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Question about CDL license


Tricknologist

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I want to go for my CDL class B license and join a paratransit company for the time being until I get called from the MTA since I see so many looking for prospective drivers and currently I'm unemployed. I was doing some digging and it stated that one is exempt from having a medical exam/certificate if you are going to be a bus driver in the state only. Is this true? Or am I reading into that wrong? I'm asking because I'm worried that I might not get the clearance because of my eyesight.

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well as far as I know you MUST have a medical examiner's certificate in order to drive....especially for a school bus....I also have not so good vision..although it only applies when I'm trying to read those ungodly small letters on a snellen chart from like a million miles away..lol.....if your worried about the eyesight part of the test...don't be... unless you cant read below the 20/40 line i think....they'll just recommend corrective lenses like they did with me....but maybe the doctor i went to was nice

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well as far as I know you MUST have a medical examiner's certificate in order to drive....especially for a school bus....I also have not so good vision..although it only applies when I'm trying to read those ungodly small letters on a snellen chart from like a million miles away..lol.....if your worried about the eyesight part of the test...don't be... unless you cant read below the 20/40 line i think....they'll just recommend corrective lenses like they did with me....but maybe the doctor i went to was nice

 

WRONG: You don't need a DOT medical card to drive a school bus locally. You do need it for interstate driving like for over the road(truck driver, Greyhound Bus drivers etc.)

 

Tricknologist:They will give you an eye exam(snellen chart)at the DMV office after you pass your cdl permit exam.

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WRONG: You don't need a DOT medical card to drive a school bus locally. You do need it for interstate driving like for over the road(truck driver, Greyhound Bus drivers etc.)

 

What about for passenger buses intrastate only, if that's possible?

 

They will give you an eye exam(snellen chart)at the DMV office after you pass your cdl permit exam.

 

Do they test both eyes, or they just tell you to read it without covering any eye like for the regular license?

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What about for passenger buses intrastate only, if that's possible?

 

when you pass your cdl road test you must have a dot medical card when you go back to the dmv to submit the road test paperwork. they ask you at the dmv. so no matter whatever the situation is you need a dot medical card now thats the bottom line.

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Dan's correct. You'll need a copy of your VALID DOT Medical Examiner's Certificate at the DMV after you pass your road test. I've also needed my certificate when I renewed my CDL the first go around. Considering how DOT regulations tend to get more stringent rather than less, I don't see it being any different when I go back next month. Most likely, in the future everyone with a CDL, no matter what their tasks consist of, will need a medical card.

 

At my physical, you'll be tested for 20/40 or better vision in either eye, with or without the lenses; 140 degrees of combined horizontal peripheral vision; the ability to distinguish between the colors red, green and amber (that one is crucial) and the absence of diplopia (double vision). However, I know drivers who, without their glasses or contacts, would make it seem as if Stevie Wonder has X-Ray vision. Worst case scenario, you'll have a corrective lens restriction ("B") on your license, meaning that you cannot operate a CMV without your glasses.

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What about for passenger buses intrastate only, if that's possible?

 

 

 

Do they test both eyes, or they just tell you to read it without covering any eye like for the regular license?

 

You want to drive intrastate(within the state) only right? No,you don't need the DOT medical card for that.

 

About the eye exam at the DMV,they had me read the chart without covering any eye. Let me post this for you now before others give conflicting information.

 

 

49 CFR Part 391 Certification

 

The federal regulations include a requirement that a commercial driver have a medical examination every two years and receive a Medical Examiner's Certificate. The Medical Examiner's Certificate can be valid for no more than two years. The Medical Examiner's Certificate includes the license number of the medical examiner who completed the exam, the state that issued the medical license of the examiner, and the expiration date of the Medical Examiner's Certificate.

When you complete your application for an original or a renewal of a NYS CDL, you must either:

 

  • certify that you do not have a current, valid Medical Examiner's Certificate, or
  • certify that you have a current, valid Medical Examiner's Certificate, and provide the license number of the medical examiner, the state that issued the medical license of the examiner, and the expiration date of the Medical Examiner's Certificate.

If you certify that you do not have a current, valid Medical Examiner's Certificate, you cannot receive or renew your NYS CDL unless:

 

  • You have a current NYS CDL that has a "K" restriction, and
    • your NYS CDL expires before April 1, 2006, or
    • your NYS CDL was issued before September 9, 1999.

     

OR

 

  • You certify that you will only:
    • operate school buses to drive students from home to school or from school to home only*, or
    • operate municipal vehicles, or
    • operate both of these types of vehicles.

