Dec 2, 2010 10:19 AM

After a successful pilot program, Gordon Trucking has chosen Sleep HealthCenters to provide a nationwide sleep apnea screening and treatment program. The program is designed to enhance road safety by improving commercial drivers’ health through education, diagnosis, and treatment of sleep apnea.

According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), narcolepsy, excessive daytime sleepiness, and restless legs syndrome plague an estimated 40 million Americans. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has publicly announced a focus on fatigue in commercial drivers, specifically addressing the potential impact of sleep apnea. Regulations surrounding these issues are possible.

Gordon Trucking has a history of supporting the health and wellness of its drivers. The driver screening program is expected to begin before the end of the year.

“Healthy sleep is vital to employee wellness and safety, but for trucking companies, it can be difficult to implement a program for employees who live in different places, are constantly moving around the country, have different primary care physicians and maybe even different health insurance coverage,” said Dr Lawrence Epstein, chief medical officer at Sleep HealthCenters, based in Brighton MA.

Sleep HealthCenters works with a network of affiliated and sleep medicine providers to serve drivers around the nation, guaranteeing that employees will have minimal wait times for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care. The company has a system of sleep medicine centers and clinics. It currently runs 26 facilities in Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island and is affiliated with academic medical institutions such as Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, both in Boston MA.

Visit www.gordontrucking.com or www.sleephealth.com for more information.