Younger Driver Pilot Program
18 YEAR OLDS TO DRIVE
That’s a catchy headline but there are some caveats to the program that limit how it can be applied. First of all, this is a pilot program set to last 3 years and there’s no guarantee that it will be continued after that time. Secondly, the participants must have gone through specific military heavy vehicle driver training. The military curriculums outlined in the Federal Register notice seem to meet or exceed training programs offered by driving schools or motor carriers.
During the 3-year pilot program, the safety records of these younger drivers ( FMCSA would like 200
participants) would be compared to the records of a control group of comparable size, comprised of drivers who are 21 years of age or older and who have comparable training and experience in driving vehicles requiring a CDL. The control group would consist of volunteer drivers who meet specified criteria and are employed by a participating carrier. As a participating carrier receives approval from FMCSA for a qualifying younger employee to be in the study group, the carrier would then submit a qualifying, existing employee for inclusion in the control group. In this manner, an approximately equal number of drivers would be accepted by FMCSA for each group. The comparison of the two groups’ performance would help to determine whether age is a critical safety factor.
Carriers would be required to install and operate electronic logging devices (ELDs) on all vehicles operated by study and control group drivers. In addition, FMCSA would gather safety data for all study and control group drivers during the pilot, such as crashes and driving and inspection violations. Because the amount of data of this nature that can be collected in 3 years may be comparatively small, FMCSA might also consider requesting participating carriers that have onboard monitoring systems to share that data. The safety- critical events recorded by OBMSs may provide valuable information on drivers’ operating performance.
Most states have concluded that these younger drivers do not pose a problem in intrastate commerce. It will be interesting to see what this program reveals about their performance in interstate commerce. However, given the length of the program and the time needed to generate meaningful reports, it’s not likely that this program will have an impact on increasing the driver pool for at least four years.
Finally, there’s one impact that was not addressed in FMCSA’s proposal: how will insurance companies react to this pilot program? Will they be willing to lower their acceptable age to 18? That’s a wild card that may have a dramatic
affe ct.
Sleep Apnea Guidelines
RELEASED BY MEDICAL REVIEW BOARD
FMCSA’s Medical Review Board has released the long awaited guidelines regarding sleep apnea, and there are two notable comments:
1. They’re not dramatically different from the guidelines issued in 2012. Probably the biggest difference is attempting to more clearly identify who should be screened for apnea.
2. The screening indicators will automatically encompass a large percentage of the driving population.
Keep in mind, these are guidelines, we’re still nowhere near arriving at a Proposed Rule. In fact, FMCSA even stated that they’ll most likely be making adjustments. Realistically we’re still several years away from arriving at a rulemaking. According to the guidelines, drivers must be screened for apnea if they:
Have a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 40
OR
Have a body mass index greater than or equal to 33 and meet at least three of the following criteria:
* Age 42 or older
* Male or postmenopausal female
* Type 2 diabetes (treated or untreated)
* High blood pressure (treated or untreated)
* Neck size greater than 17 inches (males) or 15.5 inches (females) * History of heart disease or stroke
* Loud snoring
* Witnessed apnea symptoms
* Small airway to the lungs
* Untreated hypothyroidism or hypertension
* Small or recessed jaw
A quick check of the criteria reveals that two of them cover a very large portion of the driver population: age 42 or older and male. Add only one other item from the list and you’re headed for a sleep study. The American Transportation Research Institute queried drivers about sleep study costs and they arrived at an average figure of $1,220. This includes out-of-pocket expenses not paid by insurance and lost work time. The preferred treatment method is a positive airway pressure machine. However, milder cases may be treated with an oral device. There are also several surgical options as well.
Although any progress on this issue is welcome, there’s still much to do. It’s quite possible that the screening criteria may never be tweaked to the point that it won’t identify some drivers whose sleep study comes back negative. On the other hand, apnea can also be influenced by other health indicators such as weight, blood pressure, and diabetes. Improving overall health habits has been proven to reduce or eliminate apnea symptoms in many cases. Having medically sound apnea guidance is a worthy goal, but increased emphasis on overall health will most likely bring better results.
CVSA Activity
BRAKE SAFETY WEEK
September 11 – 17
OPERATION SAFE DRIVER WEEK
October 16 – 22
You can count on us to provide expert guidance to keep your safety and compliance programs on track.
Ryan Billet
National Transportation Consultants, Inc.
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