Many Truckers Tired at the Wheel

OOIDA Media · Nov 24, 2009

This story ran on WALB News in Georgia. Makes claims about sleep apnea and "tired" truckers.

http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=11560417

ALBANY, GA (WALB) - If you're traveling for Thanksgiving, you'll be joined by thousands of other cars, and plenty of big rigs.
While there are requirements that truck drivers take sleep breaks, it's not uncommon for some of them to drive sleep deprived, especially if they have the disorder known as sleep apnea.
Truckers drive for 8, 9, even ten hours at a time. Imagine being behind the wheel after a night of tossing and turning, when you just didn't get enough rest.
Click to expand...

Rest of story linked above.

truckerdad57 · Nov 24, 2009

Sent to the reporter who did the story...

read your article in the 11/23 edition on Sleepy Truck Drivers - Sleep Apnea. I am a truck driver with sleep apnea who has been active on the issues around truck drivers with sleep apnea.

This is a short exerpt from an article pending publication in Sleep Review an on-line journal for sleep medicine specialists. If you had made some contacts with more people in trucking (say for example the Owner Operator Independent Driver's Association) you might have been able to do a much better article.

If you want more information drop me a line.

Bob S
(just a truck driver with sleep apnea)

Please consider the following:

A key question is" Are individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) at an increased risk of crash when compared to comparable individuals who do not have the disorder?"

Studies on the general driving population are in agreement on this point. When you narrow the search to studies done on commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operators you get a much different result. Ellen[1] found 2 of 3 studies showed CMV operators with OSA were at less risk of crash. The two studies showing a lower risk of crash are generally discounted as they used driver self-report of crash. The Medical Expert Panel (MEP) convened by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Medical Review Board (MRB) found only 1 of 2 studies showed CMV operators with a higher risk of crash and deemed the evidence "minimally acceptable".[2] A major issue in the trucking community is that the FMCSA Sleep Apnea Crash Risk Study[3] which found "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." is not even listed or discussed in the MRB literature review.

The Large Vehicle Crash Causation Study (LVCCS) [1] is often cited in OSA literature to justify CMV - OSA testing. Many transportation industry experts have discounted the study as highly flawed for more reasons than space here permits discussing. Nevertheless, the LVCCS found fatigue was an associated causal factor for the large vehicle operator in 7.5% of the accidents and ranked at the bottom of the top 10 factors. Fatigue was an associated causal factor for the passenger vehicle operator in 14.7% of the accidents. A passenger vehicle operator is almost 2X as likely to be driving fatigued.

Why call for OSA testing for just CMV operators? The literature supports a casual link between OSA and crash involvement for the general driving public and the general driving public is 2X as likely to be driving fatigued. Mandatory OSA testing of passenger vehicle drivers not CMV operators is better supported by the literature.

[1] Report to Congress on the Large Truck Crash Causation Study MC-R/MC-RRA March 2006, National Technical Information Service, Springfield , Virginia 22161 .

[1] Ellen RLB; Marshall SC; Palayew M et al. Systematic review of motor vehicle crash risk in persons with sleep apnea. J Clinical Sleep Med 2006;2(2):193-200.

[2] Evidence Report, Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Safety (Comprehensive Review) Volume I Presented to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration November 21, 2007

[3] U. S. Department of Transportation, September 2004 Publication No. FMCSA-RT-04-007 Sleep Apnea Crash Risk Study
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Roadmedic · Nov 24, 2009

I guess they do not realize that the circadian rhythm has more to do with it than sleep apnea.

lonewolf4ad · Nov 24, 2009

Face it they don't care. Trucks are dangerous, end of story at least as far as they are concerned. If they started reporting the truth of what causes the drivers being tired while driving maybe something would begin to roll that would help get better standards of living for drivers. However, when we just try and blame sleep apnea that is something that can be controlled so much easier (despite the fact it is rarely the cause).

BigDan28 · Nov 24, 2009

I was told today by a company since my BMI was 8 or 9 points too high they couldn't hire me unless i had a sleep study done prior to orientation. I cant afford a $4k sleep study with no insurance

stlwaco · Nov 24, 2009

I drive 100 miles on the 40 thru the smokies asleep once. Dont know how I did it. I dont even remember becoming sleepy.

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