Posted by Marco Polo on July 19, 2008 at 18:30:44:

I've been reading the posts concerning Sleep Apnea and Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDL). Being a person who has both, I figured I'd chime in on a few items.

First, there is a distinction as was raised by D.H. (I believe) between a personal driver's license and a CDL. Obviously, driving is a privilege and not a right in the US among the states. This position has been upheld by case law in many states and the Supreme Courts of many states. I am not aware of any case that has been granted a hearing in the US Supreme Court on this matter. In either case, a driver is bound by the rules, regulations, and laws governing the particular license one holds.

A personal driver's license is indeed governed by the state; however, it was stated to me by two different officials from two different DMV's in two different states the following, "we regard the CDL as a FEDERAL license that is administered by the state." If you look at the CDL manual from several different states, it is the same material. It may be worded differently among the states, but the material is exactly inline with Federal DOT Guidelines and laws. The sections are even divided up into the same sections among the states. You are tested on exactly the same material. So there really isn't too much variance among states regarding sleep apnea and a CDL. In fact, there shouldn't be any difference.

Now regarding the sleep apnea issue, it was stated in another post about the fact that sleep apnea MAY preclude you from obtaining a CDL. That's true. These are Federal DOT (Dept. of Transportation) Guidelines. Diabetes, high blood pressure, certain heart conditions may also preclude you from obtaining a CDL. The key though is that you are in compliance and there is NOT a significant risk of danger or harm to one's self or others on the road.

The problem I see for the driver in Nova Scotia is very serious. 1) the driver (knowing the condition he has) may fall asleep at the wheel at a high rate of speed and be killed--talk about financial hardship for the family not to mention the grief and mournful loss! 2) under the same conditions, he could kill someone else opening the door for lawsuits not just for him and his family, but his employer. 3) since the problem is known now, the employer may be at risk because he won't pull the driver from the road.

All that to say this (because I'm running long), while it may cause some hardship in the short term, his not being treated for sleep apnea is an enormous threat to the welfare of him, his family and others. If he works for a company, there SHOULD be some type of short term disability involved while he gets into compliance. If he works for himself, then he ahould have bought short/long disability insurance for just such an occasion. I'm not familiar with the laws of Canada.

I wish him good health, peace and prosperity. I hope he has the good sense to get off the road and seek proper medical attention.

BTW In the UK, one can have their driver's license revoked immediately upon the finding of sleep apnea by a physician. A friend of mine had to be driven around for over a year even though she had been compliant for more than nine months because the waiting list to get in to see the doctor was a year long.

Sleep Well and Prosper!

Marco Polo

Follow Ups:

• Re: CDL's & Sleep Apnea jvan31 11:56 7/22/08 (1)
  • Re: CDL's & Sleep Apnea Marco Polo 01:09 7/26/08 (0)

---

Copyright ©1995-2008 Sleepnet.com., All rights reserved