Trump Administration Drops Rule to Address Truck Driver, Train Engineer Fatigue

By | August 7, 2017

  • August 7, 2017 at 1:14 pm
    RetiredUW says:
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    Of course, the Trumph administration has dropped an initiative to make our roads and highways safer to save lives.

    That’s how he rolls.

    • August 7, 2017 at 2:39 pm
      Agent says:
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      • August 7, 2017 at 5:01 pm
        Doug Fisher says:
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        OSHA is far from worthless. Why would you think that? Do you have any proof of budgetary malfeasance or gross ineptitude?

        Of course OSHA has prevented innumerable accidents by helping set the parameters for safe workplaces and behaviors in all sorts of environments. I know you are a “fiscal conservative,” but OSHA has a budget of 550 million dollars amongst a federal budget of 3.9 TRILLION. That is a hilariously infinitesimal amount. To try and focus on that department when it doesn’t even make up .0001% of the federal budget is ridiculous.

        Absolutely ridiculous.

        • August 7, 2017 at 6:22 pm
          Counterpoint says:
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          To be fair, you added an extra zero or two to that percentage. If the numbers you quotes are accurate it’s closer to 0.0141%. Still small but orders of magnitude larger.

          • August 7, 2017 at 8:24 pm
            Doug Fisher says:
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            LOL, it was napkin math, and wayyyyyyy overshot it. :)

            even still, there are probably plungers and hammers that have cost the federal govt more than the OSHA budget.

      • August 7, 2017 at 5:12 pm
        Captain Planet says:
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        I am OSHA 30 hour certified since 2011. I personally have helped prevent accidents as a result of my training. You can’t be serious, right Agent? You don’t have to like OSHA, but of course they prevent accidents through raising awareness, setting workplace standards, and deterring ill behavior via the threat of fines.

      • August 7, 2017 at 6:26 pm
        Counterpoint says:
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        I think that OSHA has saved plenty of lives. It is hard to notice the improvements that they have made because they are overshadowed by the burden of implementing them and because it has been so long since we have been without them.

        For example, if we put post 9-11 air regulation into place pre 9-11 they would seem burdensome and onerous. Even though they would have presented disaster people would still try and get rid of them because there would be nothing to remind us that they are needed.

        • August 7, 2017 at 8:35 pm
          Doug Fisher says:
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          Co-signed on this post.

          As I consistently repeat: Regulations are there for our protection, everybody. Not all of them, but many of the ones that people harp on are to protect the average Joe, whose rights to safe working environments would otherwise be tossed out the window.

          OSHA provides a vital protection to workers all over the country.

  • August 7, 2017 at 1:52 pm
    Captain Planet says:
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    Exactly, RetiredUW – our incest-curious President doesn’t care about American lives. He just cares about himself and money.

    • August 7, 2017 at 6:20 pm
      Counterpoint says:
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      I think that is unfair Captain. I dislike his decision in this case (and, as a personal aside, most of his other decisions) but that hardly merits accusing him of not caring about American lives or calling him “incest-curious”.

      • August 7, 2017 at 8:31 pm
        Doug Fisher says:
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        I think it would be more reasonable to assume: “He cares more about his money and material things than he does for the average American.”

        Not scandalous to say, since billionaires become billionaires by doing things that many moral people would consider detestable. See: Jobs, Soros, Bezos, Trump, Zuckerberg, etc. Astute readers will notice that Dem and Rep billionaires are both in this list. I make no caveats. You don’t make $1b without stepping on people and ruining a few lives. It is what it is. We glorify that behavior and its results in America.

        We can cut the petty namecalling and insults and still advance a conversation, right?

  • August 7, 2017 at 3:20 pm
    Rosenblatt says:
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    As someone who unknowingly had major sleep apnea for decades, I can attest to the fact that untreated sleep apnea has a major impact on alertness.

    Before diagnosis and treatment, I literally slept through entire weekends (not even waking for food or bathroom) and would wake up on Monday feeling like I didn’t sleep at all.

    I can’t imagine how dangerous our roads/tracks are if undiagnosed/untreated sleep apnea drivers are operating those machines. The test can usually be done in the comfort of your own home at a reasonable cost and treatment can literally save your heart.

    • August 7, 2017 at 4:40 pm
      Agent says:
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      • August 7, 2017 at 5:04 pm
        Doug Fisher says:
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        You don’t understand what sleep apnea is, but you comment on it anyway in a snide way. Please use tact and courtesy when commenting on this board.

        Sleep apnea isn’t an inability to sleep, it prevents a person from entering REM sleep, can lead to depression and many other health complications.

        Please use common courtesy the next time you post.

        • August 8, 2017 at 1:49 pm
          Captain Planet says:
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          My father-in-law has sleep apnea. The poor guy can never get into a deep sleep and spends most of his days dragging and tired. Earlier this summer, as a result of not having REM for some time, he fell asleep at the wheel and ended up in a ditch. Scary stuff, lucky he didn’t hurt himself or others. I don’t even like him driving longer distances anymore. The fatigue being studied is real and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

          • August 8, 2017 at 2:03 pm
            Rosenblatt says:
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            Sorry to hear about your pop, CP. Hopefully he’s using CPAP/APAP or something like that – after just 30 or so days of use, the improvement it gave me was unmistakeable.

            In addition to the dangers that sleep-deprived operators of heavy machinery pose to others, there’s a significant medical risk to the person with the issue: the heart has to work overtime trying to supply the brain with oxygen, increased high blood pressure, depression, headaches, etc.

            It’s such an easy and cheap problem to identify and resolve, it baffles me why the regulation was dropped. All it takes is monitoring of an 8-hour “sleep cycle” twice to identify the problem and fine tune the treatment to the individual.

            One of the worst parts is (I’m making up numbers here) I bet 90% of people with sleep apnea have no clue they have it.

          • August 8, 2017 at 2:03 pm
            Rosenblatt says:
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            edit: pop –> father-in-law

          • August 8, 2017 at 4:08 pm
            Captain Planet says:
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            Thank you, Rosenblatt. He’s tried just about everything and numerous tests/sleep observations. They just can’t find the right solution. He’s a rather large man, so I don’t think that helps matters. He has a CPAP, not sure if he uses it religiously anymore because it didn’t really help him. I also lost a friend who died in his sleep last year. He had his mask on, too. A good friend and golf buddy of mine, so I tee one up for him every time I play. I make him play the tips though. That’s what he gets for having fuzzy arithmetic back when he was vertical and traversing the courses with me.

      • August 8, 2017 at 10:28 am
        Rosenblatt says:
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        Agent – what’s with the attitude? Did I run over your dog? Anyway, you’re thinking of INSOMINA, not sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is (basically) pauses in breathing during sleep.

        I had 30+ events an hour and I wasn’t getting into the REM stage. My brain tried to compensate by skipping over an entire stage of sleep thinking I’d make it to REM faster, but since I stopped breathing every other minute and the sleep cycle had to start over, I never got into REM, so I never really “slept” at all.

        Now I can sleep only 5 hours a night (using a CPAP machine) and wake up feeling refreshed!

        Does that help explain what sleep apnea really is?



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