A new study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that truck drivers with untreated obstructive sleep apnea were five times more likely to be involved in a serious preventable accident than drivers who are adhering to a treatment program.
Lead author of the research article, Stephen Burks, explained the results; “What we found is that, if we look at 1,000 truck drivers each working for a year, the drivers with obstructive sleep apnea who refuse treatment would have 70 preventable serious truck crashes, compared to 14 crashes experienced by both a control group and by drivers with sleep apnea who adhered to treatment.”
The study examined more than just accident statistics though. It also found that drivers with untreated sleep apnea lasted only a third as long at their jobs, contributing to high turnover. Once the drivers left or were fired however, the report noted that they were able to go work for another company since they are currently not required to disclose sleep apnea as a previously existing medical issue.
Results from the study come just after the FMCSA published a notice of proposed rulemaking which will address how to handle truckers with sleep apnea and whether obstructive sleep apnea should be considered when a medical examiner determines a trucker’s ability to safely operate a truck.
Source: gobytrucknews, cbsnews, truckinginfo, fleetowner, overdrive, claimsjournal, mpr, eurekalert, federalregister
Image Source: depositphoto
How convenient that such a study would be released with in the same time span as the FMCSA release of a proposed ruling. As you read it is a study which means it has not been 100 percent proven, that in itself places it as a theory and not a fact.
What about the Deaf people federal government is allowing in 80000 pound trucks? How safe is that? You see, everybody can come up with more ways to control something. But do they ever do the research to see what effects that decision is going to have all the way through implimentation?
Their next study should be on the number of drivers misdiagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, and how much money the referring physician makes when sending drivers out for studies not covered by insurance.
I agree this happened to me.
Good god get off the sleep apnea bs train i have use my machine an function without issue. I think people that are following the rules should file a discrimination an hostile working environment lawsuit to shut these people up.
Samuel,
Another exciting story! You’re quite the journalist!
Yes Sir…You are exactly right!!
While I have no doubt that untreated sleep apnea can be a problem, I dispute the level of concern regarding sleep apnea. It seems more like the latest scare du jour, and as such, the medical community is falling all over themselves to cash in on as well. Sleep studies are done under controlled conditions designed to almost insure that the patient will be diagnosed with some level of sleep apnea, then at that point, FDA regulations kick in and only “approved” CPAP devices must be used. A cash wind fall for the entire food chain. And the article comment about drivers with untreated sleep apnea only lasting 1/3 as long at their jobs, no kidding. Once these folks are diagnosed and on CPAP, they can’t afford to leave their carrier as the pickin’s can be a little slim on where they can get on somewhere else. And health insurance coverage will lapse to cover the cost as well. A sure bet that Virginia Tech Trans Institute did not fund this little study with their own money. They got the funding from groups interested in seeing a certain outcome from the study and FMCSA can then regulate along lines that support that. For once, just once, it would be interesting to see a thorough study done by a disassociated entity with no hand in the cookie jar.
As a driver, I really question studies like this. Mainly because there is more to fatigue than untreated sleep apnea. I question if these studies consider real-life day-to-day work activities. For example, a truck driver is not an 8 to 5 job. You don’t get up at 8 o’clock in the morning and work till five, five days a week.
You may have a 3 PM delivery one day and then a 3 AM delivery the next and then who knows what the time will be the day after. Let’s see an office worker, work this schedule, and stay alert.
FDA currently recognizes three treatments for sleep apnea. #1 the mouth guard, #2 CPAP machine, and #3 surgery.
As a driver… Insurance companies and most commercial trucking companies [because of the insurance companies] only allow option #2 because of the cost of the device and the fact that the CPAP machine can be “monitored” for compliance.
I’m not saying that the CPAP machine does not work for some people… I’m just saying that you should have a choice AND not be married to that machine if you go on vacation for two weeks and risk losing your job.
As for the high turnover… In addition to the sleep apnea BS, you have more and more regulations, driver facing cameras, and the thought of being over the road and away from your family weeks at a time and only “earning” one day off for every week you are out (doesn’t mean you get to use that day every week) so maybe you get a couple days a month that you get to be home for the same pay that you get for working at a local business… This type of work is becoming very unappealing.
So with all that being said… When I hear about these studies… I really would like to see the data before making a conclusion.
