WHAT DOES THE DOT OR CDL PHYSICAL EXAM COVER? If your employee’s jobs can impact their own safety and the safety of the public, then it is important for them to undergo regular CDL physical exams to be compliant and to keep working. We know DOT or CDL physicals can sometimes be overwhelming; that is why we are drafting a list of things it covers to keep you informed beforehand.
Vision Drivers are required to have a minimum of 20/40 acuity in each eye with correction or without correction. Similarly, they need to have the measurement of 70” peripheral in the horizontal meridian in the eyes.
Hearing The driver must be able to hear what is termed as “forced whisper,” from the distance of 5” or less, with or without a hearing aid. This also equates to an average hearing loss in the better ear of less than 40 dB.
Blood pressure/pulse rate Another thing that comes under CDL physical exam is the driver’s blood pressure and pulse rate. Through this exam, the high blood pressure and irregular heartbeat are inspected.
Urinalysis Urinalysis is a very important test. This is because this test looks for the indications of any underlying medical conditions like diabetes, etc.
Physical examination Under physical examination, there are dozens of different tests conducted, such as: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
General appearance Mouth and throat test Ears and eyes test Extremities such as impaired limbs Spine and other musculoskeletal issues, etc.,
A CDL can only be conducted by a medical examiner certified by FMCSA. It is up to the medical examiner to decide if an individual meets all the requirements or not.
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