Dot physical

There is alot of extra stuff that carriers add to the per-employment physical that are not required by DOT, such as the sleep testing, stairs, etc.... Company policy not DOT,

 

If all else fails why not simply go back to the regulations. ANYTHING extra is required by the carrier and NOT the FMCSA.

IF a Medical examiner does this correctly and by the book, they are supposed to check all of these and take note of all the questions you answered yes to on the form. A good ME can do this in anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. I don't remember any of my physicals through the years taking longer.

I'm going to point out (10) on that color vision thing. There is no rule that says a driver has to pass that dang numbers in the circle color vision test. All it says is can tell those 3 colors. I actually walked out of a physical because some jackleg PA that though he was God was going to fail me because of this. I had the Atlanta office of the FMCSA send that idiot a letter pointing this out. The PA was free to fail for not passing this but was not correct in saying the FMCSA required it. Oh, I also got my money back later!


From 391.41 (B) (3)
(b) A person is physically qualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle if that person—

(1) Has no loss of a foot, a leg, a hand, or an arm, or has been granted a skill performance evaluation certificate pursuant to §391.49;

(2) Has no impairment of:

(i) A hand or finger which interferes with prehension or power grasping; or

(ii) An arm, foot, or leg which interferes with the ability to perform normal tasks associated with operating a commercial motor vehicle; or any other significant limb defect or limitation which interferes with the ability to perform normal tasks associated with operating a commercial motor vehicle; or has been granted a skill performance evaluation certificate pursuant to §391.49.

(3) Has no established medical history or clinical diagnosis of diabetes mellitus currently treated with insulin for control, unless the person meets the requirements in §391.46;

(4) Has no current clinical diagnosis of myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, coronary insufficiency, thrombosis, or any other cardiovascular disease of a variety known to be accompanied by syncope, dyspnea, collapse, or congestive cardiac failure.

(5) Has no established medical history or clinical diagnosis of a respiratory dysfunction likely to interfere with his/her ability to control and drive a commercial motor vehicle safely;

(6) Has no current clinical diagnosis of high blood pressure likely to interfere with his/her ability to operate a commercial motor vehicle safely;

(7) Has no established medical history or clinical diagnosis of rheumatic, arthritic, orthopedic, muscular, neuromuscular, or vascular disease which interferes with his/her ability to control and operate a commercial motor vehicle safely;

(8) Has no established medical history or clinical diagnosis of epilepsy or any other condition which is likely to cause loss of consciousness or any loss of ability to control a commercial motor vehicle;

(9) Has no mental, nervous, organic, or functional disease or psychiatric disorder likely to interfere with his/her ability to drive a commercial motor vehicle safely;

(10) Has distant visual acuity of at least 20/40 (Snellen) in each eye without corrective lenses or visual acuity separately corrected to 20/40 (Snellen) or better with corrective lenses, distant binocular acuity of at least 20/40 (Snellen) in both eyes with or without corrective lenses, field of vision of at least 70° in the horizontal Meridian in each eye, and the ability to recognize the colors of traffic signals and devices showing standard red, green, and amber;

(11) First perceives a forced whispered voice in the better ear at not less than 5 feet with or without the use of a hearing aid or, if tested by use of an audiometric device, does not have an average hearing loss in the better ear greater than 40 decibels at 500 Hz, 1,000 Hz, and 2,000 Hz with or without a hearing aid when the audiometric device is calibrated to American National Standard (formerly ASA Standard) Z24.5—1951.

(12)(i) Does not use any drug or substance identified in 21 CFR 1308.11 Schedule I, an amphetamine, a narcotic, or other habit-forming drug.

(ii) Does not use any non-Schedule I drug or substance that is identified in the other Schedules in 21 CFR part 1308 except when the use is prescribed by a licensed medical practitioner, as defined in §382.107, who is familiar with the driver's medical history and has advised the driver that the substance will not adversely affect the driver's ability to safely operate a commercial motor vehicle.

(13) Has no current clinical diagnosis of alcoholism.

