Sleep Apnea Test

I have been using a CPAP machine for a number of years. I have lost weight as well but still have enough of a problem to warrant the CPAP. I use it religiously and it works. I am applying for school this month and will be going for my physical soon. Should I be concerned if I'm under a doctor's care for this (and it is working)?

No, you should have nothing to worry about. You will need a modern unit with remote monitoring so your company knows you're using it. So you might need a new machine. Otherwise there are a ton of drivers out there using CPAP machines and doing great.

On a side note, I frequently see sleep study tests for DOT advertised on craigslist for $200. Not sure of they are legit but might be worth looking into for a person who needs it done cheaper.

Phil

They need to stop the discrimination with the tests IMO either make everyone take them or no one. Size is not the only indicator of sleep apnea. Also going be neck size is dumb. My neck has been over 17 inches for 15 plus years.

Celadon trucking/ quality drivers covers your sleep apnea testing. They test you for free and if you don't have it you don't pay. If you do have it the test is $300 and the cpap is $600. They will take $50 out of every check till its paid.

Just thought I would do some research and put this sleep apnea thing in perspective:

This bill was signed into law last year (Oct. 15, 2013)

An Act To ensure that any new or revised requirement providing for the screening, testing, or treatment of individuals operating commercial motor vehicles for sleep disorders is adopted pursuant to a rulemaking proceeding, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE OPERATOR REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO SLEEP DISORDERS. (a) IN GENERAL. —The Secretary of Transportation may implement or enforce a requirement providing for the screening, testing, or treatment (including consideration of all possible treatment alternatives) of individuals operating commercial motor vehicles for sleep disorders only if the requirement is adopted pursuant to a rulemaking proceeding. (b) APPLICABILITY. —Subsection (a) shall not apply to a requirement that was in force before September 1, 2013. (c) SLEEP DISORDERS DEFINED. —In this section, the term “sleep disorders” includes obstructive sleep apnea

So, there is NO Federal regulation requiring a sleep apnea test. It only lays down a "process" for making a regulation. States themselves can have regs in place though.

As of April, 2014, here is what will disqualify a potential commercial driver:

Medical Conditions That Disqualify A Commercial Bus or Truck Driver

Here is a quote from the Owner Operator Independent Driver Association (OOIDA) web site regarding sleep apnea:

..." according to research on sleep apnea published FMCSA and authored by Dr. Allan Pack of the University of Pennsylvania, “(t)here is no statistical evidence in these data to suggest that the presence of sleep apnea significantly increases the likelihood or the risk of motor vehicle crashes.” Subsequently, FMCSA tried utilizing a logistic regression model to see if the results would change. Instead, what they discovered was “that there is no statistical evidence in the data to suggest that drivers with sleep apnea are more likely than drivers without sleep apnea to have a commercial vehicle crash.” Using the statistics from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), we can see that fatigue has had little to do with truck-related accidents. In 2008, 1.6% of truck driver-related crashes were a result of drowsiness, asleep at the wheel, and/or fatigue.

The MRB has proposed a polysomnogram as the method for testing drivers for OSA. The polysomnogram (PSG) is a study that monitors and measures a person’s sleep cycle while they sleep by recording their brain waves, blood oxygen levels, heart rate, eye movement, and muscle activity. The average national price of PSG is $2,625

In the trucking industry alone, there are 6 million truckers, and 8 million industry-related jobs in the U.S. Studies show that approximately 73% of drivers are overweight, more than 50% are obese, and 12% have a BMI of 35 or greater. A mandate for drivers with a BMI of 35 to take PSG would cost the trucking industry $1,260,000,000. According to an OOIDA member survey, 29% of members have no medical insurance and for those that do, 72% of medical policies do not cover sleep apnea expense.

In addition to the cost of a PSG, time involved in testing and treatment has been shown to be anywhere from 1 night to over 2 weeks before being cleared, and that time is usually uncompensated. For the owner-operator who makes a net income of $40-45,000 per year, they need to average a minimum of 2,500 miles per week at $1.45-$1.50 per mile in order to meet their net income. If they are in testing for one day, they lose over $500; if for one week they lose $3,700+, not including travel time and fuel to get to the clinic.

