Should I forget about truck driving?

I am a sleep apnea patient. Should I forget about making a career change into cross country truck driving? The economy is not leaving me much choice these days. My sleep apnea doctor said I shouldn't choose this type of job. But I am kind of desperate and I really want to work.

No - if you can prove that your therapy is good then you are better off then most. But you will have to prove it with data.

There are several truck drivers on the site who use it successfully on the road.

Lots of truck drivers with OSA...you have to meet some special usage requirements but it isn't all that difficult if you will simply use the machine.

Forum member Tatooed Lady is a long haul truck driver...when she gets on line I bet she will chime in and be able to answer more specific questions you might have.

My husband is an over the road truck driver...while he doesn't have OSA there are a lot of drivers that he knows in his company that have to use the CPAP machine...not a big deal if you always sleep with your machine.
Sometimes some special power needs have to be met but a lot of truck have built in APUs and inverters and if you can plug in a TV you can plug in a cpap machine and even if no special power supply CPAP machines can be run off batteries and the cigarette lighter with just a special connector.

You need a full data cpap machine though....they are looking at how well the therapy is going along with hours of use.
Hours of use for DOT inspections...how well you are doing along with hours of use for the medical card requirements.

I have not been consistently successful with my CPAP use. I should ask my doctor again what he thinks. I just called a truck driving school and they said I would have to get my doctor's approval before taking classes. I doubt my doctor would sign me off, but I can ask again.

If your doctor sees that you're not only compliant, but that your results are good and you feel better, he should sign off. If every person out there on the road (cars can kill just as easily) with some condition that untreated would preclude them from driving, there'd be a lot less traffic! Many people who can show they are treated and don't have problems driving are licensed and safe.

if not "Find a different DR." they work for you !

To get the medical card so you can drive a truck....it has to be from a doctor who is okayed to do DOT medical cards.
Your doctor may or may not be on the list. Not all doctors are allowed to do the medical card physicals now...it used to be that any doc could but not now. There were too many "driver friendly" docs out there.

Maybe you should focus on getting your therapy to work? If you get it under control you can pursue the truck driving, or you will be better able to function in any job. Especially if you are unemployed or underemployed right now you have some time/energy to focus on it. People here have loads of experience and practical solutions with just about every problem you can have. So give us your best shot!

If you don't use your CPAP every time you sleep, yes, give up on the idea of truck driving.

Once you get to the point where you use your CPAP every time you sleep, come back and ask again.

We'll be glad to help you figure out how to solve your CPAP problems.

cathyf wrote:Maybe you should focus on getting your therapy to work? If you get it under control you can pursue the truck driving, or you will be better able to function in any job. Especially if you are unemployed or underemployed right now you have some time/energy to focus on it. People here have loads of experience and practical solutions with just about every problem you can have. So give us your best shot!

It is possible but you have to show minimal compliance which is 4 hrs a night for 70% of the time. This minimal amount of time also helps you "minimally" so let us help you have the best possible use of your machine.

OkyDoky wrote:

cathyf wrote:Maybe you should focus on getting your therapy to work? If you get it under control you can pursue the truck driving, or you will be better able to function in any job. Especially if you are unemployed or underemployed right now you have some time/energy to focus on it. People here have loads of experience and practical solutions with just about every problem you can have. So give us your best shot!

It is possible but you have to show minimal compliance which is 4 hrs a night for 70% of the time. This minimal amount of time also helps you "minimally" so let us help you have the best possible use of your machine.

It's getting more and more common to require more than just the "x hours a night" requirements, perhaps including a MWT test.

Yes the requirement is at least 4 hours for 70% of the nights but how effective it is in terms of therapy (AHI and leak) is also taken into account when getting the DOT medical card. 8 hours of sleep using the machine all the time with crappy AHI will mean no medical card.
Gotta get the card first...and then be able to prove compliance for spot checks. DOT spot checks (usually when truck is being inspected will only look at hours of use). During DOT spot checks the first thing they look at is the medical card and if it has a cpap use requirement on it then they will want compliance data..and if you don't meet it you earn a 36 hour hold while you "catch up" on using the machine during that time.

Regardless of whether you pursue a trucking career...if you want help in making your cpap therapy more optimal...we would be glad to help if we can. You really need the cpap therapy to be optimal anyway...no matter what your career choice is.

archangle wrote:

OkyDoky wrote:

cathyf wrote:Maybe you should focus on getting your therapy to work? If you get it under control you can pursue the truck driving, or you will be better able to function in any job. Especially if you are unemployed or underemployed right now you have some time/energy to focus on it. People here have loads of experience and practical solutions with just about every problem you can have. So give us your best shot!

It is possible but you have to show minimal compliance which is 4 hrs a night for 70% of the time. This minimal amount of time also helps you "minimally" so let us help you have the best possible use of your machine.

It's getting more and more common to require more than just the "x hours a night" requirements, perhaps including a MWT test.

The MWT test was discussed by the sleep doctor, he was wondering if DOT would require it but I had no problem showing 100% compliance for 6 to 8 hrs every night when I went back to DOT so they didn't require it for me. But you are right, the MWT or possibly another sleep study may be required for the OP.

Can someone tell me what MWT and DOT stand for?
Thank you.

DOT...Department of Transportation...federal agency whom you have to keep happy in order to drive a big rig.

MWT ...sleep test done to see how predisposed a person is to falling asleep rather quickly ...not something the public wants a driver of a big rig to have a problem with...dangerous to everyone to have a driver be excessively sleepy.
Maintenance of Wakefulness Test
http://sleepdisorders.about.com/od/slee ... /a/MWT.htm