Truck drivers work long hours away from home, and for weeks at a time.

Health experts say some drivers may be carrying more than just cargo, and not even know it.

They say truck drivers are among the most likely to be HIV positive without knowing.

The Spokane, Washington health district says there have been several studies about the prevalence of HIV in drivers in other countries, but there's never been a study of truck drivers in the U.S.

Now the district wants to be the first to conduct research focusing on HIV and AIDS.

"There have been two cases this year just in the last couple of months, of drivers who were hospitalized on the road and discovered at that hospitalization that they had full-blown aids. At that point they hadn't known that they were HIV-infected," says Susan Sjobert, of the Spokane Health district.

Washington state health officials plan to partner with local universities to conduct the studies.

They then want to take the findings to congress in hopes of getting funding for a mobile clinic.