Interesting conversation with Dr. today

[pjost]

I had to go in to the clinic today to get fingered lol. Dr. didn't even kiss me or nothing. Anyway, started asking why the clinic in my small town of 1000 no longer does DOT physicals. Last time I asked I got the runaround. Today I got the truth!!! Come to find out that with the recent more strict rules that our beloved Feds have implemented, small town PAs and Dr.s have dropped out. Why? Not because they can't pass the test, or don't have the equipment, but because my PA is a small town girl that grew up here and she doesn't want to fail the drivers, or force them to get a $10,000 sleep study!



From sleep healthier.com :

"The current DOT regulations include BMI and neck size as key indicators for sleep apnea that medical examiners will be looking for during recertification physical exams. The DOT currently wants anyone with a BMI of 35 or greater to have a sleep study performed as well as anyone with a neck size of 17 inches or greater (for males) and 16 inches or greater (for females) to have a sleep study done. Drivers whose sleep study results are positive for sleep apnea and who have been set up on CPAP treatment, will have to meet certain compliance requirements when using their CPAP machines. To meet current DOT regulations, CDL holders must use their machines for 70% of the week which roughly equates to 4 hours a night for 5 nights a week."

How many skinny truck drivers do you see, or truck drivers with a 16" neck?

So she went on to tell me that of the 18 small town PAs that went down to Pierre (SD Capital) only 2 took the test because they are in the same boat. Her exact words were "I'm not going to tell a driver with a family of 4 he can't drive anymore. That would ruin me in a small town."

So now I and many others have to take an entire afternoon off and drive an hour to "the big city" to get a physical. Just more unintended consequences from the morons trying to protect us from ourselves.

Sorry for the long rant. Thanks for reading.

[Sirscrapalot]

The BMI thing has been growing big in the world of CDLs.

Friends an family I talk with who drive the big rigs have been *****ing about it for awhile.

Good luck with it PJ.

Sirscrapalot - Trucks make the world go round.

[ChildhoodDream]

I drove many a mile in the BIG rigs in the past. Far to many miles in my opinion.

I enjoyed it a bit like Forrest Gump in the movie where he decided to go running one day and ran for years and then decided one day that he had run enough and went and did something else.

I did mostly road construction. Very little over the road as I had enough of state travel when younger.

I have many in my family that make their Living on the Trucking industry. That is part of why I found this thread of interest.

[armygreywolf]

Good god, I have a 18.5 inch neck (or bigger yet). I'm also considered "Obese" by BMI, even though I still sink in the pool so go figure. Seems like the feds took notes right off the page for tape testing in the army...an arbitrary and completely irrelevant test to determine nothing at all. Not that I could pass a DOT anything with my health situation...yet it's fine for me to drive my truck all over creation for hours a day 6 days a week.

[matador]

I don't know my BMI, but I was large in high school. I've slimmed down, but back then that wouldn't have hindered my driving abilities.

I do business out of state, and I hate to say it, but:

When we outgrow our Chevrolet 1 ton (Under 10000# GVWR), I'd be inclined to get a second truck instead of a larger one. Just for the DOT regulations.

That's sad when the regulations are that crippling, but I think that it's terrible. Truckers and farmers keep this country alive. Why are we trying to kill off both groups?

[ChildhoodDream]

I don't know my BMI, but I was large in high school. I've slimmed down, but back then that wouldn't have hindered my driving abilities.

I do business out of state, and I hate to say it, but:

When we outgrow our Chevrolet 1 ton (Under 10000# GVWR), I'd be inclined to get a second truck instead of a larger one. Just for the DOT regulations.

That's sad when the regulations are that crippling, but I think that it's terrible. Truckers and farmers keep this country alive. Why are we trying to kill off both groups?

Just as the Mom and Pop stores of the past were put out of biz by the BIG discount retailers like Kmart, Wal*Mart and such is going on with most everything else.

I watched the family farms get gobbled up by the bigger farmers that were farning on mostly bank credit and then the banks end up with the best property and still own some of it.

Money can make people do stupid things. But so can booze,lol...

