Dot compliance

[christopherdiehl]

Help!!! I'm at risk of losing a new job. I need to be dot compliant to get my dot medical card. I'm at 32% compliant and my boss said I have a few weeks to get 100% or I lose my job. Anyone know how long it will take if I wear my mask every night? If I wear it 8 hours versus 4 hours will I become compliant quicker?

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[ChicagoGranny]

You should use it all the time you are sleeping including naps.

[LSAT]

Help!!! I'm at risk of losing a new job. I need to be dot compliant to get my dot medical card. I'm at 32% compliant and my boss said I have a few weeks to get 100% or I lose my job. Anyone know how long it will take if I wear my mask every night? If I wear it 8 hours versus 4 hours will I become compliant quicker?

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The idea, as Granny said, is to wear it every night..all night. It would be terrible if you got the job and then stopped the CPAP therapy......CRASH !!!

[D.H.]

Legally, four hours per night is 100% compliant. However, it's far from optimal! You should use it 100% of the time you sleep (including naps) like granny says. Wear it even if there's a possibility of dozing off.

Also, if you learn to do this, you will surely become compliant!

[Pugsy]

If your boss wants 100%...it has to be at least 4 hours within a 24 hour reporting period.
You can't do 8 hours one night and skip the next night. Doesn't work that way....must be consecutive nights. You can't use it for 12 hours and then skip the next 2 nights. You can't put those hours in the bank and draw on them.
Now you can do 2 hours at say 10 PM to Midnight...and then another 2 hours between 4 AM and 6 AM...to add up to 4 hours but it has to be at least 4 hours within any 24 hour period and the reporting period starts at the same time every day.

Now how many nights in a row you boss wants before he puts you back out on the road (if you aren't on the road now) is up to him but typically at least 30 nights/days worth of 24 hour reporting periods if your boss wants 100% compliance.
DOT requires compliance even at home prior to going out on the road too. You can't be home for a week and not use the machine at all for that week and then only use it when on the road. You have to prove compliance at home also.

DOT just requires 21 out of 30 consecutive nights or 70% with at least 4 hours per 24 hour reporting period....but your boss is free to establish his own requirements above what the DOT might require if he wishes. He just can't go lower than DOT's minimum requirements.

[Wulfman...]

Help!!! I'm at risk of losing a new job. I need to be dot compliant to get my dot medical card. I'm at 32% compliant and my boss said I have a few weeks to get 100% or I lose my job. Anyone know how long it will take if I wear my mask every night? If I wear it 8 hours versus 4 hours will I become compliant quicker?

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Sooooooooooo..................

You've had over a year and a half to get this therapy working for you. And, it appears that you blew everybody off who tried to help you last year. You were in denial then and apparently still haven't taken it seriously.
Now you're panicking and trying to figure out how to cheat the system. Rotsa Ruck!

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=156165&p=1188899#p1188899

Maybe you NEED to be taken off the road and find a different job where you don't drive (including to or from work) or do anything you have to stay awake for. Sleep apnea is serious and can cause very negative things to happen to your health and maybe the health of others if you happen to fall asleep at the wheel.

Help??? YOU???
First you've got to get serious about this therapy and take charge of it. Until then, you're just fooling yourself.


Den

.

[Snoregone Conclusion]

This is a case where if you don’t snooze, you lose, but the thought of being on the road with someone driving that’s not taking care of snoozing properly scares me in a very rational way: enough that when I realized I had a problem, I’ve committed to doing what I can to deal with it correctly, because harming myself or others by trying to ignore it doesn’t fit in my overall plans.

If you can’t be compliant enough, I’m glad if you’re not allowed to drive, let alone be paid to do it.

[christopherdiehl]

Ok first off I want to thank everyone who actually tried to help. It means alot to me that you took time out of your day to give me a suggestion and try to answer my complicated question. Second, I'm not trying to cheat the system. I was simply asking how many more days I would need to wear my mask in order to become compliant and if the more hours you wear it the faster you would be compliant.

