Un-Constitutional Medical Intervention

Recently I was flagged for a home sleep study due to answering a misleading questionnaire in a honest manner. I had mentioned that I sometimes fall asleep in a chair, but there was no place on the form to say that it was because I work really hard on home projects and sometimes I'm just plain frickin tired.

I'm writing this to see if anyone else is feeling the continuing and deepening encroachment of the Federal Government agencies into our personal lives and our health. When I read the Constitution, I see nowhere that the Federal Government is allowed to have any personal information on us let alone be able to directly influence our health and to make medical decisions for us.

The new thing that I'm seeing more of now is the Federal Government using companies as proxies to implement things that they can't do Constitutionally. I'm a prior service member, and one of the things that I remember from training as well as from the war trials is that it is still illegal to operate illegally no matter what you are told by "Higher Authorities". The Covid shots were illegal, making drivers use a CPAP machine without their desire is illegal, and even such things as a Federal speed limit is illegal.

I'm interested in starting a class action suit to push the issue to the Supreme Court and I'd like to know if there are other interested parties. Other than that, Rights are only valid when you use them ... you may have the right of way in the crosswalk, but you don't really have that right until you take the first step.

Good luck with that.

Having a CDL isn't a right it is a privilege. Certain rules must be followed to obtain that privilege, do some examiners take it to an extreme? Absolutely, but sleep apnea is a real problem.

Where do you draw the line? Why wear glasses if you want to? Why have your blood pressure at a safe level?

Welcome, Freedom!

I think most of us feel the same about the government intervening in our lives, but in trucking, government regulations are part of everyday life. The Federal government regulates the trucking industry directly, and they do not believe in allowing us to keep many secrets, as you know.

Sleep apnea has become a primary focus for the trucking industry in recent years. Unfortunately, there are almost no regulations regarding who to test, how to test, and when. Trucking companies are on their own to handle it as they feel necessary. Some companies focus on it, others don't.

I've known of quite a few people who unknowingly suffered from sleep apnea, and made a dramatic improvement in their everyday lives by getting better sleep on a CPAP machine. So it's a real thing, and it's a real safety issue, but the uncertainties around testing create a lot of frustration.

I wish I had some recommendations you would want to hear, but I'm afraid I don't. If one company gives you too much of a hassle over it, try a different company. That's about all you can do without taking it to court, and I wouldn't have the first bit of advice for how to do that.

If privacy is a big concern for you, trucking will not be your cup of tea. They keep a close eye on drivers. There are always plenty of hoops to jump through. It's a high-risk job that exposes the public, so the scrutiny kinda comes with the territory.

Doing what you propose would be a classic effort in futility.

I have a history with the whole sleep apnea/CPAP machine. I know it helps certain people and Schneider required me to test and then to use the machine. I couldn’t tolerate it. So I exercised my constitutional rights and quit Schneider. I now work for a company where it’s not an issue.

Here's the thing. If you have certain co-morbitites, the "likelihood" that you also have sleep apnea exists. Medical examiners have the right to see your answers to on your health screening form, and can investigate further before signing their name to your medical card.

Take the sleep study. You won't even know for sure, until you actually have the test.

The threshold for Apnea Hypopnoea Index that is "ok" without treatment is AHI of 5.0. what that means, is your body has stopped breathing, and startled you, on average, of 5 times per hour. That's actually a lot. That's about 40 times in a single night.

I feel like you are being disingenuous in your statement about falling asleep in your chair being the reason. Those questions are part of the EPWORTH sleep scale, and scores you based on your own answers.

FYI, it can be found here.

It is not discrimination to see if someone who is in control of 80k lbs is getting correct sleep. It's not a scam. It's not a money grab. It is literally checking to see if a driver is jolted out of the sleep cycle more than 40 times a night. Ya know, so they are actually well rested, and not going to have something causing them to fall asleep at the wheel.