Sleep Apnea is a big stumbling block when getting work as a truck driver

Doesn't seem to matter what it is, some crook will find a way of making a quick buck off of it. Sleep apnea certainly is no exception to this.

 

I know one of our planners just decided to give up his CDL, he went into the office a few months back from being a driver and he still drove sometimes on his days off if we were busy but recently they were telling him he must get a study done when he went for his physical since his bmi and neck and well over the limit.

 

So he just gave up his CDL over a sleep study? I don't get it. Sleep apnea can be a bit of an inconvenience, but it's not THAT much of a stumbling block when it comes to finding a CDL job.

 

Because med cards go online now ,he will have to use a cpap for life of he gets diagnosed
I can see why he decided to quit

 

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea six years. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the hardship that people seem to associate with using a CPAP. If you need a CPAP...you need it. If you don't...you don't. I can only imagine how many derpy ######## are out there nodding off behind the wheel, sleeping like ****, and waking up with headaches because they're too stubborn to go in for a sleep study.

Sleep apnea conspiracy theorists... If your company tells you that you need to get a sleep study, go to a real doctor and have them put in for a real sleep study. If you walk into some jerk off sleep apnea shop that both conducts "sleep studies" (the one where they just send you home with a machine and don't actually do the in-lab sleep study/exam), then yeah...you're probably going to get diagnosed with sleep apnea just for ##### and giggles, because they need to sell CPAPs to pay their bills.

As a new driver, I had ZERO issues lining up companies that would hire me. Not one said "OMG...you have sleep apnea...we won't hire you." What they will ask for (at the company DOT physical) is some proof that you're using your CPAP. All that's required is a 90 day download of your machine usage so that they can confirm compliance.

And no...you don't have to use your CPAP for life if you're diagnosed with sleep apnea. You just HAVE to use it if you're going to be operating a CMV. If you go to a desk job, you can just stop using it and go back to the headaches and being tired all the time, if that's your thing.

 

Free Coffee?! Who gives FREE coffee anymore?

 

Honestly bubbagum, I think some folks really are afraid of it for some reason. Others just like "DRAMA."

 

I dont particularly care for the cost of the test and then the unit. Close to $2000.00. Thats a large chunk of change.

 

Two words...health insurance, which you should be carrying anyways...unless you have a hell of a slush fund in the bank. My sleep study cost me $20 (neurologist co-pay). The CPAP and all of the equipment was about $100.

$2,000 is the billed amount that either your insurance receives or you pay...if you're uninsured and paying cash.

 

I only have the VA right now. I am unemployed with no other insurance. A friend of mine just went through this and his Blue Cross told him he had to meet his deductible before they would kick in any money.