The MRB has recommended that FMCSA require any driver with a BMI of 35 to be tested for OSA using a PSG, and if diagnosed with OSA be treated with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine for four hours a day at least 70% of their sleep period. A CPAP machine can cost between $700 and $1,850, not including the expensive maintenance required. CPAP is obtrusive, difficult to use, and very costly when there other treatment options that are less expensive and often just as effective."

The full article can be read at the OOIDA Foundation web site and hovering over "issues" then clicking "sleep apnea".

Although the OOIDA mainly focuses on OO`s, they also look out for us company drivers as well. When it is all said and done, we are all affected by these regulations.

Hmm, so why is this such a pressing issue now? I have an idea, but, that is a different topic.

In 2008, 1.6% of truck driver-related crashes were a result of drowsiness, asleep at the wheel, and/or fatigue.

As a driver of 15 years I can tell you straight up that this figure is complete B.S. There's no way drowsiness played a role in less than 2% of fatalities. No way! Now many of the fatalities they're referring to may not have been attributed directly to drowsiness or falling asleep at the wheel. But drowsiness, or even just a slight lack of attentiveness after a long day or a restless night of sleep can cause slow and imprecise reactions which can lead to wrecks. So if you're a little sleepy and you react too slowly to something ahead of you and there's a fatality, chances are extremely slim that anyone is going to attribute that accident to being sleepy. Heck, you may not have even felt sleepy at the time but you were just a little slow to react at the worst possible time. If you don't tell investigators that you were sleepy they're not going to attribute that to being the cause.

And think about this.....compare the 14 hour logbook rule to the 8 hour workday/40 hour work week for everyone outside of trucking. The 8 hour/40 hour limits were set after countless studies over the years showed that productivity and safety dropped off sharply after 8 hours of work in a day or 40 hours of work in a week. We're human....we can only go so long before our minds and bodies start to shut down.

And yet the rules governing the trucking industry tell us we can drive for 11 hours in a day, work 14 hours in a day, and work 70 hours every 8 days. And yet somehow even with these preposterous standards only 2% of fatalities were related to being drowsy????? The only way that could be possible is if truck drivers aren't affected by 11 hours of driving in a day, 14 hours on duty in a day, and 70 hours of work in 8 days the way the rest of the world is, right?

You decide.

But I'm stamping my name on this right now though - that figure of 2% is complete BS.

Hmm, so why is this such a pressing issue now? I have an idea, but, that is a different topic

I think like most things it started with good intentions. People discovered the possibility of undiagnosed sleep apnea contributing to wrecks so they started doing some testing. Then the medical industry realized the potential for making big money testing truck drivers for sleep apnea the same way they discovered drug testing could be lucrative back in the day so they lobbied hard for all of the requirements they could get. There was a good article written on this topic by the owner of a trucking school outside of Illinois called The Sleep Apnea Witch Hunt.

I think testing for sleep apnea is a legitimate concern but like so many things it's going to be hijacked and abused by those who stand to make the most money from it, namely the medical industry.

In 2008, 1.6% of truck driver-related crashes were a result of drowsiness, asleep at the wheel, and/or fatigue.

As a driver of 15 years I can tell you straight up that this figure is complete B.S. There's no way drowsiness played a role in less than 2% of fatalities. No way! Now many of the fatalities they're referring to may not have been attributed directly to drowsiness or falling asleep at the wheel. But drowsiness, or even just a slight lack of attentiveness after a long day or a restless night of sleep can cause slow and imprecise reactions which can lead to wrecks. So if you're a little sleepy and you react too slowly to something ahead of you and there's a fatality, chances are extremely slim that anyone is going to attribute that accident to being sleepy. Heck, you may not have even felt sleepy at the time but you were just a little slow to react at the worst possible time. If you don't tell investigators that you were sleepy they're not going to attribute that to being the cause.

And think about this.....compare the 14 hour logbook rule to the 8 hour workday/40 hour work week for everyone outside of trucking. The 8 hour/40 hour limits were set after countless studies over the years showed that productivity and safety dropped off sharply after 8 hours of work in a day or 40 hours of work in a week. We're human....we can only go so long before our minds and bodies start to shut down.

