North American Trucking Company Prime, Inc. Helps to Reduce Accidents on the Road
Springfield, MO (PRWEB) July 21, 2014 -- In light of a recent news article discussing mandatory sleep apnea tests for transportation operators as a means of reducing accidents, Prime, Inc. is releasing an official statement noting the company’s efforts to reduce sleep apnea related accidents. Prime, Inc. is North America’s most successful refrigerated, flatbed and tanker trucking company.
Prime, Inc., the leading North American Trucking Company, is doing its part to help reduce sleep apnea-related accidents on the road.
ABC News recently released a report on June 27 which discusses mandating sleep apnea tests for transportation operators. Jobs in the transportation industry, such as train conductors, bus drivers and truck drivers, often require long hours of work with few breaks in between. Sometimes the results of working long hours with little to no breaks can be catastrophic, both for the drivers and their passengers. But fatigue isn’t the only threat facing the transportation industry – sleep disorders are a critical issue as well.
In December 2013, ABC News reported four people died and 63 were injured when a New York City Metro train took a turn too fast and derailed. The cause of the accident was determined to be that the engineer suffered from sleep apnea.
According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea. This type of sleep apnea causes the airway to collapse or become blocked during sleep, which in turn causes shallow breathing or breathing pauses. Obstructive sleep apnea can affect anyone, although it is more common in people who are overweight.
The National Transportation Safety Board says sleep apnea is a widespread problem with drivers and conductors within the transportation industry.
“One of the biggest problems with [sleep apnea] is that many of those people don’t know they’ve got it,” Mark Rosekind, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, told ABC News.
In order to reduce sleep apnea-related accidents, Prime is promoting sleep apnea awareness and testing among its drivers and those enrolled in the company’s student training program. Prime has a sleep lab at its Training Center where drivers and enrollees can undergo testing.
Prime focuses on safety in more ways than one. In addition to the sleep apnea lab, the company is implementing features like the Meritor OnGuard with Collision Mitigation technology, along with Bendix AutoVue Lane Departure system. The OnGuard system alerts the operator if the following distance is narrowing on the object ahead of the truck, and actively brakes the tractor to increase the distance between the forward object and the tractor. The Lane Departure System alerts the driver of lane drift; this is essential, as most operators will drift over the lanes when they are excessively tired or dosing.
“We realize how important it is to take a proactive role in promoting a healthy lifestyle among our drivers, and that includes sleep apnea testing. Fatigued driving and sleep disorders are two critical issues facing our industry, and we’re doing everything we can to ensure the safety of our drivers and the safety of everyone on the road,” stated Steve Field, Director of Safety with Prime, Inc.
About Prime Inc.
Founded in 1970 by Robert Low, Prime Inc. is North America’s most successful refrigerated, flatbed, tanker and logistics trucking company. Headquartered in Springfield, Mo., Prime's personnel, equipment and technology remains on the cutting edge of the transportation industry, and the company's growth remains steady and well managed.
James Hickman, Hightower Agency, http://www.hightoweragency.com, +1 601.853.1822 Ext: 5066, [email protected]
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