Do companies require your dot physical long form or just short?

Companies you hire on to typically send you for a fresh DOT physical.

 

When I started in tulsa, melton did not send me for any additional physical related stuff. The certificate I got before I started cdl school was the only one I had done until two years was almost up and it was set to expire.

 

The company I have my equipment leased on to doesn't specify where I get mine, so I get it at my chiropractor/farmer/guitarist/buddy's office. Drug/alcohol randoms, they send me to a specific provider, and have a network nationwide if it's required away from my home 20.

Company driver positions - they usually send you to one of their choosing.

 

If it’s a small company, they may not ask you to get a new physical if yours isn’t going to expire soon. This happened at my first trucking job. I believe it was also the case at my current employer.

 

You are mentally unstable -- by virtue of the fact that you actually WANT to drive a big rig in today's society...& on today's roads.

On the other hand -- you need to be somewhat mentally imbalanced -- to actually want to do this job -- given modern conditions & requirements.

Thus -- I predict that you will actually be right at home with class-A driving -- & any starter/beginner fleet worth its salt will gladly accept your application.

Stop worrying.

Do the best you can. Every time. All the time.

Get out & look -- whenever there's any doubt.

Don't hit any-thing (you are indeed allowed to "kiss" a dock....with the back of your trailer, however).

Do all the above -- & your employers will (then) love you.

-- L

 

It varies by employer and maybe by candidate. You can be afraid of everything or nothing, it's a choice. Plenty of trucking companies make newbies go to the company doctor for a brand new DOT medical exam when they are hired. Some companies accept the DOT medical you got for CDL school. One employer made new-hires go to company doctor to get hired and then after that just keep a valid medical card from any old doctor. Every question in trucking is often answered with 'it depends'.

 

@Blinkers22 --

If flatbed duty is still of real interest for you -- you can improve your odds of flatbed success by prepping for the carrier's flatbed agility tests.

Each flatbed carrier will have a different variant of this -- but all of them at orientation will expect you to CORRECTLY lift a rolled tarp (weighing from 90 to 130 pounds) off the ground -- to the trailer's deck height.

The following videos will help you prep for these coming tests. Flunk the agility test(s) -- & you will then be sent home. Check 'em out:



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https://share.google/zqNoivTipHyCvtX8g

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-- L