Sleep Apnea

danny, you are wrong about prime being a bottom feeder company they training pay exceeds most companies by at least 200 a week! i know this because i did quite a bit of research on them and others before I decided to go with them.as of the sleep apnea issue ip is right about that they will work with you even if you are above a 39 on your bmi, i know this cause mine is 39 and i have been training with prime since may of this year.everything they have since i first called my recruiter. so to say these things about this company is irresponsible to say the least. yes there are drivers that have had bad experiences with prime but with a company of over 3000+ drivers that will happen not everyone will be happy. so far i am very happy with prime, and if you dont like this company fine, we will roll on without you. there are plenty of jobs out there. good luck to you.

 

If you're referring to that post by that dannyb person, then cool off - he keeps his brain somewhere where it's dark and smells like c.r.a.p. No one gets fired at my carrier for being overweight. They have some limits on BMI for new hires - but a lot of carriers are doing that now. Trying to get ahead of where it seems the medical review board of the FMCSA is heading these days.

 

yes sir they do and your carrier has a long history of firing good drivers for bad reasons well documented in the courts:

In a decision issued on March 15, 2010, Department of Labor Judge Daniel Leland ruled that New Prime, Inc. (also known as "Prime") illegally fired Cynthia Ferguson because she refused to continue operating a commercial vehicle in hazardous weather. In Ferguson v. New Prime, Inc., Ferguson, a leased driver for Prime, was fired shortly after she refused to driver through Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with a loaded tractor-trailer set during hazardous weather. Paul Taylor of the Truckers Justice Center filed a claim on behalf of Ferguson with the Department of Labor alleging that Prime illegally fired her. Prime alleged that it fired Ferguson because she operated the truck at a deficit. It was the 5th time in five years Prime has been found violating the Surface Transportation Assistance Act that allows truckers to shut down when unsafe conditions occur.


That was just the latest wrongful termination by your Carrier, cut and paste from the Truckers Justice center

Here are some articles that back up what I say. Prime will not hire with a BMI of 39. I guess all these people are telling lies to and the sources are corrupt:

http://www.examiner.com/truck-industry-in-national/bmi-going-to-be-a-requirement-for-truck-driving

scroll down to medical requirments on this link
http://www.bigrigdriving.com/trucking-companies/prime-inc


As for the Driver who said he was being fired for his weight I can't prove it and didn't believe him either and said so in the first post I made about it. I did call Prime and no TRUCKERS with a BMI of 39 are welcome there! If you like I will call your recruiting department and record the call and post it on here.

 

That's because you're too #### fat to haul your lard ##### into the truck. Loose some weight. No one at Prime has ever been "fired" for something like that - loosing your medical card for complications to morbid obesity is another matter.

 

I got a question...do any companies out there do surprise inspections to ur CPAP machine? IE - take the card from the back and have a print-out done to see if u r actually using it?
Can u be fired for not using ur CPAP if they somehow find out?

I can't go into details right now as to why I need to know these things but it would be helpful if anyone has answers.

 

Excuse me fellas but I have to put in my 2 cents. It's employment at will. Acompany can pretty much set it's own guidlines (within reason) as to whom it will or will not hire. As long as there is no ADA goin on. And last time I checked (this morning) there are 100's of things that "most" companys will not hire you if you have. ADD, ADHD, any of the mental diagnoses', angina blood clots, any heart related things, Diabetes (w/ insulin), hell even depression gets you booted.

Doesn't matter what the FMSCA says about DR's ok, if it's gonna put their truck at risk, your a no go. They got 100 more right behind you waiting to go.

Now, Prime and the bmi thing. They're not rejecting people for that, they are taking that # and your neck size into account and if your outside the range when you show for training they are testing you for sleep apnea, and then putting you on the c-pap.

Btw.. if your bmi is over 38-39 you are at serious risk for alot of things. Why WOULD a Co. want to hire someone like that. That and then they would have to light load the trailer just to stay legal.

Try losin some weight.

 

They could - its up to the company. FMCSA regs are the minimum all carriers have to comply with. As long as some sort of discrimination isn't involved, they can go well beyond what those regs prescribe as a necessary condition for employment.

However, you have to have your card read to maintain your medical. If you're not using it above a certain percentage of the time (80% I think?) you won't get your medical renewed.

