Board offers sleep-screening guidelines for truck drivers

WASHINGTON - The medical review board of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has offered guidelines on when to require testing for obstructive sleep apnea for truck drivers, according to Land Line Magazine. The board recommends mandatory screenings for truck drivers with a body mass index of 40 or above, with admitted fatigue or sleeping during wakeful periods; or for truck drivers who have been involved in a sleep-related motor vehicle accident. It also recommends mandatory screenings for truck drivers who have a BMI of 33 and who have at least three other risk factors (untreated hypertension; Type 2 diabetes; loud snoring; witness apneas; small airway/Mallampati score; neck size of 17 or more for males and 15.5 or more for females; age 42 or older; male or post-menopausal female; untreated hypothyroidism; stroke, coronary or artery disease). The board made the recommendations during a meeting to discuss an advance notice of proposed rulemaking by the FMCSA and Federal Railroad Administration that seeks to require testing for truck drivers and rail workers.