Sleep Disorders Affect Many Drivers
The National Sleep Foundation reported that transportation workers are among those Americans who lack the most sleep. Many accidents happen because pilots, train operators and truck drivers make errors when they’re feeling sleepy. In fact, 26 percent of train operators told NSF surveyors that they felt sleepiness had affected their ability to work at least 1 time per week. Considering that America’s highways are packed with 18-wheelers transporting goods across the nation, is this really safe?
Nabeel Farah, a sleep specialist, said that long hours on the road and fast food, both common in the trucking industry, don’t add up to a healthy mix for working drivers on the road. Think about how many heavyset men you see behind the wheels of 18-wheelers. According to health experts, obesity in combination with pretty much any condition at all is a formula for disaster.
Specifically, the sleep disorder sleep apnea is often caused by obesity. The bigger the truck driver is the more likely he or she is to have obstructive sleep apnea. In addition, lack of quality sleep can trigger inattentiveness during the day and other health risks like diabetes and heart conditions.
In the National Sleep Foundation report, 14% of truck drivers admitted to nearly getting into automobile accidents due to their sleepiness. The admission numbers came up 12% for bus drivers and 11 percent for airplane pilots. Furthermore, it is common practice for drivers not to admit that they are sleep-deprived because of a fear of losing their jobs. Recently, however, big truck companies acknowledged that being sleepy while driving can cause a lot of problems.
Sean McNally, a spokesman for the American Trucking Associations, said that one method of targeting the issue is to confront related medical factors that lead to difficulty sleeping and, by extension, sleep drivers who have difficulty operating their vehicles. McNally is hopeful that the government as well as industry leaders working hand-in-hand will result in an improved quality of rest for drivers prior to their scheduled long hauls.
Fremont (Neb.) Contract Carriers is one company that has demonstrated increased concern for the health of its drivers. The group offers a company doctor so that drivers can get checked up when necessary. The company doctor can also refer drivers to undergo a sleep study if he or she thinks that the driver may have a sleep disorder. Having someone point them to a sleep center for diagnosis and treatment has proved to be encouraging, but as it stands now the process is not very cost-effective and widespread change within the industry to limit the amount of hours that a driver can travel for work has not been popular among employees because it might mean fewer paid hours. In addition, a lot of drivers actually do not acknowledge that they have sleep disorders. McNally said that the study has a bright side as well because it showed that truck drivers are getting enough sleep, about 6 to 7 hours of sleep per night.
President of the Nebraska Trucking Association, Larry Johnson, said that he felt reassured by these statistics. Johnson took the figures as a sign that truck drivers knew what their jobs demanded and took aims to take care of themselves while following through with their responsibilities. The federal government is currently looking into a possible amendment to the law that would restrict for how long and under what conditions drivers could be on the road.
Anybody who suffers from any sleep disorders should be given medical attention from a sleep doctor as soon as possible. In order to fully diagnose a problem like sleep apnea, a sleep study should be conducted at a local sleep center so that the right treatment options can be evaluated. The bottom line is that having a well-rested truck driver—or any American for that matter—behind the wheel can benefit everybody on the road.
