Has anybody heard if and when the BMI will become a part of the physical requirements?

When I took my physical at Panther, couple months ago, the doctor said that it would probably be starting sometime next year - but nothing official yet.

 

wow, another thing to control the number of truckers coming into the industry, oh well. more loads for me. seriously though, I never heard of them even mention body mass, but of course I've been off the road since nov

 

It was a suggestion by the medical advisory board. It hasn't (to my knowledge) been made into a RULE. The OBJECT of the "suggestion" is to force drivers to have a "sleep study" done (better have HEALTH INSURANCE and it better not be OBAMASURANCE), as a means of verifying that the overweight driver suffers from sleep apnea (and therefore is not getting enough rest to drive safely) and needs one of those cool-looking, somewhat EXPENSIVE sleep apnea machines - whose headgear is ALL the FASHION RAGE at the moment. Every Walgreens in town has a "sleep apnea gear" display. It's the current "in vogue" disease - you're NOT COOL unless you have it.

Most people recognize this is as the SCAM it is - to foist additional expenses on companies and drivers for expensive sleep studies and machines (more $$ for the medical professionals). FMSCA hasn't acted on the recommendation yet, and has apparently been getting a TON (pardon the pun) of negative feedback. Sleep Apnea is one of those "catch-all diagnoses" - where some people TRULY have a health issue caused by it, and a LOT MORE are incorrectly diagnosed or so borderline that a correct diagnosis is so difficult they're lumped in with positive test results anyway (and forced to be LABLED by the insurance/medical industries as such - watch your RATES SKYROCKET and OBAMASURANCE determine that you are no longer worthy of treatment as you are too much of a BURDON ON SOCIETY NOW).

Some trucking companies (Prime has it on their website) are not accepting drivers OVER a certain BMI (for Prime it's 39). Step on a scale at orientation - fail - sent HOME. Funny though, most Prime drivers I've spoken with know folks that are WAY BIGGER than a 39, that are STILL DRIVING. While it is TRUE, that folks with OBESITY (and I'm 5'5"/270lbs so, that INCLUDES ME) are at greater risk for other health issues (hypertension, diabetes to name a few) - as long as they (meaning ME) are monitored via YEARLY (EVEN THOUGH I HAVE A 2 YEAR DOT MED CARD) physicals to ensure blood pressure and sugar are being maintained, then they should really stop hassling drivers about their weight and stop THREATENING THEIR ABILITY TO WORK by the size of their waists...

Rick

edit: Added later - Then again - if you look at the RESULTS of this study performed by the FMCSA, it found (and I quote); "results from this study showed that the presence and severity of sleep apnea in commercial truck drivers are not good predictors of motor vehicle crash involvement. In other words, no compelling statistical evidence was found that supports the hypothesis that sleep apnea increases crash risk among commercial drivers. Furthermore, there was no evidence from the data used in this study to suggest that crash risk is impacted before and after drivers are diagnosed with sleep apnea." So WHY are they STILL MESSING WITH US - unless it's just to force US to pour more of our hard earned $$ into the medical providers pockets...

 

the reason sleeping disorders are the rage for company drivers is simple, some big names companies won't allow for inverters on thier trucks. Driver cries sleep apnea and there you have it. if the company doesn't get rid of them, they have toi get an inverter to power the equipment. I had several ppl even tell me thats why they did it. Some companies have wised up to this and one of thier prehire questions is do you have sleep apnea.

 

The problem is, based on the FLAWED NUMBERS they're using from the FLAWED STUDIES they used to justify this recommendation - almost 50% of the current driving force would be subject to being required to go for a sleep study. Of those, certainly more than 1/2 would be found to suffer from mild to severe sleep apnea. Then you have to get a MACHINE ($$), which would logically have to be powered. You also get like a 1 month med cert., than a 6 month if you're found to be COMPLYING WITH using the machine as required (how they prove it, GOD only knows) - then perhaps a 1 year med cert.

