Passed DOT today, question about company standards?

So as precursor to starting CDL school at Houston Community College on the 23rd I went took my DOT physical and drug screen today. I passed and got the two year DOT card but not for nothing it was no cake walk and w/ considerable effort I just barely got under all of the standards.

Back in June after I got laid of from my IT support job and I first started considering a switch to trucking I looked up the DOT physical requirements and knew I was way off the standards. I'd been slowly working my weight down from a high of 315 lbs in early 2018 down to 280 lbs in June of this year by working out 3-4 times a week and slowly modifying my diet.

But even w/ that my blood pressure was still 165 / 110 so that was a non-starter obviously. I decided to double down ( literally did 2-a-days for three months ) on the workouts and my wife and went on the keto diet because I do NOT want the hassle and expense of going on BP meds or doing the sleep study test! Today I weighed in at 243lbs ( I'm 5'11" ), my resting heart rate was 65, bp was 128/88 and neck size was down from 17.5" to 16". My waste is also down from 40" to 36" and I'm comfortably wearing jeans I haven't put on in years!

Even w/ that, the doctor that did my physical kept telling me over-and-over that I was right on borderline of most of the DOT standards. She wanted to know if / how / why I wasn't on bp meds or using a CPAP machine?! I told her it was because I lost nearly 40 lbs. over the last three months to avoid all of that crap! They also kept asking me how old I am even though every person that asked me was holding a form w/ my birth date on it showing I'm 49 y.o and two months almost to the day! They seemed disappointed I couldn't be slotted into that supposed 50 y.o. near mandatory sleep study category I've heard about?!

The doctor still kept giving me the side eye but w/ no clear reason to fail me per se she did sign off on the two year med card. So mission accomplished . . . sorta!

My question now is, even though I've got the DOT med card I know hiring companies do their own physical exams during pre-hire screening so I'm wondering how much more stringent are they likely to be over-and-above the DOT standards? I won't finish CDL school until mid-December so I won't be applying for jobs until around that time which is to say I still have time to work down some more which I intend to do. Companies I'm considering at this point are Superior Carriers, Schneider and Highway Transport.

 

Thanks!

And yeah I've always wondered how people sleep w/ that mask on?! Like how do you roll over?!?!

 

Thanks!

I hope it's an inspiration to others in a similar situation. It can be done but it definitely takes commitment!

 

Good to know! If they send you for sleep study do they pay or does it come out of your pocket? I hear it's expensive as well as being a general pita!

Yes, I'll definitely keep working out, my goal is actually to get down to 200lbs so I can't afford to give up what I've gained! Hopefully at that point none of this will be an issue.

 

Yeah, I think BMI is a crock ( it's just one number divided by another ) and a totally lazy way to assess health but it seems these companies are stuck on it so it's something you have to deal with and overcome. My goal is to get down to 200lbs so it's a non-issue!