More than a half-million trucking accidents occur on U.S. roadways every year, with tragic and irreversible consequences. A 2007 University of Utah study reports that in 2003 there were 517 fatal injuries in the U.S. trucking industry––nine percent of all occupational health fatalities that year. It also happens that commercial drivers––long haul, regional, local and refrigerator truck drivers, plus bus and other municipal drivers––are at greater risk for chronic diseases like cardiovascular, high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes than almost any other laborers.
Compounding their risk is the fact that as a group, they are disinclined to see a physician regularly for physicals. The University of Utah researchers said that although the data are still sparse, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that addressing commercial driver health problems and modifiable risk factors like diet and exercise could reduce accident rates.
Trying to lower truck and commercial vehicle accidents from the provider standpoint, the government’s new rules for who can and cannot provide the physical exams that commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers need to maintain their Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) are about to take effect. After May 21, 2014, any health provider who wants to perform this service must be listed on the new National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners). To be listed––and thus certified to provide Commercial Driver Medical Examinations (CDMEs)––health providers must receive special training and pass an exam. To stay on the registry, these providers must be retrained every five years and retested at least every ten.
Steve Schumann, M.D., medical director of occupational health services at Doctors on Duty in Salinas, California, received his CDME training and passed the exam six months ago. Though he’s been doing such exams for 30 years, Dr. Schumann found the training valuable. Few of the commercial drivers he sees at his Salinas clinic suffer cardiac problems, he said, so it was useful to learn what the requirements are for managing those conditions and associated medications.
Dr. Schumann said the exam was more challenging than he expected, and he was glad he put in extra time to prepare. All told, he said between the training, the exam, and the studying, the process of getting listed on the NRCME took about 30 hours.
“I think what will improve driver safety somewhat is [that] the examination is a little more rigorous and will weed out some of those people that should not be doing these kinds of exams in the first place,” Dr. Schumann said.
