I want you to pass your DOT physical.

First, make sure you answer all the written and verbal questions truthfully. Lying to the examiner or on the forms will result in immediate failure.

Good, now that we covered the legalities, we can talk about your exam and the results we need to see.

After you complete the paperwork, you will need to provide a urine sample. Drink lots of water before your appointment. With the urine sample we want to make sure you don’t have any protein, sugar or blood in your urine.

Next we will take your blood pressure. You need to be less than 140/90, if you want the 2 year certification. The higher you are from 140/90, the shorter your certification period and if your blood pressure is sky high, you will be disqualified. Keep your stress low and avoid caffeine before your physical. These two things can artificially elevate your blood pressure.

The next test will be the vision test. You must be at least 20/40 in each eye, with or without corrective lenses. You need to have good peripheral vision and be able to distinguish colors.

There are two very common conditions affecting many commercial vehicle drivers. First, we have sleep apnea which won’t disqualify you totally but we may have to see you more often to re-certify.

Diabetes is another common condition these days. If you take Insulin, unfortunately we will NOT be able to certify. Making changes to your diet is the best way to avoid Insulin treatments. Oral hypoglycemic Therapy is OK but we will only do a 1 year certification.

I want you to pass your DOT physical. If you have any questions about what you read here or any other questions about your upcoming physical, please give me a call or send me an email.