What if a trucker has sleep apnea?

10's of thousands of truckers have sleep apnea. That isn't a disqualifier for a cdl.
@Moose1958 and @kitcarguy can give you information on the CPAP equipment that a trucker must use to stay legal/compliant.

 

No, you won't get fired. I drove for nearly 10 years with a cpap machine in the truck, and I worked for 3 different megas and one small outft. If your a veteran you can get everything you will need (sleep test and cpap machine)

 

Means you get a 1 year med card and get to put an inverter in truck to power the sleep apnea machine.

 

Right, I always got the one year card. If you don't use the humidfier on the device then you can plug it into the regular DC outlet.

 

OP first off hold on to those horses! Your primary PCP DOES NOT handle anything to do with your DOT physical unless of course, they are the one doing it. This sleep apnea business is one of my buttons to start with. So I am most likely not the person to be asking right now.

My advice is to take stock of your health and ask yourself this question. Do you wake up tired and not feeling like you got a restful night's sleep? If the answer to this question is yes, then get a CPAP. If not then leave this sleep apnea thing to the ME that does the actual physical. Some MEs are honest and will just look at the form and maybe look at your throat.

 

I've had severe sleep apnea basically my whole life. And I'm skinny, so I don't buy that neck size thing. Anyway whenever I'm asked in my DOT physical if I snore or have any sleeping problems the answer is a strong NO.

A few years ago I found a place online and did a at home sleep study. Had it and was given a prescription for a cpap machine which I use daily. I don't really understand why you need a prescription for the darn thing.

I did this to keep the DOT away from anything to do with my sleep and because I don't have traditional health insurance that would have covered a sleep study. The at home test and cpap machine was relatively unexpensive

 

The reason for a prescription is some insurance covers the purchase of the machine.

 

If someone has sleep apnea and already has CPAP they just show the report that shows the driver is using it. They will give you a 1 year medical card. You just show them the sleep report every year or maybe lose weight and might not need CPAP anymore.