new sleep apnea bill question

There is no requirement for a sleep apnea test by the FMCSA on DOT physicals. The guidance from last year made it onto the DOT medical form this year... and that's what the bill in Congress was written to prevent. It requires the FMCSA to go through the full rule making process instead of just "suggesting" that things get done in a certain way. That's what Congress intended when it created the FMCSA... that rules are made using the process.

As far as a sleep apnea test is concerned, carriers as a business may require this, but the requirement must be made in a way that applies equally to all applicants. Doctors performing DOT physicals may require you to take a sleep study if they are concerned that your physical condition makes granting a DOT medical card questionable for the public's safety. That means you have to have the symptoms that point to a sleep apnea condition... they can't just require everyone to take it.

The doctor in charge of health issues at FMCSA has indicated that if anyone has problems with this, a call to the FMCSA in Washington DC should clear matters up. It's implied that they are available, and in a reasonable length of time. (HA!) That's assuming the gov'ts doors are open!!

 

Stop working for mega-carriers and find a better job. Then you won't have to worry about being pressured to take a sleep apnea test.

But besides all that it is very important you take care of your personal health instead of ignoring it. If all these people think you are a strong candidate then they might be right.

 

That's the "recommendation" that made it onto the physical this year... along with a questionnaire. Doctors can do that, and frankly it may be to your best benefit to be tested. Many folks I know who have started using a CPAP machine say that their lives have been changed for the better because of it.

And yes, the majority of the doctors on the medical review board that advises the FMCSA have a financial interest somewhere in sleep apnea diagnosing/testing/treating (according to Dr. John, a guest speaker on the Sirius radio Dave Nemo show) process. Thus the bill in congress that demands the FMCSA follow the rule making process, rather than the "suggestion" process.

 

Huh? OH, I must've dozed off again! I get my best sleep on I 80 between Cheyenne and Omaha. GOSH! I hear it is boring country but never look. Do you suppose sleep apnea is caused by the gvt stealing our oxygen?" Good theory here!

 

Well honestly I had the same mind set as you did. I did not want anything to do with a sleep study or getting a cpap machine or any of that cr*p. But I was in the hospital for a staff infection and they put me on a cpap at night because they noticed I stoped breathing a lot and my oxygen level was dropping in the 60s. And I knew I had a problem because I always seemed like I dosed off behind the wheel and at home I fell a sleep often.. Let me tell you from someone that delt with it for 25 years for your own health get a sleep study and get on a machine for sleep aphnea I am not lying when I say it is one of the biggest changes in my health and life I have ever had and the amount of things that has improved are simply suprising. Listen I am no doctor just a working class guy and trust me if you are tired feel like crap overweight etc it will help everything.. Not saying you have to do anything just a suggestion but I am just putting it out there because I had the same thoughts you did and I kick myself in the ### for not doing it sooner

 

Does anyone know the minimum amount of hours you are required to be on a cpap machine each night? Is this there is a requirement, and does anyone know what the gov't regulation it is? I've search the FMCSR and could not find anything.

 

There is no "requirement," because a rule was never made regarding sleep apnea in the medical requirements for a CDL driver. The wording regarding sleep apnea on the DOT medical forms all appeared this year on the basis of "suggestion" that it was "necessary." The bill that is the subject of this thread is the direction of Congress that the FMCSA cease and desist with the practice of using "suggestion" to get their regulatory desires (in this particular narrow instance, the sleep apnea wording on the DOT medical) into law in order to get around the rule-making process. Congress wants the rule-making process followed... as messy as it is, and as unsatisfactory it is to the powers that be at FMCSA.

So, in answer to your question, because of the lack of a rule it is up to your carrier to establish a minimum usage requirement... if they have any desire to establish a requirement for CPAP usage. At my carrier they want to see "80% compliance" which means if you're asleep for 8 hours, they want you on it for 6.4 hours... 80% of the time you're asleep. But that's my carrier... your mileage may vary at other carriers.

 

The company standard seems to be 4 hours a night, 70% of nights. This has been the case at both companies I have worked for since starting CPAP in October, 2007.