I can personally see the walls closing in on me as far as land grabbing goes. More and more of the privately owned land around me is being bought up by the State of Minnesota in various means & schemes.

It has to do with control. Who has it and where it is directed for BE$T effect.

[Sirscrapalot]

Truckers and farmers keep this country alive. Why are we trying to kill off both groups?

Full article at Scrap Metal Forum: http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/legal...#ixzz3U36vwsiU

Not enough profit to support the common man, only the companies. Who can vote like me an you.

Yea it's silly the Sleep Apnea thing. I understand the why, but I find it kinda odd all of sudden sleep apnea is a huge risk to everyone. Now if you need the machine..I can dig that. Note everyone needs it though. I'm sure someone is making bank off of this.

I know from my friends an family who do OTR some companies are paying for the machine. I think that's cool at lest.

Trucking is one of those industries that is getting more an more regulated to the point it's silly the rules an such they are making.

I've driven across the country more then a few times, an usually the most courteous an safe drivers are the guys in the big trucks. I got some bad stories to, but more good ones then bad.

Sirscrapalot - I'd like to be a weatherman, so I could get paid to be wrong the majority of the time.

[ChildhoodDream]

When the so called anti-depressant drugs were being advertised everywhere as if they were vitamins. I wondered WHAT was this all about?

WHY was there this great need for anti-depressants?

Then I remembered what I had learned in the past from the study of road rage in the 70's, going postal in the 80's and so on.

Now to the point of all of that.

Just WHAT is causing all the new problems of today?

Is it a bit like a old Saturday Night Live skit from back in the days of Gilda Radner and Jane Curtain.

It's a skit about all the medications that you need to take for the SIDE EFFECTS of the medications before it.

What a scam, a bit like putting worm eggs in the wormer...

[matador]

I agree- the best drivers are usually the truckers. There are bad ones, but the odds are a lot better.

The largest thing that I've driven (on the road) was a 15' box van. It's tiny compared to the Kenworth I drove (about 300 feet) on the farm, but it still taught me a lot about mirrors, vehicle placement, and the like. I swear that I've become a better driver sence I drove that truck.

I understand why there are safety regulations. I moved a Kenworth under an auger in first gear. That's hardly driving, but it gives you an appreciation for how large a semi really is.

But, tell me, is this a semi:


Personally, I don't see why my BMI will affect whether I can operate it or not.

< /Rant>

[ChildhoodDream]

As Bob would say, the times they are a changin'

The vehicle I was driving a few years back was a 15 pass dodge van. One of the ones built in Canada. I found it funny that it is classed as a 15 pass when they would have to be small or skinny.

I found that because of the weight of the van that I had to get commercial insurance on it even for personal limited use. It was a bit spendy for a vehicle that sat most of the time. I still have it, use it for storage now.

I have watched the laws and regulations change for the worse over the years.

It is all part of the U.N. program and other programs for better control of the human resources and collateral.

Just as our consumer goods have become cheap throw away products,
is much the same with other things.

It costs more for less....

That's a nice looking truck/van you have there,

[matador]

Yeah, that's not my POS box truck.

This was. I'm glad to be rid of that thing finally! I only was able to drive it 800 miles total in one year. The rest of the year was spent under it. I don't want to think about how mush that thing took me to the cleaners.


Notice the tow rope! That's pretty indicative of my ownership experience.

It's also a large part of why I'm now a GM guy.

[Otto]

Yeah, that's not my POS box truck.

This was. I'm glad to be rid of that thing finally! I only was able to drive it 800 miles total in one year. The rest of the year was spent under it. I don't want to think about how mush that thing took me to the cleaners.


Notice the tow rope! That's pretty indicative of my ownership experience.

It's also a large part of why I'm now a GM guy.

Add a tow bar to the front of the box truck and it becomes a large capacity trailer. I'm mostly joking, but it might be an idea for its last trip to the scrap yard.

[matador]

It's sold now. The new owner cut the cab off and added a hitch to make a construction jobsite office trailer. He basically did what you were talking about, but I think he went with a gooseneck hitch that he somehow welded to the frame.