Instead of developing a PROGRAM to get folks down to a BMI where this becomes less of an issue ALTOGETHER (and create a healthier, better rested driving force overall) - they throw a MACHINE at it - true to the LAZY BASTARDS the american medical profession has become - throw a pill, surgery or machine at a SYMPTOM and IGNORE CURING THE CAUSE. Damn, if you actually CURED PEOPLE - there would be NO RECURRING INCOME...

Rick

 

This is borderline discriminating. Just because someone is big doesn't mean that they are unhealthy or going to have some type of medical problem. I weigh 305 pounds not fat either just a big guy and don't have 1 health problem. My wife is 5'8 and weighs 127 pounds, and she has sleep apenea. That machines runs anywhere from 2-3 thousand dollars depending on where you get it from. My mother was 5'4 weighed about 120-130 pounds and had all kinds of health problems; she died from congested heart failure. My dad is still living and he is in his late 60s and doesn't eat right and he is in good health; and my grandmother lived to be 91 one and she never cooked healthy food, used a lot of salt when she cooked also. This procedure should be required if the person has had some kind of medical problem in the past that may raise a red flag. I hate these ****S we have as politicians because they think just because they put a law on the books it makes perfect sense. THEY DON'T HAVE COMMON ****ING SENSE. Lets make their asses take a mental physical everyday because they are a bunch of ****S that don't know anything; especially about trucking.

 

I tend to agree but what can we do. If they are going to pull ppl with high body mass off trucks, they need to impose it for all dangerous jobs, that would put probably 25% if not more ppl in the US out of work. I think we all know thats imposable to do, or at minimum, improbable.

 

Does anybody know SWIFTS policy on sleep apnea? I have it and Have the machine but haveny been back to the doctor in about 2 years. Will Swift send me home from orientation when they find this out? Please no Swift bashing I've heard it all but I need a job to pay some bills.

 

Don't know the policy, but a snag in your plan is the last thing I heard was that Swift was only hiring students.

 

Not sure what Swift policy is on this. I have read elsewhere, that companies that DO have folks on the CPAP machines, also have a program to ensure COMPLIANCE. One of the complications arise, when the trucks don't have APU's - which means running a machine on an inverter, and also having a CPAP machine that measures compliance. Non-compliance (I believe the posts I read about a particular trucking company were minimum 4 hours a night) gets you pulled off the road.

While this is not an issue for me (and if I go O/O may NEVER BE, unless the FMCSA Med Advisory Board recommendations are adopted), I'm curious being as overweight as I am (currently a 45 BMI) and the fact that I snore - I'd probably end up in the "sleep apnea catch-all", if I went for a sleep study - which really uses how many times you wake up (and not necessarily how many times you wake up, or lose REM sleep patterns due to breathing difficulty) to come to a diagnosis. The medical professionals FEED THEMSELVES by FINDING THINGS THEY CAN PRESCRIBE FOR - and a positive diagnosis and followup visits are just the ticket for a nice bloated insurance claim submittal. I personally wake up 2-3 times a night to use the can - sometimes more deepening on how much I drink that evening (WATER - I like drinking WATER - friggin alkies here). I used to be on a diuretic for BP, but when I started taking my BP meds at night (to reduce the slight fatigue I get during the day from them) I started getting up MORE at night to pee - so I stopped taking them (the diuretics, not my BP meds). Based on what I've been reading about HOW SA is diagnosed, I too would probably end up sleeping in a "Darth Vader Mask" also - for all the frikkin good it would do.

I'd suspect that, even though sleep apnea is not a DOT MED Card disqualifying condition, being diagnosed with it ALREADY might tend to make you a "problem child" for a hire with a trucking company. If the FMCSA Med Board recommendations are adopted, some 45-60% of the current driving force may also have to use CPAP machines and be monitored for compliance.

I think they just want to REPLACE ALL OF US with SKINNY FOREIGNERS anyway. Pay even LOWER WAGES and have to change all the road signs to BI-LINGUAL.

Rick