 

Have someone stand 6 feet behind you and whisper in the loudest voice they can do before actually talking aloud...it’s that voice you’d use to get onto you kids at church. Whisper “chicken and biscuits” or something like that.

If you can hear them, you’re golden.

 

NO! But you do need to get those numbers down!

 

Are you sure you those aren't triglyceride numbers? Even if they are, at 1600 alarm bells should be going off. My dad keeled over dead at 60, and his triglyceride numbers were up there, too.

I've been researching cholesterol and heart disease a lot in the past year. My cholesterol has always been high (220-250), but my HDL as always been very high, too, which is good. Last blood work it was 75 IIRC.

My family doctor wants me to take Lipitor, but I read all the side effects, researched the NNT versus NNH numbers (number needed to treat versus number needed to harm). The benefits are miniscule when compared to the potentially bad side effects. I told him, thanks but no thanks.

They play games with the numbers, these pharma companies. If the number of heart attacks in their 100,000 person study goes from 2 in a 100,000 to 1 in 100,000, they taut a 50% reduction in heart attack risk (relative risk). But when it comes to side effects, they use absolute risk so as to make it look not so bad. I don't want to be the 1 in 10 that gets muscle weakness or even permanent muscle damage like my mom has from taking them.

My dad and his mom were both diabetics (insulin shooting types). Guess what one of the side effects is for statins. Yep, diabetes. Then the brain is robbed of its basic building block, i.e., cholesterol. Then you die of dementia instead of heart disease. The liver is prevented from making vital chemical compounds too, like coenzyme Q10.

My GP is a drug pusher, it seems. He's on my butt about it. One question that he has no answer for is this: If high cholesterol is the issue, why do half the heart attack patients who are admitted into the ER in the USA have "normal" cholesterol? Or, if statins are the most widely prescribed drug in America, why is heart disease still the number one cause of death? Now, there is a push to make the "bad cholesterol" number standard below 100. Some have even suggested putting it in our drinking water.

I decided I wouldn't do nothing about it though, just in case. I found a study on the NIH website where bad cholesterol numbers were lowered significantly in the test group by taking a combination of L-arginine, aged garlic extract, super vitamin B2 complex, and omega-3. I did this for a year, but did not alter my diet a bit. Ribeye every Friday night, country ham or sausage on weekends. My bad cholesterol dropped 50 points.

I also take vitamin K2 because it is supposed to reduce calcification of the arteries and put it in your bones where it belongs, and curcumin, resveratrol, and icariin for their natural anti-inflammatory properties.

I researched the Mediterranean diet, too. The Lyon study found that the group on that diet lowered overall cardiovascular disease compared to the western diet control group. Guess what. The diet had no effect on cholesterol levels.

Is it the "cholesterol myth" or "cholesterol fact." I think they are just guessing and don't really understand what's going on. The hypothesis is being challenged, as is the low-fat diet. Another theory is that white carbohydrates and sugar, which are heavy in the western diet, cause inflammation in the arteries, and that the cholesterol is just there to repair the damage.

Here's another one that's new. There are actually two different types of "bad" cholesterol. There's bad "bad" cholesterol and good "bad" cholesterol. The good type of particles are big and fluffy like a cotton ball and do not get into the arterial walls. The bad type are small and dense and do get into the arterial walls. The ratio of triglycerides to HDL (good) tells you what kind of bad cholesterol you have. I apparently have the big, fluffy, cotton ball type of bad cholesterol, so it's all good!

There are so many things in this world trying to kill us. Heart disease is just one of them. My doctor was basically unimpressed by me losing 15 lbs since my visit last year, naturally lowering my cholesterol by 50 points, and doing vigorous exercise for 20-30 minutes, three to four times a week. He even told me I was going to die if I didn't take what he was pushing.

Anyway, I did my research, weighed the risks, and made my decision. You've got to do the same of course.

 

I be worn aids since I was 5 and stress out over the hearing test myself, that my BP rises . I've had 4 dot physical s and this last time I didn't hear the #### nurse giving test . Had no issues with the other 3 . SMH