Schneider National is one of the largest truckload carriers in North America. This week they were the proud recipients of the NSF Healthy Sleep Community Award. Schneider National ran the sleep apnea program in response to a study sponsored by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the American Trucking Associations. This study showed that about 29 % of commercial drivers suffer from some degree of OSA – Obstructive sleep apnea. This is a life threatening respiratory system-related sleep disorder. Sleep apnea shows up as daytime sleepiness, falling asleep at odd times, loud snoring, depression, irritability, lack of concentration, and memory loss. Untreated, it can be very risky and result in motor crashes on the highway.

Alarmed by the potential danger to its drivers, Schneider took the initiative and started off an education campaign to make its staff aware of OSA. Around 547 drivers were tested in the period April to December 2006. A whopping 80% of them were found to be suffering with sleep disorder and treated. This was a major humanitarian move by Schneider in caring for its drivers’ heath and safety.  This pioneering action by Schneider National in creating the OSA detection and treatment program for its drivers was applauded by the National Sleep Foundation in Washington. Schneider hopes that everyone in the trucking industry will recognize the seriousness of this problem and take measures to diagnose and treat it since the safety of the highways is at stake. With the average age of drivers gradually rising, they are significantly at risk. For Schneider, its creation of the program for its drivers also resulted in reduced heath care costs which it shared with its drivers.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 9th, 2007 at 7:19 pm and is filed under Freight-USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.