DETROIT — Professional drivers, working both in mass transit and in trucking, are now able to access a 30-second CDL health check that focuses on the dangers of hypertension and type-2 diabetes by utilizing a new smartphone app from Health in Transportation and NuraLogix.
This app, called the CDL Health Scanner, allows drivers to quickly scan key vitals using either an iPhone or Android device.
“It is a unique, driver-centric system that relies on the revolutionary Anura technology to measure Blood Pressure (BP) using transdermal optical imaging delivered via a smartphone camera,” a news release stated. “When combined with the user’s Body Mass Index (BMI) data, the risk-factors for hypertension, type-2 diabetes, and even obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the bane of over-the-road truckers, come into clear focus.”
Bob Perry, president of Health in Transportation, is also known as the “Trucker Trainer” and has been working on the app’s development for years.
“In a situation in which the industry is experiencing a shortage of close to 100,000 drivers — and when putting a new driver behind the wheel involves five-figure expense for the carrier — reducing the number of medical disqualifications that result from a Department of Transportation physical is the top priority,” Perry said.
“Close to 80% of those disqualifications are caused by high blood pressure, dangerous blood-sugar levels and OSA, and this app not only warns drivers that they are in dangerous territory, it also links them to specialty health coaches who can guide lifestyle changes that will transform their health situation.”
Perry said that the principles of Health in Transportation “have a proven track record, over several decades, of finding realistic ways for drivers to improve their health, despite the massive difficulties that life on the road creates.”
He added: “The CDL Health Scanner is the culmination of that work and their greatest achievement. It promises to protect the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of professional drivers whose life-expectancies are years less than their contemporaries. Fleets benefit too by reducing driver-replacement costs, while providing savings in their self-financed health insurance programs.”
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The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
