FAQ – DOT PHYSICAL EXAMS

The process is pretty straight forward. We examine your eyes, ears, blood pressure, vision, heart, lungs, abdomen, arms, legs, reflexes, nervous system, range of motion and balance. We can complete your physical in approximately 30 minutes.

The urine test is just a kidney screen to test for sugar, specific gravity, blood, and protein.  It’s done to determine that there is no early onset of conditions such as diabetes or kidney disease.

Yes, we give you a copy of the long-form. If you need, we will fax the DOT form to your company. The examining doctor keeps a copy of the form for our office records.

A DOT medical certification is good for up to two years if you have no restrictions. A history of high blood pressure, taking high blood pressure medications, and/or taking oral medications for diabetes can restrict the medical card to one year or less depending on your medical condition.

This is dependent on your condition and the professional judgement of your medical examiner. You should have the condition which caused the restriction under control by the end of the 3-month window.

No.  These terms are used interchangeable. They are most often referred to as a DOT medical when referring to the DOT medical card, and DOT physical when referring to the DOT physical exam and sometimes drivers refer to them as a CDL physical or CDL medical.

No. You do not need medical insurance to get a DOT Physical. Insurance is not a part of our DOT Physical exam service. Payment for the exam is your responsibility at time of service. Most insurance companies treat this exam as preventative health care and will not reimburse for it therefore you are responsible for the paying for the DOT physical at the time of service.

Being overweight is not a restriction to passing the DOT Physical exam. It is the medical condition where being overweight can eventually lead to, such as high blood pressure, heart disease and kidney disease, that may affect your ability to safely drive a commercial vehicle.  That is what the DOT Physical exam will determine – whether you have any of these restrictive medical conditions.  Getting healthy and staying healthy is your best guarantee for your life and your livelihood.

Here are the medical guidelines according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs).  Note that employers are allowed to impose more stringent medical requirements.  (FMCSA Rules and Regulations:  Part 391.41)

•  A driver with a BP of less than 140 systolic and less than 90 diastolic may be medically certified to drive for a two-year period.
•  A driver with a BP of 140 – 159 systolic and /or a BP of 90-99 diastolic, has stage 1 hypertension, and may be medically certified to drive for a one-year period. Certification examinations should be done annually thereafter and should be less than 140/90.
• A driver with a BP of 160-179 systolic and/or a BP of 100-109 diastolic, has stage 2 hypertension, and is a candidate for antihypertensive drug therapy. The driver is given a one-time certification of three months to reduce his or her blood pressure to less than 140/90. Provided treatment is well tolerated and the driver demonstrates a BP value of less than 140/90, he or she may be re-certified for one year from the date of the initial exam. The driver is certified annually thereafter.
• A driver with a BP at or greater than 180 systolic and / or 110 diastolic has stage 3 hypertension and is disqualified. The driver may not be qualified, even temporarily, until blood pressure is reduced to equal to less than 140/90 and treatment is well tolerated. The driver may be certified for 6 months and biannually (every 6 months) thereafter if at recheck BP is less than 140/90. Drivers with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, or kidney disease require treatment if their blood pressure rises above 140/90, since they already have a high risk of heart disease.

Obstructive sleep apnea does not necessarily disqualify you for a DOT medical card.  Treatment with a CPAP machine and some basic lifestyle changes can help you get a restful sleep and maintain your commercial driver’s license.

A commercial driver must have distant visual acuity of at least 20/40 in each eye.  That means without corrective lenses, or with corrective lenses, you must be able to see 20/40 or better, with each eye individually as well as together.  Your field of vision should be at least 70 degrees horizontally, and you must be able to recognize the standard traffic signal colors of red, green and amber.

The biggest cause for concern would be high blood pressure.  Another concern is uncontrolled sugar in the urine.  There are ways you can manage your blood pressure and blood sugar.

Any condition that would cause a loss of ability to control, operate, or drive a commercial vehicle safely such as loss or impairment of limbs, poor visual acuity, insulin-controlled diabetes, high blood pressure (more than 180/110), heart disease, respiratory dysfunction, epilepsy, mental disorder, use of certain drugs, alcoholism can cause disqualification of a driver.

If the urinalysis is positive for one or more of the drugs, on the 5-panel drug test, then the driver will be contacted in person by the Medical Review Officer. The MRO will interview the driver to determine if there is an alternative medical explanation for the drugs found in the urine specimen.  If the driver provides appropriate documentation, a confirmation test is performed for each identified drug using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis.  GC/MS confirmation ensures that over-the-counter medications or preparations are not reported as positive results.  If the MRO determines that it is a legitimate medical use of the prohibited drug, the drug test result is reported as negative to the employer.  Otherwise, the drug test will be reported as positive.