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10/21/2008 3:00:00 PM
Opinion: Just What the Doctor Ordered
By Mike Bassett
Managing Partner
The Bassett Firm
This Opinion piece appears in the Oct. 20 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration soon will introduce a program that will list certified medical examiners on a national registry and require all interstate commercial truck drivers to obtain their medical certification from an approved examiner.
This development, which FMCSA says is still in the rule-making stage, could result in stricter medical examinations and a stronger emphasis on driver health and fitness in an industry already plagued by chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Commercial drivers cannot be licensed if they have chronic health risks such as high blood pressure or severe heart conditions.
How should the trucking industry prepare for these changes? Improved health and wellness programs could be just what the doctor ordered.
Drivers are not likely to change on their own; they’ll need employer help and support. But why should trucking companies care about driver health and wellness? Because in addition to improving the overall health of employees, successful health and wellness programs have been shown to reduce health-care costs, workers’ compensation claims, accident rates and driver turnover rates.
Schneider National Inc., the nation’s second-largest truckload carrier, implemented initiatives designed to combat various wellness challenges, including sleep apnea, cardiac health, diabetes and congestive heart failure. To measure the effect of its health and wellness programs, the company tracked health-care costs before and after they were implemented. In the course of a year, Schneider was able to keep claims costs to a single-digit annual percentage increase, which is relatively low compared with the double-digit industry norm.
The best medicine appears to be preventive. Since implementing more rigorous annual physical exams, Georgia-based Trucks Inc. has saved more than $250,000 in medical insurance costs by diagnosing health conditions early.
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