Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/23755
FEEDBACK Let’s Get this BMI Thing Right oey Lemon’s letter on driver health in the December issue was right on with many points. One statement, though, has a problem. “… the truck drivers out there who are worried about losing their jobs, getting laid off or being disquali- fied because of their BMI ….” Don’t worry about any of this. One of the myths and misinformation about the sleep apnea/BMI issue that FMCSA has been working hard to dispel is that a high BMI will disqualify you. This was a point Dr. Maggi Gunnels from FMCSA has been making over and over in appearances like the webinar Truckers News hosted with her not long ago. J The only thing that has been proposed is to increase the screening for sleep apnea as part of the DOT physical. BMI is only one of the factors a medical examiner will look at in deciding if a driver would need to get tested. If you have sleep apnea you would just need to get the proper treatment to be medically qualified to drive. This is no different than having high blood pressure, diabetes or a host of other common medical issues. There are lots of us driving truck with sleep apnea. I have it. You cannot lose your job just because you have sleep apnea. There is a law known as the Ameri- cans with Disabilities Act. It protects the jobs of anyone with a disabil- ity like sleep apnea. The DOT med- ical guidelines do complicate how WHAT DO YOU THINK OF FMCSA’S NEW HOURS-OF-SERVICE PROPOSAL? Via Facebook: They have nothing to do with safety. Truck- ing is a 24-hour-a-day industry. Trying to get a driver to work/sleep when they say just isn’t safe. — Danny N. I never understood why truck drivers are told when they can and can not work and are limited to the money that they can make, yet there are law-enforcement people that work a hundred hours a week. They drive and have to use quick judgment when faced with a life and death situation. — Steven S. I don’t think it’s the amount of hours driven, it’s when you are used to driving during the day, then the next load you get has to be driven all through the night. That’s when it’s hard not to be driving sleepy. Anyone can drive ten hours. It’s the schedule changes that are dangerous. — Yvonne D. 8 TRUCKERS NEWS FEBRUARY 2011 Never should’ve messed with it in the first place! — Nate L. People can work in a fac- tory around MORE deadly machines and work 50-60 hrs. a week. Yet let’s bang the drivers who supply those factories. Just don’t know anymore. Is there REALLY a system that will work? — Scott K. We run team, so it doesn’t hurt us too much but wish we could do the 5 and 5. That was nice. — David P. The DOT has problems regulating themselves. Leave it alone. It is working, so why jack with it? Spend that energy fixing the state of our union, world hunger, a cure for cancer — but leave us alone and let us do our job. Stop complicating this. — Crystal S. I think it wasn’t well thought out and was just thrown together with no regard to trucking whatsoever. With fuel and the economy in shambles why would you mess with something that is working? There will never Via Twitter: New HOS does not guaran- tee safer roads as the feds would like to think. Safety is the responsibility of a driver, not regulations. — @JonRHansen I’m left wondering why did we have these listening sessions no one was going to listen to any truck drivers that spoke before them? — @blczzz999 Not in favor of the new pro- posal, especially the 2 mid- night to 6 a.m. spans needed for a reset. — @TrainerPTSI be one rule that fits all in this business. All we can hope for now is this gets tied up in courts for years to come. — David E. Politicians have reached the point of no return on their insanity. Let’s see how fast the rules get changed when nothing gets delivered. — Ronnie Q. the ADA applies to truck drivers. But if you are “under current and effec- tive treatment for sleep apnea” and lose your job just because of having sleep apnea the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will take legal action if you file a complaint. The BMI sleep apnea issue has lots of truckstop myths and rumors. Let’s try to squash one of them. If you have sleep apnea you will just need to be properly treated. Even if FMCSA was not increasing screen- ing, untreated sleep apnea causes a host of other medical issues that will kill you if not treated. Bob Stanton Truckers for a Cause Chapter of A. W. A. K. E. (a support group for truck drivers with sleep apnea)