OUR EXECUTIVE EDITOR–NEWS, MARK SOLOMON, HAS
obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). He wakes up at least once during
the night, his system jolted by a lack of oxygen. That’s because his
soft palate and tongue have collapsed onto his throat and partially or fully closed off his airway. He is tired in the morning and
drowsy through much of the day. Lunchtime is typically naptime.
Take his unfortunate circumstance and export it to the world of
commercial truck drivers operating big machines at high velocities
around thousands of people. They drive for 11 straight hours (with
jeopardize highway safety, and if left untreated,
lead to a heart attack or stroke? The answer,
which should be obvious to anyone, is no.
All the more puzzling, then, was the Trump
administration’s decision last August to gut a
rulemaking begun in March 2016 to examine
whether OSA screening should be mandatory
for truck drivers and rail operators. The decision was viewed unfavorably by various groups,
including the National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB), which voiced disappointment
that the White House shut down a “needed”
rulemaking.
Drivers must get a medical exam to hold a
commercial driver’s license, and it is up to a
medical examiner to determine if a driver’s condition interferes
with performance. A driver diagnosed with moderate or severe
OSA is sidelined until an examiner determines the disorder is
under control. However, stakeholders—including examiners—
were hoping the Department of Transportation (DOT) would
provide clarity on the issue as there are gray areas on what is and
is not allowed when addressing OSA.
Indeed, in the original notice, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA) and the Federal Railroad Administration
(FRA) merely wanted to “consider regulatory action to ensure
In withdrawing the proposal, the sub-agencies said “current safety programs” and an FRA rulemaking addressing “fatigue risk management” were the appropriate avenues to address OSA’s impact.