Don’t forget to add Robin; that drivers have to juggle sleep with the hours of service, customer’s appointment time and when they take hours to load and unload.
Actually they now have an oral appliance for sleep apnea with compliance capability.
Fmcsa guidance changed to make it easier to get a medical card with oral appliances.
Well said & very true
It’s easy for people to come up with these rules & have no clue on a truckers deliveries & sleeping hrs
I agree with Robin 100%
As a third-generation trucker been out on these roads for 30 years I am ashamed to be a trucker now these days because of what we allowed to become the government and big corporations has taken over this business
Those black boxes are what’s driving fatigue now….Some drivers drive for 4 or 5 hours, and take a nap for 2 or more hours, and then hit it again…These boxes never consider the individual…Every time the government gets involved in anything in the private sector all they do is make things worse!!
According to the FMCSA there is NO STATISTICAL EVIDENCE THAT SLEEP APNEA INCREASES THE CHANCES OF AN ACCIDENT…PARAGRAPH 5…
ooida.com/OOIDA%20Foundation/Issues/sleepapnea.asp
My neighbor just lost his CDL,because the Dr measured his neck,and said it was too large,and causes sleep apnea. He is the ONLY driver in a small company ! So they have to hire another driver. He only drives inside the state,and is home every night by 7 PM ! This doesn’t look right to me. Some more big government wrecking innocent lives.
I guess it doesn’t matter. We will just complain about it as we go along with it. Then in time; we’ll be talking about how people who can’t get a good night sleep with out a machine shouldn’t be driving. History repeats itself. Today it’s sleep apnea. Yesterday and tomorrow something else.
He was only told to get a sleep study.
He lost his medical card for not getting the testing done or refusing to get treated.
FMCSA is in bed with lobbyist for CPAPs ( and others ) and Stephen Burks is their talking head. Bunch of monkeys money fucking each other while you are out there making a safe living. They have zero clue how we operate. Five times more likely my ass. Where did all this sleep apnea BS come from. If you are that tired get off the road. FMCSA thinks you dont have a brain and studies show they need to do all the thinking for you.
Sleep deprivation is dangerous to anyone behind the wheel. Glad this is being studied. A person with severe apnea is a person looking for a place to nap. The wheel is no place for sluggish responses or brain fog.
I made a switch from OTR to local and the new company’s clinic made me do the sleep study test. Ive never had a problem with being tired during the day. If I’m sleepy, I pull over and take a nap. Now I’m on this CPAP machine and I feel even more exhausted than before. I just can’t get used to the mask on my face.
Then you need to get a new sleep apnea treatment practice.
My cpap changed my life. I can’t sleep with out it. Been using it 14 years now
it’s great if you really have sleep apnea. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea because of neck size. I have used the machine for 2 years and have seen no difference from before I had a machine. I don’t have this condition unless I caught it at the sleep study.
Yup, me to…used to get a solid 7 to 8 hrs of sleep now, 4 hrs, wake up rip off the mask and get a couple more, nothing but restless nights, what a bunch of B.S.
Exactly what I’ve been doing. I was told I have to use it a “minimum of four hours per night 70% of the time”. Keeping records is time consuming but I get better sleep after four hours wasted with the mask. Not to mention the sound of the inverter humming to power the machine or the engine idling all night.
How? This is a bunch of garbage. How is this a problem all of the sudden, everyone needs a machine to help them sleep? Sounds more like someone made a device and wasn’t selling enough of them, so they have to invent a problem. No difference when the guy made the O.P.D. On propane tanks, and got his pals to make a law that everyone has to have one. Just another money making scam.
OK MR./MS. MEDIATOR. Duane says it a lot nicer than I do. I’m just so sick of those monkeys in D.C. They all need to fry !! Congress and lobbyist are Organized Crime. Elite scum !! Bedding down with each other with their simple minds while we carry and manage ourselves far better than they can ever imagine. You get the idea ??
Now for my fellow drivers who post the same things: you can think for yourself, the CPAP is killing you, you stop when you are tired, too much regulation, you abhor apathy,etc. I SALUTE YOU !!!!!
A man gets fired and he asks his boss why ? Well to put it simply, ignorance and apathy. The man comes home and tells his wife he was fired and she asks why ? He tells her he doesn’t know and he doesn’t care.
