Let's be honest, I have sleep apnea and I don't have the best work schedule.
I drive to work at 3 in the morning, often worried about drunk drivers on the road.
But before I arrive at work I should be worried about something else: drivers with sleep apnea.
"There are almost as many auto accidents, truck accidents, that occur regarding people falling asleep than alcohol," says Dr. Stephen Rasmus, medical Director of the Genesis Medical Center's Sleep Disorders Center in Davenport.
So imagine those drivers behind the wheel of the big rigs.
Mark Kintz doesn't drive every day, but as maintenance director at Tennant Truck Lines he's sometimes called upon to get behind the wheel.
"There's not such a routine time you can sleep, there's no set time that truck drivers can take a break," said Kintz.
Congress passed new rules for screening and testing truck drivers, but trucking companies are still waiting to get the new regulations. And these are welcome rules to some in what many truckers consider an over-regulated industry.
"We actually need some regulation in this area," admits Aaron Tennant, president of Colona-based Tennant Truck Lines.
"We need some definite rules to play by so we can regulate our drivers and not have any issues that may come of it," he said.
According to AAA, each year there are 400,000 reported accidents caused by drowsy drivers with 500-deaths linked to them.
The Department of Transportation believes fatigue causes about 13 percent of all trucking accidents.
"The thing that I hear over and over again is 'I know when I'm going to fall asleep when I'm driving so I pull over," says Dr. Rasmus. "But you don't."
And although it may be easy to single out truck drivers, Dr. Rasmus says other segments of the population are also at risk.
Drowsy driving is seen among sleep-deprived teenagers and older drivers who may have undiagnosed sleep apnea.
"It just wasn't on people's radar before," says Dr. Rasmus.
Mark Kintz was tested this fall to renew his truck driving license.
He passed. No apnea.
But he wonders about the other drivers on the road, and not just truckers. That's an eye-opener for him.
"That you are out there with them, people going up and down the broad, especially late at night, late night hours," says Kintz.
Like those hours when I hit the road, at a time most of you are still asleep.
The federal government says most "drowsy crashes" or near misses occur early in the morning, particularly between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m.
The next most dangerous is from midnight to 2 a.m., followed by mid-afternoon from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.