Letter from the NC DOT...

Oh and to add to the conversation by Federal Law a driver is in no way suppose to handle the long form, the long form is a federal document just like your log book and carries a felony if tampered with. It is the soul responsibility of the doctors office in which you took your physical to send it to the state DOT office in which you live. I took 3 physicals the first 6 months having my CDL one to get my permit at the driving school I went to, another to change the state my CDL was in and a third was required by an in house doctor at the first company i worked for.

 

I have ALWAYS been handed my long form by the physician completing the physical. Sometimes they faxed a copy of the physical to the carrier (after I signed a release authorizing them to disclose my medical information to the carrier), other times I have taken the long form back to the terminal for the carrier to make a copy of for their records. I've had to fill out the pertinent sections regarding my personal information and medical history each and every time I have taken a DOT physical. I've even been handed the blank forms by a carrier and told to go to a certain clinic to have the physical completed...the clinic did not supply the forms. You can download & print the form off the internet to take to your doctor, too....or go to a truck stop and buy a blank form. There is NOTHING illegal about any of that. The driver is NOT prohibited from handling the long form...they are YOUR medical records! The doctors office CANNOT LEGALLY disclose your medical information to ANYONE (including the state or your employer) without your written authorization.

It is ultimately the DRIVER'S responsibility to make sure the employer has a copy of their long form for their driver file, and starting in about a year and a half, it will be the DRIVER'S responsibility to make sure the state has a copy of their current medical card. If the doctors office wishes to do this for the driver as a convenience to the driver, the driver MUST sign a release authorizing the disclosure of their personal medical records to these other entities.