Highway to Health: The DOT Physical Exam

Passing your DOT physical exam is important to your continued career, safety and livelihood. The exam is designed to review your general health and could highlight any limitations you may have that could affect how you do your job. The exam can sometimes reveal an abnormality that you would otherwise be unaware of. Use the exam as a meaningful tool to get an overall review of your health.

If you have a medical condition, you’re going to need some paperwork! Remember to take these things with you:

• Diabetes: Try to bring in a copy of your blood sugar results. The hemoglobin A1C (a test that shows your average blood sugar level over the past three months) is now commonly asked for by medical examiners to assess diabetic control.
• High blood pressure: Bring any readings you have been taking in between doctor visits, together with your list of medications. If you take your own readings, bring them along, too.
• Heart condition: If you’ve had a heart attack or heart disease, you’ll need to bring a copy of your last stress test or echo reading and a letter stating all is well from your cardiologist.
• Sleep apnea: Bring a copy of your latest sleep test results if you have one. If you are being treated for sleep apnea, the examiner will request a compliance report from your machine for at least the past 30 days.
• Medications: If you are taking any medications, bring a list of them — including strength and dosage and the doctor who prescribed them for you. It sometimes helps if you have your bottles with you. If you regularly take over-the-counter medications, such as allergy pills or indigestion aids, list them too.
• Contact information: Have names and phone numbers of your doctors in case you need to call, and have them send missing information.

Here are several important things you should know about the DOT test:

1. What’s involved in a DOT physical?

The process is straightforward and should feel like a normal physical exam. The physical is usually completed within 30 minutes. Try to be well rested and hydrated on the day you attend, as fatigue and dehydration can affect some of your test results.

2. Why do I have to have a urine test?

The urine test is a basic 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, kidney disease or kidney infection. If your diabetes is not well controlled, it may show sugar in your urine. This can also happen with certain medications. If you have an abnormal urine test, the examiner will refer you back to your own doctor to get a more thorough examination. It is important to follow up with this testing to rule out any serious conditions.

3. Can I obtain a copy of my DOT physical form?

Yes. You will receive two copies of the long form: one for the driver and one for the company. If you ask, sometimes the examining doctor will fax the DOT form to your company. The examining doctor also keeps a copy of the form for his/her office records.

4. How many three-month DOT medical cards can you have?

Only one. You should have the condition which caused the restriction under control by the end of the three-month window. Any deviation from this guideline would be at the discretion of the medical examiner performing the physical.

5. Is there a difference between a “DOT medical” and a “DOT physical?”

No. These terms are used interchangeably. 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. Sometimes drivers refer to them as a “CDL physical” or “CDL medical.”

6. Can a driver with mild sleep apnea get a CDL?

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.

7. What are the truck driving vision requirements?

A commercial driver must have distant visual acuity of at least 20/40 in each eye. That means with or without 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.

8. What would cause me to fail a DOT physical?

The biggest cause for concern would be high blood pressure. Another concern is poorly controlled diabetes, which can be seen on an Hba1c test, urine test or blood sugar finger prick test. An abnormal urine test may result in a short certification being issued. Also, 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, high blood pressure (more than 180/110), heart disease, respiratory dysfunction, epilepsy, mental disorder, use of certain drugs or alcoholism. A complete list of these regulations and guidelines can be found on the FMCSA website.