CDL Medical Review Board's bright idea

[pro1driver]

ok, i cannot post a link here from another board i am a member of, but a few days ago, another member at that board posted a thread regarding the BMI (body mass index), and that this could put drivers out of a job. that other member couldn't remember the whole story, but that he did hear it on "Land Line Now" the radio show that's part of the OOIDA, which i would recommend drivers become members of as for us to have some sort of representation.

anyhow, i thought it was a citizens rights group, which is usually the people who deem themselves "guardians" of our livelyhood. when in fact, it is the CDL Medical Review Board's brilliant idea.

i took the time to e-mail the radio show host, and he so kindly e-mailed me the explaination of what is trying to be accomplished.

IF this gets approved, many of us CAN BE out of a job, then i ask, who will drive those trucks...??


here is the radio show host's response:
------------------------------------

Here's the straight scoop. The CDL Medical Review Board, which decides the medical standards that truckers have to meet in order to get and keep a medical card, are focusing on sleep apnea.

BMI - or Body Mass Index - is one way to determine whether you are at greater risk. Note here that it doesn't mean you will have it, just that you're at greater risk.

In addition, most measurements for BMI that are commonly used are highly inaccurate, putting many people into higher BMI categories that should not be there.

All that being said, since BMI is a risk factor for apnea, and since apnea can lead to fatigue if not treated, the Medical Review Board is proposing that that any driver above a certain BMI be denied medical certification.

This could potentially take thousands of safe drivers who do not have apnea - or who treat it successfully - off the road.

Needless to say, OOIDA is opposing this regulation strongly. It is not based on good science or good medicine. It is a formula for denying good, safe, law-abiding drivers the right to make a living.

I hope this helps. If you think this would clear things up for other truckers, please feel free to share it with them.

Thanks,

Mark H. Reddig
Host
Land Line Now

[Pitter]

Puttin' the fear in a newbie. I just retired from the USAF where BMI was a big deal. Not necessarily for sleep apnea but it was used to determine whether a person belonged on the weight management program or not. I believe they measured the neck and the waist (and the hips for women) and devised some cockamammie equation to determine if you were "fit". There wasn't a wit of common sense applicable in that we tend not to be from cookie-cutters and different body types carry weight in different ways. I saw a few folks get shown the door because of it. Sounds like more governmental queep moving in and that's never a good thing.

[MAYHEM666]

I can only wonder how Nafta fits in to all this.

[cranerider]

This is ------- garbage

[lyion]

Originally Posted by cranerider

This is ------- garbage

hi i was a tired all the time so i wen't to a sleep study and fount out that i hd sever sleeping apnea . the doctor put me on a [c paps breathing machine] i snored really bad for years but now useing this machine i dont get tired and fall a sleep any more like i use to. I was tired all the time in the day time .Now im doing good .I use to wake up more tire than i did when i went to bed. Now i fell so much beter re-freshed when i wake up . i read in land line a bout 70% of all truck drivers get sleep apnea sooner are later and few compay's were paying for there drivers
to go to sleep study to get checkd out .If you snore and tired all the time thats a syn you may have sleep apnea . my doctor said it can kill you a few diferent way's 1.by not getting the rest and fallng sleep at the whell and no.2 by get a in larg heart that could lead to high blood presure and possible stroke.so get checked out . if you get check out you can go back to driveing. my doctor said, i could .Lyion

[pro1driver]

Originally Posted by lyion

hi i was a tired all the time so i wen't to a sleep study and fount out that i hd sever sleeping apnea . the doctor put me on a [c paps breathing machine] i snored really bad for years but now useing this machine i dont get tired and fall a sleep any more like i use to. I was tired all the time in the day time .Now im doing good .I use to wake up more tire than i did when i went to bed. Now i fell so much beter re-freshed when i wake up . i read in land line a bout 70% of all truck drivers get sleep apnea sooner are later and few compay's were paying for there drivers
to go to sleep study to get checkd out .If you snore and tired all the time thats a syn you may have sleep apnea . my doctor said it can kill you a few diferent way's 1.by not getting the rest and fallng sleep at the whell and no.2 by get a in larg heart that could lead to high blood presure and possible stroke.so get checked out . if you get check out you can go back to driveing. my doctor said, i could .Lyion

i agree that sleep apnea IS a big problem, but for ANYONE that suffers from it, not just truckers. what about the "averag guy" that works in a factory, or behind a desk....are they any less dangerous behind the wheel of their big ne whiny SUV.....??

this is just another way that some citizens rights group must have dogged higher-ups to make things even tougher for us. someday, when the trucks don't roll either because of medical restrictions or just plain drivers quitting, i wonder how the economy will be then.........there won't be enough mexican drivers (properly medically fit) either...........to fill our shoes.......