Too much interference. I hope it's 35 and not 30 so fewer are inconvenienced.

pearlpro · Feb 10, 2012

Inconveinenced ???? To those that have the Sleep Apnea issue Im glad they found a cure and its changed your life, thats wonderful, BUT as someone whose in the Your brain shows no signs of Symptoms, The Nurse says, Your Brain has some way of not showing this issue or the "ALGORYTHM'...ANSWER....Ive dealt with stressful jobs all my life, never crumbled under pressure, never fell asleep at the wheel, never dropped off to sleep at the stoplight....Ive worked in the Movie Industry where we would work 3 days straight to get the SHOT...Ive worked on Rock and Roll tours where Ive had to do three city tour stops to get 8 Hours of sleep, never had an issue....so whats the deal for someone like me, I am a large guy, Im sure I exceed that 35 BMI but I am not sleep deprived, never had an issue with sleep, I sleep in Motels on the road, different bed every day and sleep fine....But some MANDATE makes me out to be a SLEEP DEPRIVED, RECKLESS, DANGEROUS INDIVIDUAL.....

The same people who stand to make MILLIONS off this Industry are In Washington testifying saying "Oh Yes fully a third of your workforce, possibly more ARE...Not could be, ARE Sleep Deprived and have OSA....The same Chain clinics, sleep centers and "Doctors" and I use the term loosely are lobbying Congress with Huge amounts of Money to make this a MANDATE, and My freinds, Its going to pass, and yes we better get our butts in shape Or you will be out of a job.
Because FAT people, Obese People , those that Smoke, Or Drink, Use Cell Phones and Drive trucks are suddenly the CASH COW for an industry....$$$$$$$

moose · Feb 10, 2012

This have NOTHING to do what so ever with safety and a LOT to do with regulating the competition out of business.
safety records show less then 1.4% of trucks crashes are fatigue related.
Beached whales drivers are the safer truckers on the planet, taking them off the road will decrease truck safety.
there is not ONE study... one piece of data to show that those truckers are most likely to be involved in an accident, to the contrary, those drivers are well awarer of their limitation, and are the safest drivers out there. unlike a healthy drivers, they know very well that they do not have a choice, and will protect their rigs no matter what.
those experienced large truckers have decades of sound business and are moving ample of freight. the large carriers are no match to those professionals, so the ATA will push them into the unemployment line. those truckers have no other trade skills, and their family's will go on welfare .
IF it was any about drivers health or safety, the DOT would have found other doctors to place on the advisory committee, not ONLY the ones that are poised to benefits from such mandate. many of them out there.

it is sad to read that the OOIDA is the ONLY ones care about truckers health, road safety and business future, but they are.

greg334 · Feb 10, 2012

Hey moose ooida paid lip service to this issue when it was brought to them two years ago so by a fee of us, the ones who asked them to take up the fight - they don't care.

moose · Feb 10, 2012

can you please provide a link... a name... a hint... to at least ONE other group that did more ???
the OOIDA is not perfect, but they are the best we've got.
and did WAY more then anyone else.

greg334 · Feb 10, 2012

I won't, I have the emails and the info that they were given but they blew it off and that is one reason why I am not a member.

They were asked to address this when the guidelines were released and did nothing. They could have addressed this in order to stop the madness and BS but nope they chased issues that did nothing for us. The least they could done was fight against the wrong data used to justify the guidelines. The same goes for the dot registration of doctors and forcing us to go to dot certified doctor which limits us, where have they been with that issue - no where.

davekc · Feb 10, 2012

They have mentioned it in the past but I am not sure how much they pursued any of the issues. I would think this would have garnered more of their attention since it could possibly limit their memberships thus limiting some of their revenue.
But, who knows? Not sure they have the resources for this kind of battle?

pearlpro · Feb 11, 2012

Its pretty hard to Push back against the Health care Lobby, I mean we as Drivers wont stand up for ourselves for anything, we let them cram whatever "Regulation" Mandate right down our throats, we dont have any backbone...I realize Im ****in in the wind but I said the same thing right to the Sleep center and the Doctor, I called the man a Charlatan, a witch doctor as I was leaving with my now new best freind a CPAP machine....If I want to drive I must meet compliance, and Im not gonna be forced outta the job I love....After a year I can finally get back to a Year Long Med card. I wonder how theyll handle this after 2014 when your med card supposed to be on your License...

Beached Whale drivers ???? Im a big guy not a beached whale and that brings me to the last RANT...its a STYGMA of being Obese, when your a large person people assume I sit at the Buffet bar and I eat like Some farm animal and its not true, I was born large, when I was in High school I was twice the size of most of my peers, a 17 Inch neck, Football player chest, Huge shoulders , a product of my dad, who was a Steelworker....so the stygma of being BIG and now targetted by these Govt Mandates chaps my arse. I am a safe driver, I have Safe driving awards to show it, Ive never had an accident, or a ticket in 12 years fo Professional driving but who takes that into account, it **** sure isnt the Govt or Safety Agencys....I was hired to get loads safely and quickly to the reciever, and thats what Ive done, Im not a Athlete or Sports star.....But I can **** sure get that truck through any conditions and deliver that load without Issue, But do they give a ****....NOPE

MY 2 CENTS