Fair warning to hearing impaired drivers

I went to Celadon's orientation this past weekend...Flew through 2 tornadoes to get there ...passed all the tests and most of the physical with one minor glitch...the WHISPER TEST..

You see i have had a hearing impairment since birth and have used a hearing aid off and on for years until the past couple of years where my dog chewed up the one i had.
My hearing in general is not a problem for sounds or alot of speech...i have nerver deafness in my left cochlea (recently discovered) that keep me from understanding a full spoken 2 syllable word WHISPERED at a distance of 5 feet or better..

let me walk you through the experience first then you be the judge...Celadon was chosen by me as they have a seemingly good lease program that benefits the driver like no other company i know, and I did ALOT of research...They also have their own "built-in" healthcare facility that does all the screening and testing...I passed everything with flying colors but the whisper test...now my question to them was...who whispers in this industry in the first place? Trucking is a very loud and noisy environment so hearing loss in not uncommon. Apparently this has been a test by the FMCSA since the late 70's but in the last 2 years has been "enforced"...I have not had a problem with it in the 10 years of driving and my driving skills have not suffered from my hearing loss...in fact if anything my vision and motor skills are more acute because when you have a lack of one sensory function your body tends to amplify it somewhere else, IE my vision is so good I can spot movement over 500 yards away...

The "nurses" there suggested i uy a game ear (I bought 2) and try it again...they did not work, whereby i went to Miracle ear and had extensive test done and found out about my nerve deafness, (I had only worn a hearing aid in my right ear since birth)...the kicker was...i could not buy the %000 to &000 worht of hearing aid i needed as my credit , as so many of us, was not good enough...
I went back and I was even able to talk with the owner of Celadon The owner himself Steve Russell is hearing impaired and in the orientation process i was able to speak to him about my problem as he and i share the same thing..him moreso than I hearing impaired..we went down to the Human resources and Assistant manager under Steve Russell and i explained my dilemma...they then went to the Medical and talked with the nurses ..the nurses said they tested me that morning and i did get one ear right with the game ear, so i thought i had passed,,,but then they said they would retest me...in the retest i could hear everything LOUD as could be...people talking behind closed doors, walking across the floor --sounded like a herd of elephants..i could even hear the air conditioner in the ceiling going...but i could not say the exact word they whispered...i could make out the first part and the last part but not the exact word..i would say it sounds like such and such...not good enough...so i failed. they could not let me pass the physical. therefore i could not drive for them...

Now in general it was a good experience, i met and made new friends...saw alot of interesting people...and still want to be in that type of lease program...Celadon in general did treat me good and even treated others a bit better...For instance...one of the new friends i made Ray...was a former Marine Sniper...with a lazy eye and he wore glasseshe could not pass the eyechart test so celadon asked him if he would like to try new glasses...they spent $700 on a pair of new glasses for him where he went back and read the eyechart backwards, forwards and inside out...PASSING IT---DONE, right?

Not quite...later they called him back to read a sheet with about 10 to 12 lines on it...each line was smaller than the previous one...he got to line 8 out of 10 or 12...AND THEY FAILED HIM!!!

I was STUNNED...we could not believe it...for the company to go all out like that to make it where he could drive legally and such and then have 2 "DOT nurses" fail him??? Incredible...

This is NOT a bashing of Celadon...but a fair warning to those with physical defect in vision and hearing...please be aware this may be a struggle for you as well...

I had hoped to get a lease truck with them so my buddy Beau (my trained Rottweiler) could ride with me...ever since being held up at gunpoint in Detroit a few years ago I have not felt safe without having either a gun or my dog with me....and most companies will not let you have a gun EVEN if you have a CCW...I am not adamant about HAVING to carry a gun because my Beau is better....he is friendly with everyone and loyal but if something goes sideways...he's there to help.

I see the value of my dog as an asset to my safety..the trucks safety and the freights safety...and I hope to find a company that might agree with that and allow me to utilize my 10 years of safe driving to benefit them....

As a side note...if you know of any companies who might be able to help me and Beau out...we'd appreciate it...

the only thing is...I am a little tired of being a number...i'd like to be a name...and valued and recognized for my personality and skills......but then again...wouldn't we all

 

I will check them out thank you very much friend...Good looking out and God Bless you and yours!

 

Paul 1052...and Condocruiser...i appreciate the inside info...unfortuanatley even on the 40 dbl level i was at 53 in one ear and 56 in the other,, the game ears that i bought for $30 did AMPLIFY the heck out of noise...i could hear people talking in rooms up to 100 feet away or more sometimes...athough if there was more than one conversation it was hard to follow...and when someone walked across a linoleum floor or even carpet it sounded like a herd of elephants..Dog whistle frequencies hurt my ears, or so i found out during the Miracle Ear test...

I do plan on saving money and buying those hearing aids i need...its just getting either back with the company i was with before all this or the other one listed above (they have already said my dog was OK---with a deposit of course)...and the CCW issue...well lets say I agree it is better to be protected than dead...EVERYTIME

 

Tried the waiver thing...called the FMCSA and DOT dept in Washington DC...they leave it up to the "nurses" or "doctors" trained by the DOT...The thing is this program is so new at Celadon i think it will fail before long...

Not that Celadon is a bad company...its just hard to see DOT "nurses" override the OWNERS decisions on who gets hired or not--Steve Russell personally went to bat for me on this and it still did NO good.