So what happens if I do go get a sleep study and get a CPAP? Then what? I mean will companies just ask you if you have one, or what?
From my understand u get a 90 day medical card after u get it. You got to show you are using it so much. Then you get 1 year card. The Companies won't care long as you are using it.
The machine records your use & it's effectiveness on you. If the company sees from the machine it is working & you are using it, you are just another driver, in a good way.
The trucking company does not care really. Just your D.O.T doctor does. Once he signs your medical card for a year no one else really cares. They consider use the machine as being compliance when you have 4 hours of use each night in most. So usually your sleep doctor will checks your data 2 times a year. Then when you go for D.O.T physical they also like to see if you are compliance and using the machine. So they like to see the 90 day report. That's the downloaded data from a CPAP machine. You get that from the Removable SD card. The new cpaps have built in wireless modem that sends the data back to the people you got the CPAP from. So you can just call them and ask them to fax or email the past 90 day to your D.O.T physical doctor. Once they see you using it and you back in the normal range of 1-4 event per hour. That mean the CPAP is working, they give you a 1 year card.
Pre-Employment Inquiries and Medical Questions & Examinations The ADA places restrictions on employers when it comes to asking job applicants to answer medical questions, take a medical exam, or identify a disability. An employer may not ask a job applicant, for example, if he or she has a disability (or about the nature of an obvious disability). An employer also may not ask a job applicant to answer medical questions or take a medical exam before making a job offer. An employer may ask a job applicant whether they can perform the job and how they would perform the job. The law allows an employer to condition a job offer on the applicant answering certain medical questions or successfully passing a medical exam, but only if all new employees in the same job have to answer the questions or take the exam. Once a person is hired and has started work, an employer generally can only ask medical questions or require a medical exam if the employer needs medical documentation to support an employee’s request for an accommodation or if the employer has reason to believe an employee would not be able to perform a job successfully or safely because of a medical condition. The law also requires that the employers keep all medical records and information confidential and in separate medical files.
Correct. However, since we have the requirement that we pass a physical in order to drive, we are supposed to disclose that information to the medical examiner. The company itself shouldn't directly ask about health problems, but depending on how the physical goes they will find out anyway since they keep the long form on file. They are only supposed to be concerned with the fact that you passed and when it expires, but I'm sure some employers occasionally peek at that long form. You know, just for fun.
Sleep study, fail, get CPAP and use it. My local CME here in Maryland will give a 90 day card until you have 30 days use on CPAP. Then they will extend that card for the rest of the year. (if, of course, the treatment is working for you) Couple caveats. Some companies and CMEs want to see more data. The one I went to in Iowa wants 90 days use. When I looked up info online it says 30 days. I believe the one I saw in Iowa wants 90 because that's what TMC wants. If you are a new driver going to a Get Your CDL Program with Roehl, they will only accept DoT cards of 6 months, 1 year or 2 years. 13 down, 17 to go.....
