A shocking 40% of Americans do not get a sufficient amount of sleep at night. Knowing that a percentage of this 40% probably drive a motor operated vehicle daily, and some of them even work for Trucking Fleets as a profession, this alarming statistic would definitely cause alarm. Within the transportation industry alone, undiagnosed sleep apnea is a major cause of lack of sleep. Drivers are reported to feel fatigued and tired during the middle of the work day to the point where their job performance is affected. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has worked to decrease these reports by not only acknowledging the importance of sleep apnea screening, but also recommending more thorough screening for truck driver sleep apnea based on a selected criteria.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep-breathing disorder. An apnea event occurs throughout the night when the individual’s airway to the lungs becomes obstructed due to relaxation of muscles, resulting in snoring, or the individual to stop breathing temporarily. This event causes the individual to awake from their deep sleep to be able to breath again. If many of these events occur during the night, the individual will not feel well rested and refreshed.
Trucking companies are all looking for the overall safety of their drivers and the civilians on the road, and thus are looking to be extra careful when hiring new drivers by being sure to rule out sleep apnea and ensuring a sufficient amount of rest time before the driver is on the road.
