Drivers Worry Federal Medical Guidelines Could Result in Additional Disqualifications
This story appears in the April 6 print edition of Transport Topics.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Drivers attending the Mid-America Trucking Show criticized current medical guidelines, but a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration official stressed the need to ensure they are fit to work.
Harry Gerards, a driver from Louisiana in his 50s, said he has operated heavy-duty vehicles for several decades and worries current FMCSA standards will make it difficult for him the next time he goes for a checkup.
“I’m what some people would call ‘large.’ But I’ve been heavy my whole life, and I’ll always be heavy. That doesn’t mean I can’t drive a truck,” Gerards told Transport Topics after the agency hosted a seminar about its national registry of certified medical examiners.
“All I keep hearing is that they want drivers, they want drivers. So here we are, drivers. We’re healthy. So don’t kick us out,” he said.
Leonard, a driver who did not provide his last name, said he worried the medical exams were a new way for federal regulators to push people out of their jobs — a sentiment expressed by others at the show.
“They add these rules so somebody can make more money and take money from us. The government just wants to make our lives harder. It’s not right,” Leonard said, adding that he drives primarily in the Kentucky-Indiana region.
Likewise, Stephen Linardos of Florida, was a staunch critic of FMCSA’s medical regulations. He said he was recently denied a vision waiver, even though he has provided the requisite documents.
He said he continues to reach out to FMCSA but has been frustrated by its lack of response.
“I have over 27 years and 3 million miles of safe driving. What does that get me? Nothing,” he told TT.
However, Pamela Perry, a nurse consultant in FMCSA’s office of carrier, driver and vehicle safety, defended the agency’s mandate for commercial drivers to undergo a physical examination to gain a medical certificate. She also emphasized that drivers disclose their medical conditions when they meet with a certified medical examiner.
“Make sure when you fill out the form you fill it out honestly and correctly and fully,” Perry told drivers. “It is fraud if you have some kind of illness and you don’t put it on there, particularly because you know it may get you disqualified. You can be fined, and there can be a problem for you if you don’t tell the whole truth on the form.”
She also said she could understand the frustration on the part of several drivers over health certifications and policies regarding vision, hearing and diabetes waivers.
Perry reminded drivers the agency plans to amend its medical qualification standards to allow drivers with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus to operate commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce, without seeking an exemption.
The agency plans to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking on the matter in July.
A ban prohibiting any driver with diabetes who used insulin from driving commercial vehicles in interstate commerce was in place from 1970 to 2003. But in 2004, the agency started accepting applications for diabetes exemptions to allow drivers to be given medical certificates on a case-by-case basis every two years. In 2005, Congress required the agency to drop the exemption requirement.
In order to maintain a commercial driver license, a person needs a valid, two-year medical certificate after completing a physical examination. Information regarding health requirements and certain waivers is on the agency’s website.
