Job verification for NON trucking job

There is nothing to disagree on here. YOU can NOT hide behind HIPPA when it comes to that application and your medical conditions IF it relates to that job.

I have known this Attorney for a while now. I have even used his legal services. I can't find a better way to express this situation. As a driver, you had BETTER inform the medical examiner of EVERYTHING listed in the body of this article. EVERYTHING listed affects your driving. I will NOT get into the argument about HIPPA as it relates to this information getting back to the carrier except to say most carriers will demand to get that long-form or they will NOT hire you OR continue your employment!


LINK
Question 7: If a motor carriers ends a potential interstate driver to a medical examiner to have both a pre-employment medical examination and a pre-employment controlled substances test performed, how must the medical examiner conduct the medical examination including the certification the driver meets the physical qualifications of §391.41(b)?

Guidance:

The medical examiner must complete the physical examination first without collecting the Part 382 controlled sub stances urine specimen. If the potential driver meets the requirements of Part 391, Subpart E [especially §391.41(b)] and the medical examiner chooses to certify the potential driver as qualified to operate commercial motor vehicles (CMV) in interstate commerce, the medical examiner may prepare the medical examiner’s certificate.

After the medical examiner has completed the medical examiner’s certificate and provided a copy to the potential driver and to the motor carrier who will use the potential driver’s services, the medical examiner may collect the specimen for the 49 CFR Part 382 pre-employment controlled substances test. The motor carrier is held fully responsible for ensuring the potential driver is not used to operate CMVs until the carrier receives a verified negative controlled substances test result from the medical review officer. A Department of Transportation pre-employment controlled substances test is not a medical examination test.

 

I should also add another point about this topic. It is also VERY critical. IF you are taking a medication that is in a grey area like an antidepressant or maybe have some issues as I do with arthritis, in the case of a bad situation later you are involved in, like a lawsuit, it makes you and the carrier look much better IF this situation is honestly disclosed. As that Attorney said in that article, he has taken depositions about this. That post-accident situation, especially in the case of a fatality, can be tough and VERY costly as it is. A carrier that can show they knew about an issue and were managing it can come out much better. If on the other hand, you failed to disclose any of this information AND later after a bad accident have your medical records subpoenaed by a subpoena duces tecum, god help that driver! HIPPA DOES NOT apply in these cases.

 

Okay. I see now. If you get in a bad accident that results in deaths, lawsuits, and subpoenas, and they get a hold of your medical records, and they can prove you intentionally lied, then you're in trouble, even if the surgery had no affect on your ability to drive, like a plantar fasciotomy.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defendant failed to disclose wisdom teeth surgery 30 years ago, and this play a direct role in his careless driving and speeding that resulted in the deaths of my client's children."

Hate to say it, but that seems plausible these days.

 

You don't make points by taking someone's words and flipping them the way you just did. Why can't you just admit my points are valid and the rules on this are backing me.

I never said or implied that ANY medical issue that DID NOT affect driving was fair game. These things are covered by medical privacy rules and for the most part, the carriers don't really give a dang!

But, coming into these forums and saying it's OK to lie on an application the way you did is wrong all the way across the board. Making light of these facts by mixing things as you have done does YOU a disservice! NOT ME!

You don't know me! You don't know the crap I have to put up with in my personal life in regard to things like this topic. At least once a week to 3 times a month I get a phone call or an email with the question "Mike, I did this or I did that and I need help" OR someone else is contacting me for another. This crap gets tiring and at some points makes me want to scream "stop listening to all these so-called experts before you pull a major stupid"

I am currently waiting on a safety person I know at a carrier in the mid west to return my phone call to help me with my attempts to fix an issue where a driver at that carrier recently got fired after their yearly review because they discovered he lied on a document, and the review uncovered it. LYING to these carriers by either direct evasive answers or by omission when it comes to the things they have to deal with can come with job loss! This industry is a HEVEALY regulated industry, by the Feds as well as most of the states. This is why I don't think your reply was funny, in fact it was totally inappropriate and a bit pathetic!

 

I think you can read back where I said NOT to lie about things that can adversely affect your driving, e.g., bad ticker, diabetic comas, brain seizures, and I forgot to mention narcolepsy. I didn't lie about my high blood pressure, but I wish I had not disclosed my 12 year old hernia surgery to Cypress. Wouldn't have affected my driving or any other duty I had to perform. If I got caught and terminated down the road, then so be it. But ironically, I got terminated anyway two days in, and the guy who didn't disclose his two hernia surgeries is a Cypress driver now.

Yeah, I know now that trucking is under the thumbs of the Federal government, state governments, trial lawyers, and insurance companies. Much less stressful doing home improvements, except today the thunder and lightening sounded like War of the Worlds, and I was outside trying to finish a few porch columns. I was soaked to the bone, but got the job done. Home before lunchtime.

 

Oh like this???

So you did not type this?

Sounds to me like you did do just that! I'm done!

 

After that. Keep searching.

 

It's also funny how they try to trick you into feeling super comfortable on the drug questions. The Melton recruiter was like, "Bruh, dude, we have all toked a little dooberage in the past, some more than others, ha ha ha....so....bruh, when was the last time you partook in some Mary Jane?"

I told her, June 8, 1979, which was the day I turned my life around at the end of the 9th grade. That was the truth.

It's probably for the best that the universe didn't want me to be a truck driver. I really love being self-employed, and after 25 years as such, it would have been hard to be under someone's thumb. Plus, business is very good right now. I just finished up a two week long job repairing rotted fascias, soffits, and bird boxes, and building PVC wrapped porch columns. Next week, a kitchen remodel. Phone is ringing off the hook. And, in a couple of hours, I'll have a bourbon and coke and kick back in the Lazy Boy.

But I still wouldn't have fessed up to the hernia surgery had I known I'd be sent home. It's ridiculous. I can heave around soaking wet pressure treated 6x6x8 posts all week in 95F temperatures, but workers comp company freaks out over a 12 year old inguinal hernia mesh surgery because I might have to pick up a tarp every once in awhile. Ridiculous!

Oh well. Que sera, sera.

 

Thank you for those words. It's actually normal for people at the beginning of this process to stress it some. Unless you are like me the child of a trucker and having been around truckers since I was a very small child. The carriers can be so nitpicky with what they require and consider what complies with the Federal Rules. This is why when I encounter someone like you that was stressing a bit I try to calm them. I do this stuff a lot in my private life away from the forums.

Yes! Please keep us informed as you make this journey. Someone coming later can actually read about your journey and maybe not get as stressed!