New Federal Rules Tie Medical Certification to CDL

[RedRollingRoadblock]

12/1/2008
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration today published its final rule changing how driver medical qualifications are handled, tying them to the commercial driver's license.

CDL drivers who are subject to the medical qualification rules will have to give a copy of their medical examiner's certificates to their state driver licensing agency. The state licensing agency must record that medical certification status on the driver's Commercial Driver License Information System (CDLIS) record.

If the medical certification expires, states are required to update the medical certification status
of the CDLIS driver record to show the driver as 'not-certified," and then downgrade the CDL within 60 days of the expiration of the driver certification.

The rule is effective Jan. 20, 2009, with state compliance required by Jan. 30, 2012. All CDL holders must comply with the requirement to submit to the state licensing agencies their self-certification on whether they are subject to the physical qualification rules by Jan. 30, 2014.

Full article Current Trucking Industry News: TruckingInfo.com : Your Source for Trucking Information and News

Ed, The wooden shoes have dry rot.

[pro1driver]

oh joy, now we have to go through more B.S.........

hazmat printing...

TWIC card....

now this..........

some drivers can only get a one year med card........due to high blood pressure..........like me...........

every stinking year now, i gota go through this nonsense.....??

its going to be interesting on how many drivers lose thier jobs now...........

wanna bet there WILL BE a driver shortage or even bare shelves at the grocery stores now.....??

given that some wannabe truckers have a criminal past and can't get a job, does this mean that they now become a "valuable commodity" for the trucking companies.....???

[jo57]

The bureaucrats just haven't got a clue on what it takes to be a driver of a big rig. So this new rule is supposed to make it safer for all of the people on the road. Yet, they don't stop the ignorant idiots that drive while talking on their cells, eating a sandwich, shaving or combing their hair, reading the morning newspaper or any number of things that a driver of an automobile should not be doing. But it's ok to take the guy who's busting his b u t t trying to make a living for his wife and 18 kids and make his life a whole lot more difficult if almost impossible. Thanks for coming thru again Washington. Maybe you guys should try riding in a big rig before you make the rules.

[Casper Girl]

oh geesss, this is gonna be a pain.

but wouldn't it make more sense to errmm I dunno, require better DOT physicals?
I mean all the ones I have done have pretty much been a joke. I went thru way more to get jobs in a factory.

And I am not picking on big people I swear, but one doctor required us to touch our toes and ermmmm I knows that are alot of drivers out there that just can't do that. Or can barely get in the truck. Sorry, if I offended anyone, it was not intentional. Just my opinion.

Casper

[Cerberus_Kelpie]

The rule is effective Jan. 20, 2009, with state compliance required by Jan. 30, 2012.

So what's the whining about?? There is a THREE YEAR GRACE PERIOD and actually LONGER as below!!

All CDL holders must comply with the requirement to submit to the state licensing agencies their self-certification on whether they are subject to the physical qualification rules by Jan. 30, 2014.

I, for one, am not going to bother submitting ANY information until I get a notice or a letter dictating otherwise from my state dmv!!

How could ANY medical certificate be applicable to anyone that no longer drives vehicles for which the license was originally acquired????

[delta5]

I wonder how they will handle my FMCSA insulin waiver?