The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is engaged in ongoing talks focused on combating trucker health issues like sleep apnea, a major problem contributing to tractor trailer accidents.
Sleep apnea is a condition in which a narrowing or closure of the upper airway during sleep causes repeated sleep disturbances, and possible complete awakenings, leading to poor sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness.
This fatigue can lead to very serious truck accident injuries once the driver gets behind the wheel. Fatigue is a significant contributing factor in as many as one out of every seven tractor trailer crashes.
Sleep apnea is closely associated with being overweight. Truck drivers are particularly susceptible to being overweight because of the nature of their job. Trucking requires a driver to sit for eight hours or more each day with limited opportunities for exercise. As a result, as many as 40 percent of truck drivers are classified as significantly overweight.
Truck drivers receive medical exams every couple years, but it has never been required that they be tested for sleep apnea as part of the exam. That may change. The Medical Review Board of the FMCSA has recommended that CDL holders with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher be tested for sleep apnea. A BMI of 30 or greater – 220 pounds for a 6-foot-tall person – puts people at risk for developing obesity-related medical conditions such as sleep apnea. Nearly a third of Americans are clinically obese.
