Marten Transport sneeks sleep study on Drivers at Orientation/Lies to Driver re: pay

You may need to adjust your CPAP machine, I think you are suffering from oxygen starvation. It is obviously effecting your comprehension skills........

 

Trucking is easily the ######### and most unfairly regulated industry in the entire country. If it isn't DOT and the feds on your ### its some mega or minor carrier shoving even more rules down your throat. Sleep apnea profiling by neck size eh? Totally, that makes a TON of sense. I chased after this trucking #### for nearly three years and made next to nothing in the process. I drive a town car now and make three times more just in tips than I ever made driving the big rigs. Theres no regulation and I'm home every night. I really think people turn to trucking, especially for the megas, because they feel as though they have no other options. But as things in the industry continue to get more and more heavily regulated, and pay continues to decrease, you're going to see a major change in the way many of these companies do business, if only just to keep themselves alive. People wonder why there's a constant driver shortage. #### like this is probably a major reason why...

 

The sleep apnea thing is a DOT regulation. They started really coming down on doctors about two years ago to start testing for it. Personally I think it can be a good and bad thing depending on the situation. The main reason this was put into the medical regs was because a lot of drivers involved in serious fatality accidents were using sleep apnea as a defense.

I believe that if they are going to make you take the test to get your medical card they should make it a little easier to do. But when has that ever happened.

 

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG......see if you can find me a reg. referring directly to sleep apnea and post it.
This is a test......hint, check the guidelines on the DOT Physical Form they are taken directly from the Little Green Book!!!

There are recommendations listed, but recommendations are not regulations or requirements......there are other ways to treat a breathing disorder other than with a CPAP machine.

 

You should keep up with the regulations that are in the pipe headed directly at the industry.. companies are because companies don't want to end up losing a lot of employees at once, so they are being proactive and meeting the standards of the coming regulations because they are coming and of course they are a good idea. Don't wanna play anymore... go into another field before the regs hit or plan on meeting the requirements.

 

http://arizonatrucking.com/docs/regulations/Sleep Apnea Guidance Summary revised June 2012[1].pdf

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/sleep-apnea/industry/commercial-drivers.aspx

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/sleep-apnea/tools/Driving-with-Sleep-Apnea.aspx

http://www.sleepapnea.org/asaa-blog/fmcsa-mrbmcsa-joint-committee-recommendations.html

http://www.trucking.respironics.com/guidelines.aspx

Get the point yet? I could post over 100 links to the guidelines and coming regs or regs that companies are preparing to meet. but go ahead and wave that little green book around if it makes you feel like an expert or something..

 

As a person with apnea I am in favor of testing. However I agree that these companies are discrimatory in who they test and that seems to be what the issue is.

 

BMI is a faulty measure. I never base my health on it.

For example, you look at a wrestler like Brock Lesnar whom, according to the BMI chart would be around 34 which qualifies as obese. (He's 6'3" and 287 pounds). You look at him and you'd never think that he's obese. Looks pretty healthy to me, not withstanding the issues that seem to be going around sports these days.

Myself, I'm 6'0" and around 280 pounds. I'm a little paunchy, but I carry my weight well and get surprised looks when I mention my weight, and I also fall into a similar BMI index of around 34.

 

I don't get your point . I doubt you'll get mine .

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/sleep-apnea/sleep-apnea.aspx
Sleep apnea has always been a disqualifying condition unless it is properly treated . The issue is it is often improperly diagnosed . BMI or neck size alone are not positive indications of sleep apnea .
Here are opinions from a doctor .

http://www.occ-doc.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=405

http://www.occ-doc.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=162&hilit=sleep+apnea+drivers
We probably have carrier safety people getting kickbacks from operators of sleep study centers .

 

So if a company forced you to take sleep abnea test and you did'nt know that till you started driving for them,would you be ok with that?Have you ever had to take this test with any companies?