NASTC Sleep Apnea Solution
We hope to see everyone at our NASTC booth at the Mid America Truck show later this month in Louisville. We’ll be in the South Hall at Booth # 36257. It’s always good seeing everyone and we appreciate you taking the time to stop by and say hi and discuss anything trucking that is on your mind. If it is convenient for you, I’ll have several O2 sleep apnea screening units with me and we can schedule an apnea screening for you and your guests while you are the show. We will also have a NEST class on Thursday at MATs and it will be well attended this year again.
On the apnea front, Nicole is rolling out our NASTC Fleet Sleep Apnea Solution to our NASTC Drug and Alcohol accounts. The response has been tremendous and the number of member companies enrolling continues to grow. If you are interested in more information on our Fleet program please get in touch with Nicole Antonutti in our office. Kate and I are looking forward to working with all of your drivers to help them over, under, around or through the obstacles that are being placed in front of them on the apnea issue. Our Fleet Sleep Apnea offering includes our NASTC Driver Portfolios and O2 screens for your driver pool to help them be proactive on this issue. Our NASTC Driver Portfolio provides your drivers a convenient and organized system for them to save their important medical records throughout the year. This will help them be better prepared for their physicals and could even help them in the event of a medical emergency while they are on the road. You’ll be one of the premier trucking companies in America that is being proactive on this issue by helping your drivers address any sleep apnea issues before they show up for their DOT physicals and get stood down. This entire well thought out program was designed by David Owen to help both you as a company owner and your drivers.
Another related issue that might be of interested to you is that recently I received several calls from drivers that have been detained after a road side inspection for not having their DOT medical card recertification registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles in their state. The drivers were up to date on their DOT recerts but they were under the belief that the Certified Medical Examiner that performed their physical was submitting their updated information to their state for them. While the CMEs do forward the updated DOT physical information to the FMCSA in Washington for review they do not submit these to state agencies on your behalf. As the matching up of DOT physicals to your CDL driver license expands to more states, each state seems to be handling this in a slightly different manner with different procedures. You should receive a letter at the address on your CDL from the state DMV agency explaining exactly what needs to be done to match up these two documents at the state level. Be sure to follow these instructions completely. This letter can be over looked or seen as junk mail and tossed in the trash. I have heard several drivers say they were planning to submit the updated paperwork in person when they returned home and a roadside inspection on the way presented a problem for them. If the updated information is not electronically on file with the proper state agency then the hard copy paperwork is not accepted as sufficient proof of compliance in the field and you could be placed out of service. Hopefully this will help you as more states link CDLs with DOT Medical Cards.
Let me know if you want more information on our NASTC Driver Health and Wellness Programs.
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