Before earning your CDL, you must pass a physical examination. Although this is common knowledge among those attempting to earn their CDL, there might be a few questions you have about this specific examination. Throughout the course of this brief article, a few of these questions will be answered for you.
What Are The Requirements Of The Physical Exam?
The best answer to that is go over the FMCSA Medical Examination Report sheet. All of the tests that will be performed on this exam are mentioned over the course of this document.
Does The Exam Include A Drug Test?
No, but the company through which you are earning your CDL may require you to take a drug test. If alcohol and drug testing are included, this will cost an additional amount.
Do You Need A Medical Card As A Local Driver?
This depends on the state in which you're driving. However, there are a few rules which generally apply to all states. For example, you are required to drive with a medical card if you are driving a vehicle with a load that totals an aggregate weight of 10,001 pounds or more.
What Drugs Are Tested?
If a drug test is included in the DOT medical exam, then you will be tested for the following five drugs: marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine, opiates, and PCP.
What Happens If You Screen Positive For Drugs?
If you are found to have drugs in your system by way of a urinalysis, then you will be contacted by a Medical Review Officer (MRO). An interview will be scheduled in which it will be determined if there was an alternative cause for the urinalysis testing you positive for drugs. A driver must then provide documentation proving an alternative cause for the presence of these drugs in the amount of time determined by the MRO. For each drug that you tested positive for, a gas chromatography / mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis will be performed. This will sufficiently determine the cause for each drug that was present in your body. If the GC/MS test proves that there is an alternative cause for the presence of drugs, then the MRO will report to your employer that you passed the test. If not, however, the MRO will be required to inform your employer that the drug test results came back positive.
The DOT medical examination might seem like a confusing process, at first. Hopefully, these few answers have given you some idea of what you will experience and how the test is administered.
Share22 February 2016
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