Jonathan, welcome to our forum!
Your situation is frustrating. It is possible to pass a D.O.T. physical, but still be required by an employer to provide an SPE certification. I know it sounds ridiculous, but that's how it works. Trucking is a safety sensitive career, and the attorneys lined up and salivating for another victory have caused the trucking industry to cross all their T's and dot their I's. It sounds like you may have to go through this.
We've actually had a good bit of discussion in here concerning this process. Here's one of them...
Special Performance Evaluation
I hope that helps you. If you need more information just put "SPE" in the search bar at the top of this page. You'll find any conversations we've had on it that way. Let us know what you learn, and keep us posted on your progress.
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.
No, actually that's not how it works. If he currently has passed a DOT physical, the company is not allowed to demand that he pursue the SPE certificate. DOT certified physicians are the ones who start that process and then you go through FMCSA to complete the forms, follow up physical and practical skills examination, it has absolutely nothing to do with the company.
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
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?
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.
Let me revise that previous statement. He says he passed the physical where he's training. The company can't demand it unless the physician marked it and noted it on the long form of his physical. If he checks that physical form and the doctor hasn't marked it as such, they can't make that demand.
Thanks Robert. I was hoping you'd see this. As far as I'm concerned you are the person who can give the best advice on this subject. That's why I linked to that discussion. It had some great remarks from you. Most of us don't know squat about this subject.
They changed up the procedure and it really makes a mess of things. The way it used to be, you would go see the FMCSA appointed DOT skills examiner first so they could evaluate whether or not your impairment would prevent you from safely operating a CMV. They would determine at that point, whether you needed to proceed on with the forms etc or just go ahead and move on like any other student. Now they put it in the hands of doctors who legitimately have no clue about what we do and it changed everything. The skills examiner I dealt with told me straight up that there was absolutely no reason for me to have it but now I have to deal with it for the rest of my career.
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
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?
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.
A CMV is a vehicle that is used as part of a business, is involved in interstate commerce, and may fit any of these descriptions:
As a matter of fact. I just renewed my medical card in December and that Doctor didn't even check the box but because it's still on file with FMCSA , I still have to maintain it. That's how ridiculous it can be.
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
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?
As a matter of fact, only 1 doctor in my last 4 DOT physicals marked me down for it lol. Even though, during his physical, I was able to meet the minimum standard, he declared it as not being enough but it is what it is and very hard to contest.
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.
Let me revise that previous statement. He says he passed the physical where he's training. The company can't demand it unless the physician marked it and noted it on the long form of his physical. If he checks that physical form and the doctor hasn't marked it as such, they can't make that demand.
Would this have been written in because i do not see anything on either form and I don't not see a box anywhere the cdl school physician assistant basically said the same thing as the first examiner the only thing I see is that they marked the box meets standards with periodic monitoring required for both.
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
It would be under the notes specifically as needing the certificate and would actually state SPE certificate. If that isn't on there, they cannot demand you have it.
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Hello,
I would like to see if anyone knows about SPE Certification. I was in a driver training program to get your cdl and I passed a dot physical in NY my home state then again in Illinois where the the school was located. The company then sent me home saying that they would not hire me if I did not get the SPE Certification and were not very helpful with any information in regards to it except to e-mail the school I was at the SPE Certification Packet. May have been my misunderstanding but I thought that the SPE Certification was only necessary if you could not pass the DOT Physical and need a waiver. I do have a mild Disability. Both DOT PA's said that my disability would not effect me driving a cmv one physical was pretty through and the other was not as much. I will admit that they only gave me a 1yr card they thought I should have been reviewed sooner than two years. I admit that I have not seen a specialist in over a decade I was a three sport athlete through out HS.I had a business doing renovations and new construction and didn't really think trucking would be that much harder. I also raised farm animals and periodically would throw 300 bales of hay in a day or shovel 3 tons of bread of a trailer. I have looked at the FMCSA there is not much help there to be completely honest I have reached out to them they sent me a e-mail telling me that my request needed to be addressed by the corporate office that is all I have heard so far. Can this process be done without a company I see that they want you application to the carrier and road test results which you cannot get until after you get your CDL. I would like to say that I did already get my permit. I am sorry if i seem to be a little disorganized but I have spent few weeks before going to class to find out information to if it was a required thing no matter if you passed the DOT exam or not, and since I have been back calling different doctors and the place were I took the DOT physical. No one seems to know anything about it, or even able to tell me of someone that may be able to help.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
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?
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.
CMV:
Commercial Motor Vehicle
A CMV is a vehicle that is used as part of a business, is involved in interstate commerce, and may fit any of these descriptions:
Dm:
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.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.