 

I don't care if you are a road train member your a fool in here pimiping for Prime. Read all my post before you start calling people rude names. I never said drivers get fired for being fat at prime I said a driver told me he was getting fired for it and I called the recruiting number. I was told that prime will not hire drivers with BMI of 39 because of the health problems you listed, they also said what you did. I also posted several links from recruiting sources that backs up what i am saying Prime will not hire drivers with a BMI of 39 or more right now.

This thread is about discrimiantion in the work place based on the faults of BMI system, dis-information and mis-diagnosis of sleep apnea, and what trucking groups are doing to defend drivers about it. I hover around 29-30% in BMI but unload all my own trucks and ran a 5K in the last month, I am far from a fat boy. That was below the belt, it was harrassing behavior that i don't use on my fellow drivers. I have respect for them, i imagine your the CB Rambo type that keeps crap started all the time on radio.

Using dirty langauge to argue your point shows low intelligence, I would expect no less from a Prime driver: go to the Bad trucking Companies threads and read the THOUSANDS of complaints on Prime in just this forum alone. Go to the Ripoff report and you will find even more. OOIDA who I think funds this board has sued and won MILLIONS from Prime this decade for the lease programs that bilked Millions from drivers. Just last month for the 5th time in 5 years Prime was found guilty of violating the Surface Transportation Assistance Act !!!
http://www.layover.com/forums/layov...re-than-150000-for-illegal-firing-148106.html


You jumped in a conversation that I was having with garybtcc1 and picked one thing out of several post to complain about. There is going to be Lawsuits against Prime about this policy you can bet on it. That company if it had better leadership and obeyed employment laws instead of making policy that goes against federal law might be a better place to work. They try to cut a corner to save a dollar and end up spending five on lawyers in court...they lose every time to.

Google this Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) - prohibits employment discrimination based on genetic information about an applicant, employee, or former employee. Refusing to take applications or hire qualified people because they might be prone to a sleep disorder based on a medical formula like BMI is right in line with what this law added to the Civil Rights act is all about. Stand by, I smell another lawsuit on Prime that they will lose again because company policy goes against Federal labor law.

 

I really hate to get involved with this one, but you guys might want to reread my last post. I can't let this one go w/o atleast some sort of response.

All by itself, SA, is NOT a disability, therfore wouldn't even be covered.It also is not a genetic disease as it has nothing to do w/ genes. It can't be passed down. The only way to have it is by obstruction of the airway, caused by an outside factor (ie. weight).

That makes it unsafe to drive if not treated properly. I ask again, WHY WOULD A MAJOR TRUCK COMPANY HIRE SOMEONE LIKE THAT? And yet Prime is, they are just requiring cpaps, or some other treatments.

BTW, look around, they are all starting to do it.

 

Thank's Greeney for some professionalism. We may disagree but name calling is for kids. I have one of these new CSA 2010 Medical cards and in the questionaire I filled out with the disqualifing factors listed no where did it say being overweight or having sleep apnea was an automatic. Prime is saying we are not going to hire anyone that is heavy because it might develop into a sickness. No other company I know of has done this yet. I challege you to list one with a source.

I am going to keep this thread alive and e-mail the dept of Labor and EEOC for an answer if it's legal. I am not a lawyer and never pretended to be but Prime has a long history of making company policy that Violates federal labor laws, Just last month it cost them half a million in lost wages, lawyer fees, and fines for viloating one.


Here is waht i am sending in an E-mail and will post the response within five working days as it takes that time to get a reponse:

Sear Sirs or Madams,

I work in the trucking Industry and a company has started a new program that I think Violates the Rights of drivers based on Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA)

Prime out of Springfield MO has new policy of refusing to hire or take applications from drivers who have a BMI of 38 or greater. They told me over the phone it was because anything higher than 38 is an increased chance of high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and cost more to insure on health plans. Even if you get a Medical Card for the DOT approved Medical proffessional your still out. It is well advertised on their website and trucking recruiting sites. I do not fall into the BMI of not being hirerable at Prime but wanted to know if it's legal for an employer to do this? I also feel that it is racist and sexist because women by nature have a higher BMI due to the need to store fat in the hips and breast for child rearing, even the US Army gives different standards for both males and women. Most black folk while perfectly healthy are big boned, NFL legends like Warren Sapp who are super human athletes based on the dimensions of their body could not submit an application at Prime.

This company was just found guilty of violating another labor law by a US Federal Judge in reno NV last month and ordered to reinstate former employees for wrongful termination. Could you people please send me an opinion because several others besides myself would like to know.

Give it five working days gentleman and the argument will be solved.