Truckload of concern

THE ISSUE

Thousands of truckers reportedly continue to drive the nation's highways despite medical conditions that disqualify them.

Federal and state officials are slowly getting up to speed on a system to verify that truckers who operate big rigs are medically qualified to do so. But in the meantime, according to an investigation by Scripps television stations, tens of thousands of drivers remain on the road despite disqualifying medical conditions - heart disease, serious neurological problems, sleep disorders.

The investigation turned up disturbing figures that suggest the scope of the problem.

Federal highway safety officials reported in 2007 that heart attacks or other physical impairments were responsible for 4,000 serious truck crashes from April 2001 through December 2003 and another 5,000 by drivers falling asleep, often because of sleep apnea. Federal investigators say that more than 560,000 holders of commercial driver's licenses are receiving full medical disability payments from the government.

An investigation last summer found that one out of three medical certificates examined at roadside stops could not be verified - either because the doctor signing the certificate could not be found or because the doctor denied ever performing the exam.

The big rigs are well into the electronic age, but the system that monitors their drivers' health has lagged far behind. Federal and state regulations require truckers to have periodic medical exams and carry the certificate of that exam with them. The certificates are surprisingly easy to fake and the current system relies on the honesty of the drivers and the doctors with little in the way of double checks.

But new federal regs will require drivers to send copies of their medical certificates to their state DMVs for entry into an accessible national database that is to be fully up and running in 2012.

The U.S. Department of Transportation also plans on having a newly trained force of 40,000 examiners to certify drivers at least every two years. They will be required to file an electronic report on each exam they do, providing a crosscheck with the driver's certificate.

The new system is not foolproof, but it will be a considerable improvement and be safer for both the truckers and the motorists with whom they share the roads.

Written by Dale McFeatters, of the Scripps Howard News Service, Washington, D.C.