The frame was rotting apart, the transmission kept throwing me in limp mode, and the linkage was so stiff that it kept breaking the transmission shifter piece in the column. There was so much play in the column that I couldn't engage park, because the lever wouldn't go that far up.

I towed it home twice, and drove it home with the blinkers on more times than I want to recall.

It also scared the ***** out of me during a light dusting of snow. Trust me- box vans are so heavy in the rear that I couldn't turn in the snow. I plowed straight through into a red light. Luckily everyone was alert, but stopping in an intersection at 45 degrees could have ended badly.

I'm glad to have that truck gone. It was the biggest piece of junk that I've ever owned.

[Russell]

I have a cdl since I was 18 nearly 19 years now. Trucker shortage is over a quarter million drivers and it is no wonder; stagnit or lower wages over the last 30 years. They are thinning the pool of drivers even more in the name of safety. I understand it, but the truth of the matter is; something will give or break.

One of the reasons I made the decision to go on my own was because of all this. It is def a lifestyle choice I can tell you once the last of the baby boomers retire it is going to get intersting for sure. I know plenty of guys that cant or wont quit simply because they cant do to wages or they love the road. The pool of young drivers shrinks because that culture is no longer in the industry... And let's face it reucking is no longer glorified it is looked down on by outsiders.

They are creating rules and regs for safety's sake but are creating an envirnment that will not be functional intil the industry changes with the regulations. You cant keep pinning everything on the drivers; you chase away peoples with good work ethic and half of a brain and replace them with...

[pjost]

One more item I should add to this sleep apnea thing: I was told this by a DOT safety auditor so I know it's legit.

During your DOT physical the PA will ask you three questions that you ALWAYS answer "No".

1. Do you ever snore?

2. Do you ever have problems sleeping/falling asleep at night?

3. Are you ever tired during the day?

No, no, and no.

[ChildhoodDream]

One more item I should add to this sleep apnea thing: I was told this by a DOT safety auditor so I know it's legit.

During your DOT physical the PA will ask you three questions that you ALWAYS answer "No".

1. Do you ever snore?

2. Do you ever have problems sleeping/falling asleep at night?

3. Are you ever tired during the day?

No, no, and no.

A bit like asking some women if they ever fart.
No, no, no

They poot from what I have learned.

A poot is not a fart it seems.

[armygreywolf]

The reason most of my generation doesn't want to drive truck is not because it doesn't pay but because of litigation and liability. If something bad happens it's safe to say you just lost 40+ years of your life to it no matter who or what was at fault. Whatever happened to honesty and accidents. Someone is always to blame...

I know a guy who killed himself after he hit a pickup truck and killed the driver. The highway patrol said he was under the influence of over the counter cold medicine...and then the family sued, the trucking company had a clause placing that blame on him. The man faced time in prison and millions in litigation which pretty much would destroy his whole life. All because accidents apparently don't happen. What makes it worse, later on after he killed himself the highway patrol deemed the pickup driver at fault.

And you guys wonder why we don't want to drive truck. I'm scared to death...quite literally. To hang my whole life in the balance for 41 cents a mile, no sir.

[Scrappah]

I first got my CDL back in 1982. It's a hard call but you might say that the industry had it's problems and was in need of more regulation and government oversight. Nowadays it's become overly regulated. Went from one extreme to the other.

It's come to a point where it's far more bother than it's worth.

When i went to renew my license last year and the young woman at the DMV passed federal papers across the counter for me to fill out and sign i politely declined & turned in my class B. It's just a lead in to even more regulation in the future.

If they want to be that way just turn your back and walk away.

They cannot lead if you will not follow.

[street_sweeper]

Walmart rig driver charged in crash that killed 1, injured actor Tracy Morgan

The Walmart diver had been running for 24 hours with no rest when this accident happened last year.

[KzScrapper]

One more item I should add to this sleep apnea thing: I was told this by a DOT safety auditor so I know it's legit.

During your DOT physical the PA will ask you three questions that you ALWAYS answer "No".

1. Do you ever snore?

2. Do you ever have problems sleeping/falling asleep at night?

3. Are you ever tired during the day?

No, no, and no.

Sorry but there IS a forth question...

4. Do you take CRT's?

NO