Overweight Drivers: A Big Risk on the Road

Before I became a truck driver, I worked as a technologist in a sleep lab. It was my job to perform the sleep studies. I hooked people up to all the monitoring equipment (i.e. EEG, EKG, and EMG electrodes, PulseOx, and respiratory monitoring devices) and then monitored and made notes of the study from a control room. A lot of the people who came into our lab were obese, but not all of them. Also, not all of the obese people had sleep apnea. At that time, I was about 10-20 lbs overweight. We were given the opportunity to have studies done on ourselves if there was ever an empty room and we were off work. I had one done and had very few hypopneas, which are minor obstructions in one's breathing, but nothing even remotely serious enough to require CPAP treatment.

 

Holy critical thinking Batman! Nice post TruckerDad57.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31066019/ns/health-health_care/

It's estimated there are 18 MILLION people in the U.S. with sleep apnea, guess we better test them ALL, and the skinny ones too...LOL. I understand safety but 5,200 people are NOT killed in truck crashes CAUSED by sleep apnea of the driver!.........

 

Since it is against the law to pick on people based on their skin color, or religious background, or sexual preference, I guess it is now time to pick on the overweight folk.

 

http://ooidablog.blogspot.com/2009/06/msnbc-article-on-truckers-and-fatigue.html

seems to me if ya wanted truckers to be rested it all starts with the shipper n receving our wonderfull government want to but all the rules n reg on us put something on them thats says they have to have us loaded or unloaded in 1-1.5 hours or they will be fined less weight time= no problem with 14-hr=time for my 2hr nap when i get sleepy
what yall think about that

 

heres a question...

If all of a sudden this went into practice...

Where would all the unskilled, fat people in the industry go to work?

I mean... they couldn't just go to a construction site and get a job, and no office likes to hire fat folk..


I guess in the long run it'll work, cuz you'd have a few million homeless guys shedding pounds on the streets.

Hmm... Then again, maybe you can get welfare for being fat.

>.>

(Btw. im a fattie. so don't take offense)

 

I was thinking it was the inertia when coming to a sudden stop. It takes an extra 2 feet per 1 % of BMI to stop a semi.

 

ROFL ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh okay! Now I understand. *blinks and tries to look all blonde-ish* Thanks for clearing that up for me!

 

I'm ahead of the curve this time. yes, I'm a fat butt(6'2", 350#). But I had my sleep study years ago. got my CPAP ALREADY.
But whats next? is the goobermint going to put me on a diet? are they going to hire a personal trainer to ride with me to make me workout? are they going to take away my privelege to drive until I fit their mold of desired fitness? THIS IS CRAP!!! They wouldnt think of shoving this garbage down the public's throat, even though they cause more accidents and deaths than we do! I'm sick and tired of being the gov'ts whipping boy! I cant even say what I really want b/c I would be accused of being vulgar.

 

How about putting a BMI requirement on some of the strippers I have seen in strip clubs? Or put a BMI requirement on the same idiot lawmakers who think this is a good idea. Maybe the guy driving the forklifts need a BMI requirement. Or some of the cops I have seen out there.

As a fat person, I am not going to take this lying down! I am going to lay here in my bed brushing the oreo crumbs off my laptop and do something about this!!

So, yeah, maybe I will take this lying down.... But I'm going to fight it!