September 2022

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Greetings Safety-sensitive Community!

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On behalf of the Atlanta Medical Testing Service, LLC (AMTS) and as Chief

Compliance Officer, I welcome you to a wonderful and exciting experience regardingmedical issues in our trucking community.

 

AMTS is a start-up company committed to providing confidential, cost effective, and high-quality alcohol and drug testing services and CPR/First Aid Training to DOT Truck Driver students and all other industries requiring the same service. Our vision is to be a trusted partner in the medical testing industry. In addition, it is our goal to address the medical issues of the trucking students of Atlanta Medical Testing Service, LLC. community. Together we will examine important health-related topics that all safety-sensitive truck drivers are concerned with or just want to know more about. Safety is first and with our efforts we envision providing and discussing with the community the evolving awareness of the health issues of the trucker. Being healthy is being safe, and likewise being safe is being healthy. Evaluation of the lifestyle of the trucker should be an important behavior. Which brings me to the alarming mortality rate of the trucker. Are you aware that the lifespan of the average trucker is sixty-one years? This number is sixteen years lower than the national average as reported by the CDC1 Reported, “half of all trucker drivers smoke tobacco, 28% suffer from high blood pressure, 25% had high cholesterol, 10% had diabetes, and nearly 15% had sleep apea”.2 The behavior of smoking and these medical conditions can and do lead to serious health problems.
 

The Department of Transportation (DOT) physical is one standard put in place to monitor safety-sensitive drivers. However, half of truckers do not have medical insurance. This is an opportunity for AMTS to aid and an opportunity for improvement of the health of truckers. By the delivery of monthly articles, we hope to provide health awareness in the development of interactions within the trucking community. Our goal will be to improve the driver’s awareness and prevention of serious health problems. Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Be healthy, be safe.

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REFERENCES:

1. https://orlandodotphysicals.com/shorter-life-span-for-truck-drivers/

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Clarence Sutton, Jr., MD

Chief Compliance and Operating Officer

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