     

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Wait -

 

Locomotion is actually correct, according to the guidelines. I know this personally, all too well, as I currently work for a City of New York municipal agency and a valid CDL is a requirement for my title. However, I live in Connecticut, and I possess a CDL issued in Connecticut, and when my medical certificate expired last November and I was unable to renew it due to a health condition which has since been taken care of, I was unable to drive since Connecticut does not have that corny municipal vehicle exemption, and I am subjected to the Connecticut state rules. For me, my blood pressure was too high to pass the physical. It seems as though health conditions such as blood pressure, poor eyesight and poor hearing are of no concern to a municipal employee driving a large truck with massive amounts of weight in one of the most difficult cities in the world to drive in. Traffic and road construction around the Big Apple cause healthy people heart attacks and migraine headaches. But, please... disregard the DOT worker driving the semi-trailer dump, filled to the brim with asphalt, passed out at the wheel while his truck screams down Flatbush Avenue off of the Manhattan Bridge, after suffering a stroke because of stress and summer heat - municipal employees don't need decent health and a physical and certificate to drive that sort of equipment. :eek:

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Ohhhh, now this means I will need to go for a physical. I got my CDL in 2000. Why can't they just grandfather me in.....:cry::cry::cry:.............

 

The Federal CMV Act goes back to 1986. I got my CDL in 2000 as well. We're waaaaaay past being grandfathered in. To be honest though, I appreciate having to be forced to get a physical once every two years at most, because if I wasn't, I doubt I'd go. And I sure do enjoy decent health. -_-

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The Federal CMV Act goes back to 1986. I got my CDL in 2000 as well. We're waaaaaay past being grandfathered in. To be honest though, I appreciate having to be forced to get a physical once every two years at most, because if I wasn't, I doubt I'd go. And I sure do enjoy decent health. -_-

 

I never took one at all when I got mine. Maybe they decided to get tough after those accidents.......

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I never took one at all when I got mine. Maybe they decided to get tough after those accidents.......

 

Please... Don't even get me started on how ridiculous the medical certificate exemptions are. Think about this logically - a municipal employee in New York City, driving a large vehicle in an extremely stressful environment due to constant construction and road closures, all sorts of one-way streets and tight routes, hostile drivers, rubbernecking, etc., is exempt from needed a document certifying a regular physical to ensure decent health. Conversely, an Over-The-Road (OTR) driver needs a physical and medical card to do mostly cross-country runs in wide-open terrain with little or no traffic save for major cities? Do the math, and you'll probably agree that a heart attack while driving a large vehicle will most likely cause more injuries and even fatalities, destroy more infrastructure and significantly impact the morning commute in New York City more than it will in Cheyenne, Wyoming. To me, that regulation is ridiculous.

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I took my dot physical exam last year thinking that I needed it,it is going to expire in Jan/2010. Not going to bother having to take it again. I was told you don't need it for DSNY and you don't need it drive a NYC transit bus.

 

CDL holders are held to a higher degree of responsibility than other drivers and rightfully so. Many fatal accidents have been caused by OTR drivers(truck and bus)falling asleep at the wheel on those quiet rural roads. The more traffic you have around you the more alert you will be.

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Many fatal accidents have been caused by OTR drivers(truck and bus)falling asleep at the wheel on those quiet rural roads. The more traffic you have around you the more alert you will be.

 

I hear your point, Locomotion about the OTR accidents. However, I don't necessarily find the second statement to be true in some cases. I work with one guy who has a second job at night, and he's lucky if he can get 2-3 hours of sleep before showing up at our job. He routinely falls asleep at stop lights (in Brooklyn!) and his sleep apnea isn't an issue because of that regulation. Horns, sirens and obscene drivers are no substitute for decent rest.

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I hear your point, Locomotion about the OTR accidents. However, I don't necessarily find the second statement to be true in some cases. I work with one guy who has a second job at night, and he's lucky if he can get 2-3 hours of sleep before showing up at our job. He routinely falls asleep at stop lights (in Brooklyn!) and his sleep apnea isn't an issue because of that regulation. Horns, sirens and obscene drivers are no substitute for decent rest.

 

Yeah that is true,still it is better to be in an accident going 25-30mph rather than 65-70.mph. Isn't there a law on the books in NJ about driving while drowsy?

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Isn't there a law on the books in NJ about driving while drowsy?

 

That, Sir or Madam, is correct. It was adopted into legislation probably four or five years ago, and it'll only be a matter of time before that law spreads to other states as well, just as the cell phone ban.

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That, Sir or Madam, is correct. It was adopted into legislation probably four or five years ago, and it'll only be a matter of time before that law spreads to other states as well, just as the cell phone ban.

 

You can tell a persons gender by that colored arrow next to gender(light blue=male)(pink=female). Funny thing is that when I drive in Jersey I am afraid to yawn,lol,don't want to get pulled over.:eek:

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