I lost my job a while back due to a back injury I sustained at work. I filed a lawsuit and won btw. I no longer had insurance therefore I couldn't become compliant because I owed alot of money still and couldn't pay.

I just recently got a new job driving a little pickup truck around town and I need a medical card and dot physical. My boss didn't know anything about sleep apnea and dot compliance until I started the job. It's a company with 10 employees. He wants to know how many more days I need to wear my mask before I can get my dot physical and medical card. No one is trying to cheat anything. I guess sleep apnea and lack of oxygen to the brain really is a thing....thanks for the clarification.

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[Pugsy]

How many nights in the past week have you used the machine at least 4 hours?

How many hours on each night.
Dec 5
Dec 6
Dec 7
Dec 8
Dec 9
Dec 10
Dec 11

If all those nights you used the machine at least 4 hours...tell me the previous 7 nights
Dec 4
Dec 3
Dec 2
Dec 1
and so on backwards.

I can get you close as to how many more nights you need to use the machine to satisfy initial DOT medical card requirements if I have that information.

Bear in mind that once you actually meet compliance and get the DOT card you can't just up and stop using the machine and blow it off.
It's an ongoing thing you have to do each night because DOT can up and ask to see your machine and do an inspection and see if you are using it or not like you are supposed to. If you blow it off...they will park your ass and you lose the card.

[christopherdiehl]

Now that I was able to pay the machine off and actually start using the sleep clinics services I will be using it every night weather I drive for a living or not. I have a history of heart disease in my family and I want to live a long healthy life so no issues there. The paperwork I was given just said so far I'm at 35% compliance. I've been wearing it for about 2 weeks now. Ive had alot of air leaks from my mask so I went and bought a different type today. $150 just for the mask and head gear. I'll see if I can get any more info from the clinic tomorrow.

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[Pugsy]

What machine brand and model do you have?
We should be able to get hours of use for each night off the machine if you have a SD card in it...using available software.

Impossible to tell you how many more nights you need without knowing what you have done in the past.
35% tells me nothing without knowing what it is 35% of.
Roughly you have met 1/3 of your goal...you need almost another 2/3.

[TropicalDiver]

OK, here is my guess as to what is happening. The original poster (OP) is required (either by DOT regs or as a condition of employment) to have a CDL. A condition of obtaining a valid CDL is a current DOT physical. During the physical they typically screen for several things (including hypertension, diabetes, apnea). If they find an issue, they often (but not always) will provide 30 days for you to come into compliance.

It sounds like the OP is about halfway through his 30 day period.

The best thing for the OP to do:
a) Use the machine every single night - all night. Use the machine for any naps. This helps both medically and establish compliance.
b) Clarify the expectations of the boss. Is the boss just looking for the provider to sign off on a new physical? Is the boss looking for something better than that? What exactly is that?

My personal guess: use of at least four hours per night (more is better), each night, for the rest of the next two plus weeks. That is medically the best thing -- and the best that you can do.

[realshelby]

I just recently got a new job driving a little pickup truck around town and I need a medical card and dot physical. My boss didn't know anything about sleep apnea and dot compliance until I started the job.

Are we to assume your new company wants all employees to be able to pass a DOT physical? Does this company require a CDL also? A little pickup truck ( GVW 9,999 lbs and under ) does not require a CDL even in a commercial application. There might be extenuating circumstances where it is required simply because of pickup and delivery locations....

At any rate if you need to be on a CPAP, please learn to use it. Meaning learn how to make it work so you are ok using it. Maybe your Boss will overlook the physical for a while longer, as it is going to be hard to get into compliance in such a short time.

[ChicagoGranny]

My personal guess: use of at least four hours per night (more is better), each night, for the rest of the next two plus weeks. That is medically the best thing -- and the best that you can do.

TD, Did you write what you really meant? I'm sure you know "medically the best thing" is to wear it all the time you are sleeping.

[ChicagoGranny]

$150 just for the mask and head gear.

Gosh, let forum members help you find sources for masks and other supplies. You don't say what mask you bought, but I bet with help you could find it much cheaper than at your local clinic.