Profile For Capt Ron

Ok, well I called again today. The nice lady on the phone was awesome, she said that I got aproved and that they put my info on line for comments. I asked for clarification. I guess any time the goverment gives a exemption to a federal law, they must publishe the requests that meet the requirements and wait 30 days. At the end of 30 days I will be notified by mail and I get to go get my permit. Must say, this has been a looooooooong prosess but worth wile.

Well, here is a update. Called the waiver form help line today, the lady was very helpful. She informed me that all of my paperwork was in order and was sent upstairs for review and to be approved. I hope it is a good sign and she agreed. According to her, after it is oked (I met all the requirements she said), they will or should send an approval letter back to me. Then I take the letter and the paperwork that to medical examiner gave me to the registry and take the test (hopefully pass). Being a mechanic, I'm told with some studying, I should pass no problem. The permit is good for 30 days (so I'm told), I practice and take the road test.

On a side note, the truck - "05 Freightliner Rolloff" with a Mercedes MBE 926, 8 speed, extra long rails to hold a 50 yard box that we bought from "APEX trucks of West Palm Beach. Truck came with a 2 year, 200 k warranty. Good thing ! We didn't make it back to Naples and the A/C stopped working. Fairly easy fik, found a loose connection for the A/C clutch and low on Freon. Couple days later an oil leak developed. The oil cooling line from the oil filter to turbo was leaking at the Banjo fitting. I fixed that. Couple days later the water pump started leaking. We fixed that (that one covered under the warranty). Next day, with a full 50 yard full of C/D on her back she made it 17 miles and blew the engine. Well that was over 3 weeks ago. Truck is at Freightliner Ft. Myers. At first they looked at it and gave us a option of replacing the engine complete at a price of $39k. Ouch, and it gets worse, warranty only covers, get this, $20 k. I guess we have a cap. Almost $20k out of our pocket. We did the research and found that instead of a complete engine and waiting up to 45 days or more just for the engine we can get a 3/4 block installed by Freightliner. Of Course that was after a conversation with Freightliner Miami. So we just today gave Freightliner of Ft. Myers the OK to order the 3/4 block ($26k). They are saying 10 days to get and a week to install. Here is hoping. We will see, posible my paperwork will show up around the same time as having the truck ready ? We will see.

By the way, the A/C, there is a restriction because the pressure climbs off idle to as much as 400 psi then turns the compressor off. They have a Pressure Regulator on the A/C that is possibly not working correctly. Parts dept has one and when we pick up the truck I will change it. Hopefully fixing the much needed "COLD air".

So far APEX has not helped us out on replacing the engine, so be careful of APEX. I will keep ya up too date as events unfold.

Well, it's been a couple weeks. Got a letter from dot - they want my endocrinologist to fill out another form. I brought it to him, he filled it out. I then faxed it back. After faxing I called the # for the department. A nice lady on the phone and she said it was filled out wrong. I went back to the dr. They filled in the correct info in the correct spot and then re-faxed. I called a few hours later but could not get verification. Later that day, they called and left me a message. They now have everything I guess.

My recommendation would be, find drs that are familiar how to fill out paperwork correctly the first time. Now back to waiting.

Hi guys,

I live in fla and I am in the process of getting my cdl exemption - well I started the process first of may. I found a doctor willing to be the Medical Examiner. That alone was a *****, most don't want the hassle. This doctor has done one so was willing to work with me. After the exam that I passed no problem other than my blood, he sent me to a diabetic specialist. Everything went good there (so I thought). Then the eye doctor, that was easy. I went back to the Medical Examiner again with all of my paper work. He reviewed it and then sent me to a Neurologist. Passed everything but to be sure he asked me to go for a nerve test at a cost of $675. After a few conversations with the nerve dr he agreed that a letter stating my neuropathy will not impede my driving. Like I said, started in May, it's now mid Aug. at a cost of over $1500 in doctors visits and I am hopefully to get the papers back from the Medical Examiner tomorrow so they can be faxed and orig mailed.

In my case I'm 54, not overweight, on Hemoglobin twice a day. So far it has been a nightmare but I have a great opportunity with my company to drive our new roll off truck. Anyone with experience with this process, I would love to hear your experience. PLEASE stay on topic. Thanks