WASHINGTON, DC – The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) made it perfectly clear: they want trucking regulators to institute sleep apnea screening requirements. The requirement is thus far nothing but an item on a wish list, because the trucking lobby is dead-set against additional regulations.

According to Overdrive, a trucking trade magazine, the Top 10 Most Wanted List for safety regulations also includes mandated use of crash avoidance tech on trucks and trailers, and a nationwide ban on electronics use while driving. Writer James Jaillet writes that the “bevy of regulations” also includes a general admonition for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to “improve their oversight of operators, drivers and vehicles.”

NTSB’s request for improved oversight also includes requirements that all trucks be equipped with collision warning technology, tire pressure monitoring systems, rollover stability control systems, and lane departure warning systems.

Under the heading of medical requirements, the “NTSB says truck operators should be subject to more and stricter medical requirements, including procedures to identify risk of sleep disorders. Qualification of medical examiners should be limited to those who have the ability to prescribe medicine and have access to information about conditions that could disqualify patients from operating commercial equipment.”

If the comment section on Overdrive is a representative sampling of truckers, the NTSB may have quite a fight on its hands. “Sleep apnea isn’t [sic] nothing but a scam,” wrote one commenter. “If sleep apnea testing ever becomes mandatory, I’m out,” wrote another commenter.

Medtrade Monday readers may recall that sleep testing mandates have taken hold in the commuter rail industry. A little more than a year after the Bronx train derailment that killed four people and injured more than 60, all engineers at NY-based transit company Metro North will be getting tested for sleep apnea. The engineer at the helm of the December 2013 fatal crash had “severe sleep apnea,” and it has been confirmed that company officials are taking action to avoid a similar disaster.

Medtrade Spring Welcomes Sleep-Related Exhibitors
LAS VEGAS – HME providers can see many different sleep-related exhibitors in person at Medtrade Spring. Registration is open, and anyone who has any questions about the registration process should call: (877) 914-4677 (toll free) or (240) 439-2984 (International residents) between the hours of 9:00 am – 6:00 pm eastern standard time, or email: [email protected].

Use this link to register: http://registration.experientevent.com/showmth152/default.aspx?flowcode=attendee
For more information, go to www.medtradespring.com

A partial list of sleep-related exhibitors, include:
Apex Medical Corp – Booth #633
Battery Power Solutions – Booth #833
BMC Medical Co – Booth #817
Breathe LLC – Booth #1041
DeVilbilss Healthcare – Booth #637
Drive Medical – Booth #305
Fisher & Paykel – Booth #405
HME Media Group – Booth #732
Fisher & Paykel – Booth #405
HME Media Group – Booth #732
Human Design Medical – Booth #1034
Inventory Solutions Inc – Booth #232
Nonin Medical Inc – Booth #921
Philips Respironics – Booth #235
RemZzzzs – Booth #543
ResMed – Booth #527
Revsuppliance – Booth #547
Roscoe Medical – Booth #421
Sunset Healthcare – Booth #824
Virtuox – Booth #500