And yet the rules governing the trucking industry tell us we can drive for 11 hours in a day, work 14 hours in a day, and work 70 hours every 8 days. And yet somehow even with these preposterous standards only 2% of fatalities were related to being drowsy????? The only way that could be possible is if truck drivers aren't affected by 11 hours of driving in a day, 14 hours on duty in a day, and 70 hours of work in 8 days the way the rest of the world is, right?

You decide.

But I'm stamping my name on this right now though - that figure of 2% is complete BS.

Hmm, so why is this such a pressing issue now? I have an idea, but, that is a different topic

I think like most things it started with good intentions. People discovered the possibility of undiagnosed sleep apnea contributing to wrecks so they started doing some testing. Then the medical industry realized the potential for making big money testing truck drivers for sleep apnea the same way they discovered drug testing could be lucrative back in the day so they lobbied hard for all of the requirements they could get. There was a good article written on this topic by the owner of a trucking school outside of Illinois called The Sleep Apnea Witch Hunt.

I think testing for sleep apnea is a legitimate concern but like so many things it's going to be hijacked and abused by those who stand to make the most money from it, namely the medical industry.

I`m not sure how they got that statistic and I did wonder why they went back to 2008 instead of citing more current data. I just copied and pasted. I`m just going by memory here, but, I believe (according to a OOIDA rep on the radio) they took that stat from crashes where the driver was at fault, not the whole pool, then narrowed it down to the wrecks where the symptoms of sleep apnea were considered a direct cause. Either way, aren`t the majority of wrecks involving big trucks caused by four wheelers? If so, shouldn`t they be tested for sleep apnea too as a requirement to receive a drivers license?

I know, that is ridiculous, which is my whole point here. Yes, with every good intention that turns into regulation there will be the ones who will "hijack" the true reasons and screw everything up for money or whatever to a point where the real intention is all but gone. So, what do we do as an industry to keep these idiots from writing more regulations?

In my personal opinion, sleep apnea can definitely be attributing to crashes involving trucks. So can the 14 hour rule, the 1am and 5am rule, so can staying up for hours before starting your driving shift, drinking, drugs, inattentiveness (which itself can have many causes) and pure stupidity. The point being, as drivers, we have to be responsible for our actions. No matter why you are sleepy, don`t freaking drive! Do we need the government to tell us this?

No matter why you are sleepy, don`t freaking drive! Do we need the government to tell us this?

I think the fact that trucking companies pay by the mile means there will always be some people who are going to drive all they can without using good judgment. Now if they paid drivers by the hour you wouldn't be able to beg half these guys to make one last trip to the buffet and please try to get some driving in today! You wouldn't even need logbooks if they paid by the hour. You'd need a lot more truck parking, higher capacity railroads, and bigger televisions in the truck stops is what you'd need!

No matter why you are sleepy, don`t freaking drive! Do we need the government to tell us this?

I think the fact that trucking companies pay by the mile means there will always be some people who are going to drive all they can without using good judgment. Now if they paid drivers by the hour you wouldn't be able to beg half these guys to make one last trip to the buffet and please try to get some driving in today! You wouldn't even need logbooks if they paid by the hour. You'd need a lot more truck parking, higher capacity railroads, and bigger televisions in the truck stops is what you'd need!

So true. I guess we will have to get used to the fact that some people will never be truck drivers just like some will never be commercial pilots, boat captains, train engineers or anything else that is regulated with medical restrictions for the safety of the public... Hey, do politicians have to pass a physical, you know, like a mental illness test or something...

WHEN i started truck driving as a student i got my medical card in EL PASO,no problems last week i got hired in HOBBS new mexico ,got a dot exam no problem...this week i got an job offer from HALLIBURTON,and they sent me to do the test here in Concentra in EL PASO..THE freaking doctor only gave the DOT medical card for 3 months because i was overweigeight,,,and he recomended a Sleep apnea test????

--------------------------- mY QUESTION since this was the last medical card will dot ask for the sleep apnea card?? or can get a another medical card in ARTESIA NM,over there they dont care about the slep apnea