Skilled Performance Evaluation Certificate
Topic 14909 | Page 2
If you want to email me with more questions or anything, please feel free.
Mrdragon71@gmail.com
Erin, I just want to emphasize the importance of Robert's responses to you. He's been there and done that!
Do not go to CR England before you've gotten this completely squared away. They don't have a clue about the whole program, and you will end up being sent home with nothing to show for your efforts but wasted time and frustration. This is not an indictment of CR England, the problem is that you are falling into a category of drivers that are probably less than 1% of the driving workforce out here and none of these companies is going to have a person or a team of persons dedicated to knowing how to bring in a rare 1% type of driver.
Read Robert's responses carefully, or better yet contact him since he has been so generous to offer his help.
He may be a Freak, but he is a very nice helpful Freak! 
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
The first step is to call the regional representative and address all your questions. I hate to say don't trust the company you're going to go work for but don't trust the company you are going to go work for. The reason being they don't deal with the spe certificate enough to understand and know the whole process they also don't understand or know about new changes to the policies how the policies work or things like that. When I started with night I was told the same thing that you're being told by CR England when I got to night they knew nothing about how any of it worked and I had to do all the leg work myself. Truth be told I had I not worked as hard as I did and stayed on the phone in contact with FMCSA night was going to release me from the program because they wanted nothing to do with it.
Finally someone here that has been through this bureaucratic sh*t mess just to get a CDL. In my case I have been thinking about trucking as a career but recently I have been denied driving jobs that didn't require a CDL because the vehicle whether it be a van or pickup, has a DOT number on it.
Maybe you might have some insight to my problem. I am about to be considered for employment driving one of those straight trucks, not equipped with air brakes. In fact anyone with a regular drivers license can rent and drive these trucks from a truck rental place such as U-haul. Earlier this year I wasn't able to drive a Ford van for FedEx because the medical examiner who issued me a DOT card said I need a SPE for it to be valid due to my prosthetic leg. My prosthetic leg is my left leg so I don't need any special modifications to drive a vehicle with an automatic transmission and I can even drive a manual transmission.
My question is do you know if there is any way around this road block such as some kind of waiver that can be obtained for situations such as this? I just can't see the justification to go through all that bureaucratic mess to drive a vehicle that doesn't even require a CDL to operate.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
CSA:
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
The CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicle
FMCSA:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The FMCSA was established within the Department of Transportation on January 1, 2000. Their primary mission is to prevent commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities and injuries.
What Does The FMCSA Do?
- Commercial Drivers' Licenses
- Data and Analysis
- Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement
- Research and Technology
- Safety Assistance
- Support and Information Sharing
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Phantom Pain asks:
My question is do you know if there is any way around this road block such as some kind of waiver that can be obtained for situations such as this?
I believe the SPEC is a waiver! You need to demonstrate that your disability will not affect your safe operation of a vehicle.
I know this is resurrecting the dead but I am tearing my hair out with this and wondered if anyone has actually successfully completed this and got their CDL? I have been driving class A for over 30 years, 15 as an amputee, but, because it was not in the US, I have to get a CDL here. I have the CDL permit, I have the DOT medical, I have the FMCSA application pack for the SPE. Wat I do not have is any medical practitioner that is able to complete their part of the application. I have contacted FMCSA, in Georgia, to ask if they have any registered medical professionals in the state of Arizona and the reply was "no". Any help to get me a step forward would be really appreciated. TIA
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
CSA:
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
The CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicle
FMCSA:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The FMCSA was established within the Department of Transportation on January 1, 2000. Their primary mission is to prevent commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities and injuries.
What Does The FMCSA Do?
- Commercial Drivers' Licenses
- Data and Analysis
- Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement
- Research and Technology
- Safety Assistance
- Support and Information Sharing
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
I completed the process and am still driving. To my benefit, FMCSA took note of my physicals and realized that neither the doctors who performed my DoT physical, nor my orthopedic surgeon made any annotations of restriction so after 4 years, FMCSA released me from a program I shouldn’t have been in to begin with. In your case, what you need to do is gather any surgical records you might have and contact an orthopedic surgeon. Go into their office and explain what you’re needing to have done and show them the paperwork. There’s only about 3500 drivers total who have the waiver so you won’t find many doctors who even know what you’re talking about.
CSA:
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
The CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicle
FMCSA:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The FMCSA was established within the Department of Transportation on January 1, 2000. Their primary mission is to prevent commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities and injuries.
What Does The FMCSA Do?
- Commercial Drivers' Licenses
- Data and Analysis
- Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement
- Research and Technology
- Safety Assistance
- Support and Information Sharing
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.New Reply:
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DOT Physical DOT Physical Exemptions Driver Responsibilities Getting Your CDL Medical Certification
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The first step is to call the regional representative and address all your questions. I hate to say don't trust the company you're going to go work for but don't trust the company you are going to go work for. The reason being they don't deal with the spe certificate enough to understand and know the whole process they also don't understand or know about new changes to the policies how the policies work or things like that. When I started with night I was told the same thing that you're being told by CR England when I got to night they knew nothing about how any of it worked and I had to do all the leg work myself. Truth be told I had I not worked as hard as I did and stayed on the phone in contact with FMCSA night was going to release me from the program because they wanted nothing to do with it.
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
CSA:
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
The CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicle
FMCSA:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The FMCSA was established within the Department of Transportation on January 1, 2000. Their primary mission is to prevent commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities and injuries.
What Does The FMCSA Do?
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.