Needing Valid medical card to keep CDL

Yeah, good luck with that. I've had several "part-time" trucking jobs that started out just fine, and soon, I was on my way to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. with a load of cheese, "just this once".

 

You mean your travel agent gave you a line?

 

Not to worry. I saw it coming and quit before I ever left town.

 

Famous words

" so and so is sick, just this time can you run his load to ________ "

Typical.... I agree. @"semi" retired

 

Kinda like years ago when I was working in the trk. shop.
Vice president of the company walks into the shop, no big deal.
Hey Carl, Yea Randy. I'm thinking it's about going drinking later that night or something. He then goes. Do you have any extra work clothes here with you or are they all at the house?
I'm like huh, you won't fit in my shop clothes.. He laughs. No and then says so and so just quit and he has a ld. on going to the Boston meat market for am del. This is in eastern In. right by the Oh. line. and I'm like how is this my problem. You got plenty of new drivers around.. Well yea, but this is a swinging ld. and I know you have hauled swinging before..
I'm like no way, he was like just this time please and we have the reload coming back..
Yea they did. a 6 stop pick up of flippin fish....

 

The K restriction won't cover you, you have to be in a specific job - like fire fighter to have the restriction.

This is crap to begin with, the fmcsa dropped the ball by imposing the revoking of the CDL when a medical expires, it should have put in the regs a suspension clause allowing the holder to volunteering a suspension of the CDL instead of having them to requalify for the license.

The only real solution is just get a DOT.

 

You could go get a $69 physical and stay current. It's a small price to pay to keep your CDL.

 

With California. If your medical expires. Your class - A is reduced to a class-C till you get a medical card on file at the dmv.

 

That's the way it should be in all the states. But it's not. I retired some time ago and after I just kept my CDL because that was who I am. I paid the extra when renewal came around and then this medical card started to show up. For a couple of years we went round and round here on this site. The law was, you had to have a current medical card if you want to be a CDL driver. It was just like the requirement for the BAC of .04 and .08. Finely, the states came out and said turn your CDL in or get the physical. I turned it in knowing I'd never drive again. So some states came out and gave you very specific guidelines on what you have to do. I like the states where your CDL just goes inactive and is good to go when you renew your medical physical.

Now for a long time we had it out here on the site saying if you held a CDL you were always under the .04 limit because you held your CDL. Even if you were driving your car the statement always came out saying " you're a professional and should go by the .04 all the time. The FMCSA kept the requirement for a long time saying " why you were operating a CMV the limit was .04. You would even see judges charging the driver for a DUI when he or she was in their own car. The courts were wrong and in most cases the judge would come back and say " you're a professional" holding you to an higher standard. Now if you look in the FMCSR's table 2 383.51 there's a section where your private car is listed.

The best advice I could give you is check with the CMV DMV. If you feel you have found the regulations take them with you.