Dean Newell’s history as a truck driver often serves him well as vice president of safety and driver training at Maverick Transport.
Newell generally understands concerns that current and prospective employees have whenever new or altered safety measures are introduced. Since Maverick began testing and treating for sleep apnea, for example, Newell has been able to communicate why the process is in the best interest of drivers.
Newell was diagnosed with the condition six years ago.
Personal experience has given Newell perspective on how treatment for the sleep disorder can positively affect quality of life and overall health. Newell shares with employees that the short-term nuisance of testing can have long-term benefits.
“I think it made it an easier sell from the fact that they get to meet me during orientation,” Newell said. “I talk about it. I don’t hide the fact I’ve got it. I want everybody to understand that [testing] is about a better quality of life. I think it’s helped a lot that I have it.”
Sleep apnea is a concern for motor carriers because, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, it is “a major contributor to daytime drowsiness - a condition that could prove deadly for commercial truck drivers and everyone sharing the road with them.” The sleep disorder also can be a sign of, or lead to, additional health concerns. Treatments for the disorder include the wearing of a mask that helps keep the airway open during sleep.
Testing was implemented at Maverick in January in anticipation of guidelines being introduced by the motor carrier safety administration. It has been a widely held belief in the industry for more than a year that apnea testing and treatment would become the responsibility of motor carriers. In April 2012 the agency published - then quickly withdrew - a proposal pertaining to sleep apnea.
Legislation introduced by Rep. Larry Buschon, R-Ind.,and Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., that would require the motor carrier safety administration to conduct additional study on the effect and necessity of testing and treatment was approved Thursday by the House Transportation Committee. Buschon and Lipinski, in a “Dear Colleague Letter” distributed to lawmakers Sept. 12, cited industry estimates that screening, diagnosis and treatment could exceed $1 billion annually for the trucking industry.
“With such tremendous potential costs to the truck and bus industry, ensuring that any potential policy is developed through a formal rule-making process is imperative in order to evaluate both the costs and benefits of proposed regulations,” the letter read. “Such an analysis is not required and will not be conducted for the issuance of guidance.”
Industry advocacy groups such as the American Trucking Associations and Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association have voiced support for the legislation. The Trucking Alliance, which includes Arkansas carriers like Maverick and J.B. Hunt Transport and is headed by Lane Kidd of the Arkansas Trucking Association, has not issued comment on the bill.
“We certainly feel the agency should address sleep apnea and its impact on the industry and establish whatever guidelines are appropriate,” said Rob Abbott with the American Trucking Associations. “But we feel they should do it only through rule-making. That provides proper due process to make sure proper science is considered and evaluated.”
Going through the rule-making process could delay any official requirement that companies test. Some, like Maverick, aren’t waiting until it is required.
Drivers at Maverick are tested in three areas - body mass index, neck size and mallampati (airway size) score. Benchmarks like a body mass index of 35 or higher and an 18-inch or larger neck size flag potential drivers for additional testing.
Since testing was implemented Maverick reports there have been 816 drivers screened with 210 (25.7 percent) identified as candidates for testing. Of those 210 drivers, 166 have tested positive and required treatment. That’s under industry projections that 30 percent of drivers are likely sleep-apnea sufferers. Only six drivers have declined treatment and left to find work elsewhere.
Maverick is ahead of many of its peers in the industry and Newell has begun fielding calls from other companies that are contemplating testing of their own. J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. of Lowell also has engaged in preliminary sleep apnea testing, but declined to discuss its program.
Schneider National, a Wisconsin-based trucking firm with an operating center that employs about 750 people, including drivers in West Memphis, first implemented sleep-apnea testing as part of a pilot program between 2004 and 2006. Benefits seen with that initial sample of 339 led to a company policy in 2006 and today the company estimates 2,000 drivers in fleet of 13,000 are being treated.
Testing and treatment - all paid for by Schneider and employee insurance - became a company policy in 2006 and in some cases the company said treatment of drivers has reduced individual health-care costs by $500 per month.
“When I heard that, I immediately thought that was $500 per year,” said Tom DiSalvi, director of safety and loss prevention for Schneider. “No. It’s per month. The benefits are certainly very quantifiable. What we find is that you can certainly quantify the health-care savings.”
In addition to potential health care and financial benefits, DiSalvi said the company believes treatment has affected driver retention, by contributing to happier drivers, who aren’t looking for another opportunity.
It is too early into the program for Maverick to have data on the benefits, but Newell said strides in the time it takes to test and declining cost make the process much easier to implement than it might have been in years past. Regardless of cost - and the perceived inconvenience - Newell said testing should prove to be a valuable addition to the pre-employment screening and recertification processes. Newell knows from personal experience that the treatment can have an effect.
“We’re about taking care of people. We have a moral obligation to protect the public and protect our people - to me this is one of those things [a company] can do to become safer.”WHERE TO SEND NOTICES
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Business, Pages 73 on 09/22/2013