Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85415
logbook Apnea proposals could disqualify drivers Sleep apnea screening would be linked with body mass index under a proposal supported by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration panels. According to guidance supported by FMCSA's Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee and Medical Review Board, medical examiners would refer for evaluation for obstructive sleep apnea any interstate commercial driver with a BMI of 35 or higher (a 6-foot, 258-pound driver has a BMI of 35). The guidance comes on the heels of three separate sets of recommendations the agency has received in recent years with varying screening specifications, typically involving a BMI measurement between 30 and 35 and other criteria, including risk factors. A second guidance would immediately disqualify drivers meeting any of five criteria: • Having reported excessive daytime sleepiness. • Having had an accident associated with falling asleep. • Exhibiting apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) scores of 20 or greater, until they've had effective treatment. • Having had surgery to correct apnea and awaiting post- operative evaluation. • Individuals who have been found to be effectively noncompliant with their treatment. Both short-term guidances are intended as stop-gaps until further new rulemaking officially codifies sleep disorders into the regulations, with a draft to emerge from a MCSAC and MRB joint subcommittee as early as February. Medical experts began making a case for the correlation between drivers with moderate to severe sleep apnea and increased crash risk during a Dec. 7 FMCSA meeting. A proposal recommend medical exam- iners refer to testing for obstructive sleep apnea any trucker with a body mass index of 35 or higher. Todd Spencer, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association executive vice president, noting the statistics on risk factors for apnea among commercial drivers, asked, "If these staggering numbers have some real live applications, why don't highways all over America look like war zones today?" Charles A. Czeisler, director of Harvard Medical's Division of Sleep Medicine, argued that "it is actually a war zone out there." He said 20 percent of all crashes (not just truck-related) are related to drowsy driving, and that two million drivers a week in the U.S. nod off at the wheel. With fatalities related to drowsy driving occurring once every 70 minutes on average, "that's equivalent to two 9/11 events every year," he said. The proposed guidance would be, ultimately, put up for public comment, said FMCSA's Larry Minor. — Todd Dills SHORT HAULS BLUETOOTH RADIO and stereo systems are now standard in all Volvo VN and VHD models. The package comes with a radio unit and overhead- mounted microphone, and audio is delivered via the truck's speaker system. Call information is displayed behind the steering wheel. 16 OVERDRIVE JANUARY 2012 MAINE CARRIER Bisson Transportation closed its long-haul operation because it was unable to recruit the additional owner-operators it needed to be "reasonably profitable," said President Bob Cooper. A&E CHANNEL'S Shipping Wars reality-TV series follows six independent owner- operators pulling freight secured via the uShip.com online freight marketplace as they battle to gain the most net revenue. The 10-episode half-hour series is set to premiere Jan. 10, at 9 and 9:30 p.m. EST and PST with back-to-back episodes. FOR-HIRE TRUCKING added 3,600 new payroll employees in November, according to preliminary numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compared with November 2010, trucking employment is up by 33,800 jobs, or 2.7 percent. The number of trucking jobs — 1.29 million — remains 163,400 below peak employment in January 2007. Bruce W. Smith