Tag: tired truckers
Poll: United on sleep screening, divided on regulation
September 15, 2017Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
YARMOUTH, Maine - Requiring transportation workers to get screened for sleep apnea is a “no brainer,” say respondents to a recent HME Newspoll.“Anyone who drives on an interstate highway can only hope that the long-haul truckers around them don't have OSA,” wrote one respondent. “This is a no-brainer question.”In line with a Trump administration that has pledged to slash regulations, the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration...
MTA pushes sleep screening
January 25, 2017HME News Staff
NEW YORK - The Mass Transit Authority has said it will seek to expand sleep apnea screening to Long Island Rail Road engineers and conductors; New York City Transit subway train operators, conductors and bus operators; and MTA bus operators, according to local news reports. The proposal comes in response to a 2013 Metro-North train crash that killed four people. The *Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has long sought to implement recommendations for sleep screening, amid push back from the...
Driver group seeks to halt sleep screening rule
November 16, 2016HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has filed a challenge against a 2015 U.S. Department of Transportation rule that altered the driver medical examination process to include sleep apnea screening, according to Overdrive Magazine. In a challenge filed Nov. 11 with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, OOIDA claims the DOT sidestepped the regulatory process for requiring sleep apnea screening by slipping a provision into the final rule but not the proposed rule, the magazine...
FMCSA extends comment deadline on sleep rule
June 9, 2016HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration have extended the public comment period on the potential impact of requiring sleep-apnea tests for commercial drivers and rail workers. The comment period has been extended from June 8 to July 8, 2016. The two groups announced in March that they were seeking input on the proposal and have hosted comment sessions in Washington, D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles.
Untreated sleep apnea increases crash risk
March 30, 2016HME News Staff
MORRIS, Minn. - Commercial truck drivers with untreated obstructive sleep apnea crash five times more often than those without sleep apnea, according to a new study from the University of Minnesota.Drivers with OSA who somewhat or completely complied with their therapy had a crash rate similar to drivers without OSA, the study says.“The most surprising result of our study is the strength and robustness of the increase in the crash risk for drivers with sleep apnea who fail to adhere to mandated...
Law applies brakes to sleep apnea guidelines
November 22, 2013Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
With the long-awaited guidelines for testing and treating commercial drivers pushed back indefinitely, CPAP providers say it's the drivers who will suffer most.“Once they adhere to the therapy, they say they won't go without it,” said Jodie Cocke, client relations manager for cpappeople.com. “It's made such a difference for them that they are trying to advocate for other drivers to do this.”Congress this fall fast-tracked a bill that would require the Federal Motor Carrier...
Trucking industry rolls right over driver safety
September 20, 2013Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
Last week, I wrote about a new bill that sought a formal process for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to draft regulation governing the diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea in commercial drivers.
No sooner had the digital ink on that story dried than we learned that the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee scheduled a vote on the bill.
Used to the often glacial pace of your typical HME bill (MPP, CRT, home infusion all come to mind), I wondered if I had misread...
Bill seeks formal process for sleep reg
September 12, 2013HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - A bill was introduced in the House of Representatives today that would require the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to draft a formal regulation governing the diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea in commercial drivers.Reps. Larry Bucshon, R-Ind., and Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., seek to require the FMCSA to go through a formal rule-making process that includes an evaluation of costs and benefits—rather than simply issuing guidance, which has been its plan.Stakeholders...
Sleeping giant
April 26, 2013Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
Provider Dana Voien says upcoming guidelines from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will have a positive effect on CPAP providers and truck drivers alike. The president of SleepSafe Drivers in Laguna Nigel, Calif., says it's important for providers to tailor a sleep management program to the needs of the transportation industry. Voien shared his thoughts recently with HME News.HME News: How big of a market are we talking about?Dana Voien: There are about 6 million commercial...
New guideline will pave way for treating truckers
April 26, 2013Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
YARMOUTH, Maine - Although the trucking industry was still awaiting guidelines for testing and treating sleep apnea at press time, CPAP providers who have begun delving into this market say they are ready.“We have been talking to a few trucking companies to see if we can work out some testing and treatment programs,” said Eric Parkhill, vice president of HMP Diagnostics in Atlanta. “We have also had some case management groups who are looking to work with trucking companies ask...