Need dot consultant? Dot advice

As far as the medical exam to get your card you should be fine. More of a concern could possibly be a company not wanting to take the "risk" of having you injure yourself again. I really don't think you'll have a problem though.

 

HELLO FELLOW DRIVERS
you know what gets me is this company DACFIX.com , they claim that they can fix your dac for you and it only cost 150.00.9 thats if what your saying can be verfied), I had an issue with a company and I called one of the top guys in the dept of trans in wash DC. he told me they were a rip off. which I believed, he told me to take the rebuttal form and submitt to USIS myself ( don't explain anything in it just submitt it ) I waited a few no reply then i called USIS and actually got a person on the phone ( again only told him my rebuttal was submitted) he asked my info I gave it to him. within another week my report came back totally diffrent, I was stumped so i called the guy back explained to him what was on the original report and then told him what was in the updated report.
He explained to me that a company has a certain amout of time to reply if they dont then they DAC/USIS) must by law take what the company original said and remove it. to me that was good, but my asking. If another employer calles a previous employer can they explain (even if its not on the DAC REPORT) about that drivers action either good or bad ??, its like a double jeapordy situation thing to me... I dont TRUST companies who have done Drivers wrong. whats stopping them from bad mouthing you. hey they made the report right. if it was removed then thats their doings, it only proved I was correct in my issue from the beginning,,, thank..,,,,,

 

Most companies will not call another company they will submit an employment verification form to them for them to fill out and also check your DAC report. I would check with a lawyer but since employment records are required by the government to be kept by an employer I would think puting anything false would be terms for a lawsuit since that would be falsifying a government/legal document. I don't know about other states but in Indiana it is ILLEGAL for a company to give an employee a Negative reference to another employer they can only state whether they would rehire your or not rehire you nd to verifiy your employment history with them. Companies are required to keep a file on employees and anything that would of happened, ( be it an accident, disciplinary or whatever, ) would have to be in that employment file. If there are things in that file they can disclose them to the prospective employer also.

 

I'm taking my first DOT Exam Tuesday. I am overweight, I had a Herniated Disc in my lower back about 8 months ago and I have Hep-C. Will I automatically fail for theses reasons?

 

Well, I'm no DOT examiner or official, but I can give you info about your back that may help. I have had 2 previous back surgeries and am now completely healed and released by my surgeon for any work or lifting, including heavy. That said, I still failed the physical. A great many companies will require you to do what's called an FCE-Functional Capacity Evaluation. It must be done by a certified physical/occupational therapist. It involves lifting and moving weights to different heights, etc. Also may involve rolling a barrel up to 600lbs or more. Depends on the company. My company wants me to lift 120lbs to various heights across the room, and roll a 600lb barrel into a certain position. By roll, I mean on it's end, by maneuvering at the top rim.

You weight is probably only an issue insomuch as it relates to your blood pressure (must be less than 140/90), blood sugar (diabetes) and possibly the BMI-Body Mass Index. Some companies use the BMI to exclude those that are morbidly obese. You can be on meds for you blood pressure as long as you are 140/90 or less on them.

I would check with whatever company you plan to work for and ask them what their specific requirements are. There are the federal guidelines, but those can be superceded by company guidelines if the company exceeds them. In my case, the company wanted more than the DOT or FMCSA regs call for. They also failed me for a med that is not on any list I've ever found. Just a company policy not to employ people on this certain med., even though it's not prohibited by DOT/FMCSA.

Can't help you with the HEP C.

I hope that helps.

 

Bullhaulerswife, every state is different on the weights. The Federal Highway Administration mandates the basic axle weights and the group formulas, however, many states were grandfathered because they had higher legal weights prior to the federal lock-in for states in 1975. The Feds further state that no state may have a "tolerance." However, I can tell you that many scale officers will work with drivers on small overloads, usually below about 700~800 pounds. However, past history with the driver and company always come into play as well. After 27 years of regulating trucks, I still have drivers talk themselves right into a ticket.

As for the APU, the Feds allow each state to accept APU or not. Here in Oregon we allow up to 400 pounds for the APU on the tractor axles, groups, and the gross weight. However, the driver that had a trailer tandem overload and stated he had an APU got no leeway.

As others have siad on this forum, if you are pulling it, you are responsible.

 

I'm curious -- if you refuse to pull an illegal load, and your employer penalizes you for this, do you have any legal recourse? Or are drivers between a rock and a hard place on this?

 

You should contact the federal dot regarding this... you will need to make an offical report. yes it's illegal & not sure what would happen if the company was proven guilty, however I am assuming you would get unemployment.. But I don't know that part, just it's illegal to dispatch a driver & then term him for refusing it. Just hope it was illegal and you couldn't have split breaked to get there...

 

What it comes down to, is your word against the company.

Most likely they would post against your DAC if you refused the load, saying you quit under a load.

I flat out told the company I was with in January, I was not going to be up all day after sleeping all night to run all of the next night and load during my 10 hour break the next day to run as they needed.

I told them to get a load to the yard. They asked why, I said to clean out the truck.

 

If there is a former DOT officer on this board who might assist me in reporting some serious violations I would appreciate making contact with them.