Is There Anyway To Obtain A CDL With A Severe Head Injury?

Long time lurker here hoping someone can give me a clearer answer than my research has provided.

I suffered a severe head injury 16 years ago when I was younger (I'm 30 now) with no history of seizures in the entire 16 years post accident. I already know I'll have to get a neurological consult done with a few different tests done to measure seizure activity, response time, and things of that nature; what I'm more or less wondering is provided the tests come back normal what are the chances of passing the DOT medical?

The information I have gone over already is between disqualification and case by case basis. I'm just wondering if anyone has anymore clarity to add before I jump into spending money on doctor appointments and tests that won't do anything in the long run. Mind you I've looked into this career extensively and am quite enthusiastic about the prospects, I understand to the best degree possible the stresses and other pressures related to driving a truck and in no way, shape, or form want to put anyone out there in harms way...I just want to drive a truck.

Thanks for any information you can provide, and I'm glad I'm finally a member of this community!

Duane, I think the biggest hurdle you are going to deal with is medication. Are you taking anti-seizure meds?

Duane, I think the biggest hurdle you are going to deal with is medication. Are you taking anti-seizure meds?

Hey, thanks for the reply! No, I have no history of seizures or meds...Although I'm fairly confident I was taking anti-seizure meds post op, I haven't since leaving the hospital 16 years ago.

There is actually a lot of unique attributes of my injury compared to most auto-pedestrian accidents which I feel could put me into a rare category with the DOT exam, and fingers crossed, could help me hopefully pass one day.

Duane, from the scant details you've given us I don't see any problems for you as far as the D.O.T. physical goes. You will be required to list any surgeries you've had, but man that injury was so long ago, and you have had no history of seizures, nor are you taking seizure medications... I'm not seeing an issue here. As long as your cognitive abilities are fine, and your vision and hearing are not hindered I'm not sure this is even going to be an issue for you.

I'd like to know why you are thinking you are going to need all this extra testing done - is there something that you didn't mention in your post? Because from what you have revealed to us I don't see the problem.

You can always just go and get a D.O.T. physical done at a physician who does such things and see what they tell you. I'm pretty sure you could get that done for somewhere between 60 and 150 dollars.

Sounds like a "Don'task, Don't tell" except for seeing you say you had surgery??

I fell off my bike @ 13 or 14, it knocked me out, in the middle of the street. Neighbor kid drug me out of road, up against a tree until I came to. I had a knarly headache, walked around the block home with my bike. Laid down on old car seat we had on front porch and fell asleep. Hours later when mom called us in for dinner, see saw me and freaked out!!

Seems laying there, brain fluid had seeped out,creating 1 huge soft lump atop my head, so she rushed me to the E.R.....Turns out, I had a major skull fracture over my left ear, back to my crown, and down my skull another 2 inches.....After a bunch of xrays, I was just told to go home, don't over exert myself, and I could not play physical sports for 2 years until my skull healed.....No surgery, no meds, nothing! No ill effects from it ever....40 years later lol

Duane, from the scant details you've given us I don't see any problems for you as far as the D.O.T. physical goes. You will be required to list any surgeries you've had, but man that injury was so long ago, and you have had no history of seizures, nor are you taking seizure medications... I'm not seeing an issue here. As long as your cognitive abilities are fine, and your vision and hearing are not hindered I'm not sure this is even going to be an issue for you.

I'd like to know why you are thinking you are going to need all this extra testing done - is there something that you didn't mention in your post? Because from what you have revealed to us I don't see the problem.

You can always just go and get a D.O.T. physical done at a physician who does such things and see what they tell you. I'm pretty sure you could get that done for somewhere between 60 and 150 dollars.

Primarily because of the surgical operation and my LOC was greater than 30 minutes, I was in a coma for about three weeks and the surgery required a piece of my skull to be removed...I really just want to make sure all my ducks are in a row for the DOT exam, which is why I would pursue a neurological consult.

I do plan on talking to a DOT examiner as soon as I can, I have one not too far that works at the local Pilot here so I was going to head that way and see what they said too.