to fat to drive?

I'm 5'9" and 300 and I'm nowhere near the biggest guy out there. More places are doing pre-work screenings or have rules (I think prime won't hire above a certain weight or bmi) but there are still a fair number of places a big guy can get on.

 

The last guy I worked with was 5'6" and well over 250, yet he was a great truck driver, the best grapple operator I've ever seen, loyal as hell to his company and just overall a great man. He had no problem climbing up and down the ladder to get up to the grapple to load logs, nor any other operations involved in trucking. He's a good man. Can't always judge a book by it's cover and neither should any trucking or insurance company.

 

plenty of overweight drivers...not a bad or uncommon thing.

 

ok, heres the deal. That height and weight puts him at a BMI of 43.8
Im at 44 myself.
I do know that Prime will not hire you with a BMI over 39
Most other companies WILL hire him, but he would need to have a sleep study done to make sure he does not have sleep apnea before they will hire him.
Sleep studies CAN be very expensive, but can be done for around 250.00
If you need any info on getting the 250 sleep study PM me and I will give you my docs info.

 

saw a guy at werner that was about 5'5 maybe and was huge like it was crazy how big he was for his height but as long as your healthy

 

Can you really be that fat, and healthy at the same time?

I am 6' and weigh 185, and I am about 20 pounds over my ideal weight.
That doesn't sound like all that much, but I do notice the difference. My BMI is around 25. If I weighed 310, my BMI would be 42. I couldn't even imagine being that heavy, much less doing any kind of work. I would be a round lump of mass, and not good for anything.

My blood pressure is higher, I get sick more often, it is harder to go up and down, I have more aches and pains.

I am less healthy because I am fat, no question about it.
So, what does that say for people that are that extremely fat?


Sorry, but no one can say that being fat does not affect the job - or your health. Extreme fat = an accident/incident waiting to happen.

 

Some company's are pulling the BMI sleep Ap thing. Most are not.
It is all hype, they may put a rule out on it in the next few years, but no rule is in place now.
Just some company's are jumping the gun. In 90% of the cases it is due to the examiner that the company uses getting kick backs from the sleep study centers for sending people to them.
I get my physicals done at my Dr.
He is up to date on all the new rules for examiners, and he will not require a sleep study unless you have symptoms of sleep apnea. BMI and neck size are not enough.

BTW Moose.
I am 6'1. My ideal weight is 210. This is by a body fat analysis. Not by BMI. It is an actual test that shows accurate numbers.
In the army they wanted me to weigh 195. It happened one time, the whole time I was in. Then I had to get body fat analysis done for every physical. To prove that I was not over weight.
BMI is a joke, it is not a true measurement of anything. Just an uneducated guess.

 

They should be using the WHR (Waist to Hip Ratio). It is an actually accurate representation of obesity. The BMI number thing is a crock of BS. Body fat analysis is even better.

My BMI says I should weigh 168#. If I did I would literally be skin and bones, it does not take into account for different bone or muscle mass. WHR would get rid of quite a few drivers as well though, body fat analysis would decimate many carriers.

The ones that have the steering wheel all the way up and forward, seat is fully down and back and still cannot get between the two should not be driving. They need to lose some fat, however it needs to be done. They are a cardiac event waiting to happen.

 

BMI's are generally a good representation of overall body ...uhhhh....mass.

But, I am 6' and weigh 240 and I have not heard anybody say anything to me about being overweight. If you can pass your physical, I say go for it.