Tennessee ripping off drivers over Medical Cards....

I live in Tn. myself. If you will take your long form to the closest dmv office they will fill out a form,you will sign it,then they will make a copy of your physical & you are good to go.

 

They got mad whenni brough mynlong form.in. said they only wanted the card. I had both with me

 

My local office refused to assist me with sending the form in last year when I went in.... they gave me the form and said my employer had to send it in to Nashville. Which is what I did.

 

Glad to hear your employer sent it in for you and you have had no problems. I personally will not be letting anyone handle my med card business anymore...lol I will take care of it myself, I know just who to talk to in Nashville.

 

That seems to be their standard operating procedure..... a real clusterduck.

 

The problem is, I don't know if there is a problem, or not, until I get a letter in the mail saying there is a problem and they have downgraded my license, which is what happened to the OP and to cadillacdude1975. I do not know if I am driving around with a valid license or not, as the state of TN will not tell me if my license is valid, unless I call them, and leave them a message on their voice mail to call me back, but their voice mail is always full so I can't leave a message.

I am not really worried about my medical card, but what will happen to me if the state of TN has screwed up the entry of my info, like cadillacdude, and they downgrade my license and send me a letter to that effect....by the time I get the letter I will have been driving around in a CMV for a few days with an invalid license!!!!!

And since I drive a school bus in addition to hauling milk, I have to have a physical every year, and the state of TN has the opportunity to screw up my license every year!! Other school bus drivers are going to have their physicals done every 11 months, so that the state of TN has a whole month to get their medical card info added to the state's CDL record.......can they get the job done in a month, or will they need two months to get the job done, in which case I will need to get my physical done every 10 months.....that is what really bugs me about this. Every time I send in my physical, I do not know if the state is doing their job or not, as they won't tell us drivers that they have done it, and they will not accept any accountability for it.

 

This is a good idea, but the problem seems to be is that if the office staff misplace your medical card and fail to enter your info, they will still downgrade your license. So even if you have proof they received your medical card timely, you could still end up with a downgraded license.

 

I posted a comment on the FMCSA website about the above issues. Valerie saw my comment and sent me the following email. If anyone is interested in sharing their story with this publication, feel free to contact Valerie. Her email address is: valtakahama@gmail.com

I am a writer with Bus and Motorcoach News, the trade
publication of the United Motorcoach Association. I am
hoping to speak with you about a comment that you filed
on the Regulations.gov website about the state of
Tennessee and the FMCSA's Medical Examination
Certification procedures. We're interested in finding
out more information for an article on problems drivers
and others are encountering.



Would it be possible to speak with you briefly by phone
about the issue? Questions I'd like us to discuss
include: Have you been able to reach anyone from the
state about your complaint? Do you have a sense of how
common a problem the one you have encountered is? Do you
know of other drivers and/or operators who have had
similar problems?





I'm in Long Beach, California, and would be happy to speak
with you anytime in the next couple of days when it's
convenient for you. Can you email me with a phone number
where you can be reached and a time to call? Or, if you
prefer, I can be reached at 562-987-0227 between 9 a.m.
and 5 p.m.





Thank you in advance! Look forward to hearing from you.





Best regards,

Valerie Takahama



Bus & Motorcoach News