DOT Physical 3 Month

Yeah a few people can do that but the actual truth is MOST can not. They need to see a doc and get on meds or be guided to better/healthier lifestyles.

What gets me is the idea that this can be ignored, when a lot of drivers end up being too sick or in such bad shape that they can't driver safely and endanger a lot of others because of it.

 

I don't agree with this advice in today's world. When the FMCSA gets 2 medical's on a driver sometimes they will pull the exams and look for doctor shopping. If they find it the FMCSA might void the medical. Before the national registry, a driver could do this and get by with it. In today's world, you are taking a chance. However, I do agree to not file the 3-month card with DMV. Just wait till you get a longer card.

 

I agree and will add this one opinion on the subject. I think high blood pressure is a larger bugaboo for drivers than sleep apnea is. The reason being that a lot of the clinics are in a hurry to get a driver in and out they don't do a proper series of BP tests. I have seen my BP top number drop almost 25 points in the space of 15 to 20 minutes just by laying down on my left side and relaxing.

 

Yes, if that first examiner you feel was wrong. The FMCSA is OK with 2nd opinions. In fact, 2nd opinions are sometimes medically needed. The key to the 2nd opinion is just that it is a 2nd opinion. Just briefly let the 2nd examiner know why the 1st exam was in error or the problem has been fixed. This can also help a 2nd examiner get a medically disqualified out of the system. I have been currently helping a guy get past this issue with sleep apnea after an idiot physician in Hampton did that. Just let the 2nd examiner know about the 1st exam.

 

One more thing on this doctor shopping subject. I was hesitant to bring it up because what I heard was 2nd handed and I had no way to confirm. What I heard was a person got a letter from their state DMV informing them that their physical had expired and they had so many days to get another one. Turns out the FMCSA had voided that physical out. The person later admitted not informing the examiner of a prior physical. There is so much hyperbole and out and out falsehoods all over the internet about this subject as well as drug testing it is hard to know anything for sure. Just be aware the FMCSA can flag your physical if 2 lands in the system close together timewise.

 

Well I got my own physical in November for Centerline Drivers, in December I was required by Whole Foods to get another DOT physical if I was going to be driving there trucks, so I did, and took it to CA DMV, and filled it, they had no problem. In the end of January I went to Legend Transport and they also required that I take there DOT physical, So I did I have no problem passing.

So in February I took this the 3rd DOT physical to CA DMV, They ask what was up, I just told them I was required by the employers to take them, and I wanted the DOT Physical with the newest date on file. No problem, they filed the 3rd in as many months DOT physicals. There is no law about taking too many as per CA DMV, as long as you dont let them expire. And the doctor does not file the report, you file it with DMV. The doctor will send it to the company that paid for it, But its up to the company or the licensee to do the DMV filing, and DMV forwards it to FMCSA according to CA DMV.

This information is straight from the CA DMV supervisor in Palmdale CA as of February of this year.
Checking my PSP on the FMCSA website the dates match my filing dates at CA DMV Palmdale CA. It simply shows Physical Update. And I had a Premployment physical I refused because I did not like the doctor the company had sent me to, Now the company did not hire me (Oh Well), but it is not on my PSP or DMV or DAC.

 

Bottom line FMCSA can do anything they want, as far as stories from other drivers about people they know or their uncles, I post what I have experienced, not a friend told me.

 

But, during the course of doing all this, you were not doctor shopping. You were required by your employer to get the physicals. The FMCSA has no issues with this. Further, they have no issues with getting 2nd opinions. My point was and still is now if you have 2 physicals from different examiners to land in the FMCSA database (I am NOT referring to the DMV here) and one of those physicals was a denial or a short physical and then the next one is a 2 year physical and no note of the 2nd examiner is informed of the 1st one that is a HUGE red flag and (MIGHT) get you tagged. I guess you can legally have 30 or more physicals in the system. If they are all the same the FMCSA goes by the last one.

 

My neck is a 17 1/2. I have never had an issue. But it’s more upper muscle from skateboarding. You know..... throwing chains over my high loads, straps, climbing up and down the trailer...... and I’m 5’6” and 190 lbs. and I’m local so I’m constantly getting my cardio in.