vision requirments

Does anyone know how they test your eyes at the DOT physical can you peek through your fingers??????

 

It depends on your doctor, I'd think. I wouldn't recommend trying it. My family doctor also happens to be the doctor that does a lot of DOT physicals around here, so he does my DOT physicals as well. He's been my doctor since I was around 13 years old. Doubt I could slip anything past him, anyway.

His eye test would be hard to cheat on. You look through a machine that resembles a big set of binoculars on a stand. He can close off either side and put whatever he wants in front of each eye. I don't know how you'd cheat.

THe other thing is the DMV. The last time I renewed my CDL, I had to look through a very similar device that sat on the desk at the tag office to verify my vision met the requirements before they'd renew my CDL. Be hard to cheat that one, too.

Getting down to 20/40 in each eye would be easier than cheating. Anything you could do under the direction of a doctor will help. In my case, I need certain vitamins and daily vitamin eye drops. There are a few other small things I have to do to keep the tear ducts around my eyes properly lubricating my eyes, because chronic dry eye is a part of the problem with the eye disease I have. Those small things got me from 20/40 in each eye and sweating my DOT and FAA flight physicals to 20/20 and 20/15. Well worth the hassle.

 

I have the same condition, born with it, I got a vision waiver a couple years ago for cdl A . Its a pain in the rear, the FMCSA makes you jump through a bunch of hoops and it probably took me about 10 months to get . You have to have it renewed every two years and you can't have any other disqualifying medical conditions, you also have to renew medical card yearly instead of every 2. good luck

 

do you have to reapply for the waiver every two years and does it take several months to renew each time or was the 10 month hoop jump a one time thing? i have them sending me a packet for the waiver but dont know if now is the time to start talking to companies or what? how does it work? do they grant a waiver then you proceed with getting cdl and a job? i notice on the one form it asks a bunch of questions about the type of truck and job duties and company info. i cant answer this unless im hired with a co. but a co wont hire me unless i have a cdl. its like the chicken and egg debate......

 

You have to re-apply every 2 years, they send you paperwork well in advance of expiration so you can get your exams and have time to send paperwork back and forth with the feds, trust me they are not very fast. I would'nt look for a job untill I got the waiver. I'm not 100% sure , but I think they may only issue them once a year , if I remember right I think there was a group of about 20 issued when I got mine. They have to publish all the applicants in some federal register to see if anyone wants to dispute giving a waiver to any of them. You will have to have an optometrist write a letter for you describing your condition and giving test results . Read all the paperwork they send and follow the directions, cause if you don't dot all your i's and cross all your t,s you'll be sending paperwork back and forth for months. If you have questions there is a phone # to call for info.

 

so you were granted the waiver and then went to school for truckdriving? did you have any trouble getting on with certain companies bc you were there on a waiver? sorry for all the questions.

 

I have a lazy eye, at the physicals i always get hasseled. i get told if i can't read "their" chart i can't pass. WRONG! As long as you pass the eye exam at your eye doctor you are good! The eye doctor's has the final say not the nurse at the physical. They are not eye doctor's!

 

i was wrong in my previous posts about my vision. yes i do have a lazy eye. but my sight is 20/40 to 20/50 in my good eye with glasses and 20/200 in my bad eye with glasses. basically the glasses dont do squat for my bad eye. both eyes together im 20/50 to 20/40 depending on the day. with those numbers and no prior experience the chips are definatly stacked against me on this waiver deal. i appreciate all your positive comments about not giving up hope and such but wow, im really having my doubts........

 

frank do you have a prescription for each eye or are both lenses the same? It seems like 20/200 would be hard to correct. I would definately get a second opinion though. There are doctors out there where one see no hope and another thinks he can fix it.

I've been near sighted ever since my 20's. I always squint on the eye tests to pass.
I took a physical one time and the doctor had me 30 feet away. I told him, isn't this a little far away? He said, no, it's the standard 20'.
I counted the one foot tiles on the floor and there was thirty of them. Luckily I squinted and passed. This past year with my diabetes, my eyesight has dropped to 20/70. Squinting don't help anymore. I have to get glasses.

 

I am signed up for training with Swift. I have not told my recruiter about my lazy eye yet. My right eye corrects to 20/15 my left is another story. I can see peripheral very well with it. I don't know if they will still hire me yet, I am telling him Monday. I hope it will all still be a go. Wish me luck. I will let ya know.