FMCSA to Set Rules on Detecting, Treating Drivers’ Sleep Disorders

WASHINGTON — The head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said the agency will issue strict guidance to medical examiners later this year on how to detect and treat sleep disorders when administering physicals to truck drivers.

FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro also said a proposed rule is being planned that will address a number of issues regarding sleep apnea, which is a growing concern in truck-related crashes.

“Following on the heels of the guidance this year will be the elements and foundation of a rule relating to obstructive sleep disorder, somewhere in the next few years,” Ferro told a group of researchers attending a National Sleep Foundation conference here Saturday.

“Rules take a much longer window to adopt, and so the guidance gives us an interim approach,” Ferro said.

A related final rule requiring medical examiners to be listed in a national registry and receive mandatory training, testing and certification is being reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget and expected to be issued as soon as March 30.

Ferro said fatigue reduces a truck driver’s ability to respond in a safe and controlled manner to potentially dangerous situations on the road.

FMCSA’s research shows that 13% of all truck-related crashes can be attributed to fatigue, but Mark Rosekind, a National Transportation Safety Board member, said it is a factor in 31% of the roughly 30 highway accidents the NTSB investigates annually.