cdl physical

tashworth1 · May 29, 2014

anyone know any new rules or problems with the new cdl physical?

Salps · May 29, 2014

Blood pressure numbers changed, lot less doctor's can give exam, price went up and the doctor I went to knew less about the exam and the new rules than I do .

Mark W. · May 29, 2014

Doctors have to be certified to give the test now. And yes some numbers tightened up. If you are on meds for BP and controlled I believe your fine. Diabetes numbers also have to be in line. And there's some talk of sleep apnea needing to be addressed. But like most stuff the government does no one really has a clue and theres no where to go look up what the rules actually are.

I guess they figure like OBAMA Careless everyone will find out when it hits them and the country is out 1/3 of their truck drivers.

I went in in late March and renewed my card 2 months early just so I would have two years to let the dust settle.

samuelm16 · May 31, 2014

If you are overwight or even have a neck measuring 17" in diameter and have never been tested for sleep apnea they will make you get tested, luckily i passed!

Modeler · May 31, 2014

When did the new requirements go into effect? I had my last CDL physical back in October, so I'm not due for another year and a halfish.

tashworth1 · May 31, 2014

Modeler said:
When did the new requirements go into effect? I had my last CDL physical back in October, so I'm not due for another year and a halfish.

may 26th of this year

albin25 · Jun 1, 2014

I guess that explains all the desperate, panicky ads looking for Drivers with CDLs. I have a feeling there are thousands of experienced drivers not passing the physical now.

Boomer50 · Jun 20, 2014

When I was an interstate driver only a sympathetic doctor could help me pass the physical. Even with meds my blood pressure was over the borderline, and I did not dare try to touch my toes or everyone would discover that I had a broken vertebrae. I finally quit professional driving, because it stank as a job and was killing my health. A couple of years later I gave up my CDL when the new rules required a new physical.

Amazingly, now my blood pressure is 120 over 60, like a teenager!

Sgt Nambu · Jun 20, 2014

albin25 said:
I guess that explains all the desperate, panicky ads looking for Drivers with CDLs. I have a feeling there are thousands of experienced drivers not passing the physical now.

Awwww, I'd noticed the many signs and placards recruiting drivers! I didn't know about the changes. Many years since I had a CDL.

Mark W. · Jun 20, 2014

Actually finding CDL drivers is very hard and it has almost nothing to do with the new medical requirements. It has to do with so few applicants can pass a drug test. Or have experience at the type of driving.

I drive Dump truck and Pup for a paving and site development company and to find a dump truck driver we have to go to drivers from other companies. Since everyone around here wants to work for us it gives us an advantage. But the few OTR drivers or other types of drivers we have tried rarely have the skills required.

Watching OTR drivers back into a loading dock with painted strips and flashing guide lights and all of creation to maneuver and taking 4-5 trys. When we back up sometimes for a half mile pushing our trailers around 15 mph S curves and hitting the 8.5' wide hopper on the paving machine in the dark. Or being able to jackknife your trailer in a tiny cramped building space and hit the exact spot the guy on the ground needs its easy to see why a good driver is hard to find.

I had done home deliverys of landscape and horse sawdust bedding constantly going to places I had never seen with everything from a 48,000GVW Ford 8000 Cargo with a 3 unit push out box to a 53' chip trailer through barns and muddy fields and places most people couldn't wrestle a full sized pickup for 5 years every day. I also drove grass straw pickup up the loads in the fields with a 96' long tractor trailer and pup fpr 4+ years every summer and I drove school bus as a substitute that worked out of 8 different school districts two of which are the largest in Oregon.

And when I started my dump trucking job it was like I didn't have a clue. Took 3 construction seasons before I got it right more then wrong . And even now with 11 seasons experience I can still screw up.

I have no idea what OTR driving pays never done any of that. But I can tell you I am paid very well for my talents as a Construction Dump truck driver by my boss. this includes health insurance, a 401K program, OT over 40 (over 8 on state and federal jobs) profit share and a very nice Christmas bonus and two 12lb turkeys every year.

I have friends that drive for small companies that are also very happy with their pay and bennies.