Help! Trouble transferring NJ cdl to TN - medical certificate not showing

Maybe @brian991219 can help.

 

Since when do you have to be in the state your CDL is issued in to get a DOT physical?
I have had several times when my med card was due to expire and I got the physical in a different state because I was not due for a home time.

But, things change all the time. Usually for the worse.
I had to renew my license this last December of 2025, so a couple weeks ago.
I'm no longer driving so I downgraded it to a standard class D.
When I told the woman at the window she said I was lucky, since starting recently was a requirement for a lot of extra documentation to renew a class A.
She would have had to send me home for more stuff.
Not to get the class A in the first place, but just to renew it.

 

Ok…I got frustrated reading your post, so I can only imagine your frustration. Let’s simplify things:

Do you have a valid CDL right now? I know you’re trying to transfer, but skip all that. Is your CDL that was issued to you from the state of New Jersey still valid? If yes, go to any clinic in the USA and get yourself another DOT health card. Take this health card to the Tennessee DMV and hand it to them when you get your license transferred.

EDIT: The only people that you need to talk to about transferring your NJ CDL to a TN CDL is the Tennessee DMV. No one else needs to know a d@mn thing. Do not mention it to any person in a clinic. Got it?

 

That was a nice rant, but it does not solve anything.

You do not go into the DMV and tell them to do what you want. They tell you what is required.

 

You have a valid CDL. If you go and get a new DOT health card, what happens? The clinic is supposed to send it to the state and they give you a hard copy, right? If the new one doesn’t show up, hand them your copy at the Tennessee DMV. Problem solved.

EDIT: Forgot to mention…go to a different DMV office. Some times, that makes a big difference.

 

1st, getting a new medical exam in TN will not help unless you have a TN CDL. The new exam will be attached to your NJ CDL number so you will be in the same place. The way the current medical reporting system works is the examiner uploads the record to FMCSA using your name, CDL state and CDL number, which will still be NJ until you have a TN CDL. Getting a new medical in TN will not help. That said, for TN to "see" your current medical exam, they need to query the FMCSA using your NJ information.

2nd, have you run your NJ history to make sure NJ has properly recorded your current medical exam on your abstract? TN should be able to see it when they verify the NJ CDL is valid. The issue may be that NJ hasn't properly recorded your medical exam which means TN won't be able to see it.

If you can't get a resolution easily, and have the time to do so, try transferring your CDL to TN and selecting "excepted intrastate" which does not require a medical exam. Then, once you have your TN CDL, go get a medical exam using the TN CDL number and it should show up in their system. Then you can self-certify back to "non-excepted interstate" and have a regular CDL again. This may take a week or two, but it should get around whatever issue they are having in their system.

If you haven't already, try calling the HQ and ask for the Commercial Driver License Unit Driver at the License Issuance and Reinstatement office. Phone (615) 253-5221 or 1-866-903-7357

Lastly, as Triple Six recommended, try a different TN DMV location and you may find someone that knows how to make it happen.