That is why we have to make lobbying against the law. Every time someone running for office talks about eliminating the IRS, making lobbying against the law or reducing energy or fuel prices; they get them to drop out of the race first. I know what you mean about propane tanks. Try welding supply places, they might fill your tank without the OPD valve. Also. I think that only welding supply places put 20lbs of propane in the 20lb propane tank. Look at the label @ propane exchange places. They will charge you for 20lbs of propane for tanks that are short of 20lbs. Or you can weigh the tank yourself. Just add 20lbs to the weight that is stamped on the tank.
Sleep apnea is the ADHD of the current era. With ADHD, a few students were making trouble and teachers weren’t allowed to discipline them so they got drugged up. Soon teachers realized if all students were drugged, their jobs would be easier. Drug companies and doctors were more than happy to go along and make a huge profit. Now we have a few people with thick necks and suddenly everyone with a thick neck has this “condition” and the doctors and medical device makers are more than happy to put them on the machine.
How about you get some better stock photos of cpap masks to use with stories like this.
You use a photo of probably the worst kind of mask that anyone who knows anything about treating truck drivers with sleep apnea would never usr because of claustrophobia in sleeper berth equipped trucks. .
No wonder drivers are scared of a cpap machine when all they see are scary mask photos.
As a otr diver long haul if i do stick to my schedule and habits I have no problem to sleep at night, since I am a day time driver from 6am to 5pm and making sure i have a good 10 hours rest.
My weight is kept at a possible restraint since a lack of exercise sitting too long and eating fast food ( not good for tummy).
I am a senior still in shape and intend to stay that way.
I would really love to see the methodology used in this study. Really. How in the world could they conduct an experiment that remotely simulated real life situations? And the conclusions seem just a little, actually a lot, too extreme. You know 17% more likely I could believe, but five times more likely to crash? Smells fishy.
It sounds like the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (smdh) selected from driver pools after the fact. Lots of ways that can be manipulated to support their almost laughably obvious bias.
Did you also know that since the invention of the iPhone, highway crashes has more than doubled? And only gotten worse since then! I decree that every car to be mandated with a cellphone frequency inhibitor that prevents the transmission of cellular data while the vehicle is in motion. Yes, two can play at the ridiculous regulation idea creation thing.
Stop talking about cell phone inhibitor. They will do it. Only government officials and the police will not have it. The rest of Americans will.
Such garbage! Not getting enough sleep. How about people with prostate issues that have to get up numerous times during the night to use the bathroom. Lets not forget about the nagging heartburn that can keep you up. What about the people that have anxiety issues that stay up all night. Or people that are kept up because they have a lot on their mind.
The biggest issue about sleep is let the drivers get the rest they need when they want it! Not when the dispatchers say or a log book. You cant force a grown man to sleep on command or have nappy time like a 3 year old. Let the drivers have a say when they want to rest!
All this regulation and no compensation. To many happy go getty stupid drivers.
I like my cpap machine. I’ve had it 10 years now. I used to stop and take short naps all the time before. Now I don’t need to. I know people don’t like to wear them especially when they have a couple of weeks off but it reduces your risk of heart attack too so you might want to consider that instead of thinking you’re being forced to wear it.
Insurance companies and sleep centers are making out like bandits though. The cost of the sleep study, the machines and supplies are ludicrous. I get my supplies online now because the medical supply stores were charging 265.00 for a mask. Insurance covered 200 and I paid 65. If I can get the mask online for 65-75 why is the insurance company paying these guys 200 bucks?
Truck Drivers should get the same pay as airline pilots because they are being held to the highest medical standards in industry .IF YOU ARE STILL HEALTHY ENOUGH TO DRIVE A SEMITRUCK YOU ARE YOU SHOULD CONSIDER YOURSELF PRICELESS!
What an industry we work in…just to make a few bucks!
years before the big push on sleep apnea i new something was wrong
and got medical attention, also finding out my thyroid gland was dead
i asked the specialist and he told me the “double whammy was three to four times the risk of falling asleep.” with both my problems apnea and thyroid.
where did this guy get his facts from, or does he have a mail order phd.
like that carb guy
What about the driver of 4 wheelers that have sleep apnea?? Currently, I do not know of any laws affecting them. Only truck drivers are the ones regulated for sleep apnea.
Day cabs don’t have sleepers. And this study is fudging numbers to advance a militaristic police state/communist agenda. They want CONTROL over every damn area of our lives.