Schneider National, Fishing for sleep disorders.

Most folks don't realize that CPAP's are chipped and can be analyzed at any time for usage. Some of the models are also wifi, so companies can and will look to see if they are being used... and it's just another privacy intrusion.

 

Can't get anything by you...

 

"Me and that Medical Compliance Mgr. went several more rounds of e-mails. at which I've come to the conclusion the the only reason I was flagged was that I'm over weight, i have Type II diabetes, and I smoke. At one point in the e-mails she stated.
You have been found to be at risk – you will need to take the sleep study, if that yields a positive result, you will be OOS until you are on CPAP treatment and SNI requires compliance to the minimum standard of 4hrs per night in order to drive."

Driver I'd suggest your risk factors are considerably higher than most. In fact based on your own statements you're lucky that CDL is still in your pocket. Keep fighting THE MAN however. It's entertaining reading about it. Oh & just for my own personal safety & that of my family & just about anybody else reading his, start a personal travel blog on here we can follow. I need to know where not to be driving near you. Medically speaking you're a ticking time bomb & I'd like to be elsewhere when it goes off.

There is some serious FUD that has been bandied about in this discussion too. Mostly from the internet super warriors at Google & all the learned opinions it produces by custom tailoring a search that defines the answer you want. Funny how that whole search algorithm thing pioneered by researchers at Stanford works huh? I grow tired of truck driving lawyers making legal threats & claims but every now & then I'll read these posts so I can be on the lookout for the court cases. This one already sounds like it'll top OJ.

 

These masks may help plenty of people, but you guys are all talking out of your ### until you've taken one of these tests, then told that you're (basically) legally required to wear a stupid constricting mask over your face EVERYNIGHT. Not every night in the truck, EVERY NIGHT. Doesn't get any better after you use the mask for a while and notice no change in how you wake up or feel throughout the day.

My company just nailed me with this BS last week. Maybe I do have sleep apnea, but I sure as hell don't believe anything the company hired quacks tell me. There's too much profit in this for the sleep study people. How could I believe the results given to me from people who stand to profit off the diagnosis?

 

It's only been a week driver, give it some time. I'm willing to bet most of us that went through it were of the same mind. I know I was.

 

I have never been diagnosed with sleep apnea, and so I have never had to use the machine. I don't know how much sleep apnea is properly diagnosed or how much of it is a scam. If I were diagnosed, I would try the machine to see if it helped. I would be pretty pissed however, if a company told me I had to use a machine, and that the company would monitor my usage. We are talking about personal time and privacy which is supposed to be protected.

 

"These masks may help plenty of people, but you guys are all talking out of your ### until you've taken one of these tests, then told that you're (basically) legally required to wear a stupid constricting mask over your face EVERYNIGHT. Not every night in the truck, EVERY NIGHT. Doesn't get any better after you use the mask for a while and notice no change in how you wake up or feel throughout the day."

Well driver since I was diagnosed in Feb of 2010 with sleep apnea, by a sleep doctor I was referred to through my personal physician (not affiliated with trucking in any way since I in fact wasn't even driving at the time) I guess I approach this touchy subject having lots of direct knowledge of what I say. I wear my mask every day & now that I'm driving again I wear mine at night in the truck too. It takes a few weeks to get used to it. I myself had repeated trips to the respiratory therapist swapping masks until I finally found a design that didn't make me feel like I wasn't going to suffocate. Yes it's hard at first but you do begin to notice a change in yourself & others do as well. Like was mentioned above one week isn't enough time for your body to fully cope with the medical treatment being administered.

Lets also not forgot that the FMCSA is going to regulate this at some point. You might as well face it. Every driver with a Class A CDL is going to be subjected to sleep apnea testing. It doesn't matter if you are OTR or deliver Pepsi around town. It's going to happen.

Finally I'll end this with a question. Why such outrage over profit being made by a particular field or industry? I just don't get that. Your trucking company makes a profit right? Otherwise you're quickly out of a job. Hospitals, doctors, nurses (my wife is an Emergency Room RN by the way) make a profit. Politicians make a profit bigger than anybody in any other profession all things considered. Nobody does work & provides a service for free. This whole utopian notion of doing for the betterment of man is bunk. Our society, as is every society, built upon the notion of labor being offered for personal gain. The amount paid for that labor or service is completely negotiable. If you don't like the people your company is sending you too, & I'm willing to bet they have a volume pricing arrangement in place that is far cheaper than the open market alternative, go to your own doctor & get a diagnosis from him or who he refers you to. That's what I did. My tests, masks, machine, all related expenses came out of pocket 100%. You can bet you got a cheaper deal than I did.

 

Nothing wrong with Profit. Let them make as much as they want hauling goods. Not by telling their drivers they have a "disease" then making them test for this "disease" or the driver will be fired. The companies are profiting off of the test and on selling the drivers the "life saving device". Drivers have to go along with it or face the unemployment gun. Drivers are NOT allowed to get a second opinion from a doctor of their own choosing like for any other diagnosis. If you go to a independent reputable doctor....they require several symptoms to determine your risk to see if you need a sleep study. The trucking company doctors base this solely on weight. There is something terribly wrong with that !

Drivers need to stop accepting things. If The FMCSA wants to make this standard testing for the industry then do your part and stand up. Now more than ever in society with tools like social media an individual is just as strong as 10,000 people.

 

do you really believe that Schneider is somehow making money off a driver's sleep apnea? do you really believe this or are you just pulling our legs?