Legal To Drive?
Topic 25570 | Page 1
I'd guess if the Doc cleared you to drive you're good. If he didn't you may be putting your career at risk by driving anyhow. You'll be even harder pressed to pay your bills if they revoke your cdl and force you to find a new job, while casted up. Think hard my friend, make sure you are seeing the big picture.
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.
Brian, sounds like a painful injury. My guess is that the DOT has more to worry about than your injury. What I would be concerned about is the company you work for. Do they know about the accident? They are the ones who should determine whether you can still be driving. I admire your toughness in sticking it out. Reminds me of my many construction related injuries over the years. If someone got injured, we usually just wrapped up the wound with a clean rag and duct tape and went back to work. Amputations got the guy a little more sympathy. We always took the time to get the amputated body part in some ice so the guy could go in after work to get treatment.
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.
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.
When i shattered the base of my left little finger i couldn't pass a DOT physical because i didn't have a grip strength of at least 40 pounds per square inch. Im going to guess that being in a cast may limit your grip strength as well.
Remember it isn't just being able to steer. What would happen if you were to have a steer blow out?
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.
And if you have complications later, WC may not cover them. Medical bills will bankrupt you
This must be reported to your safety department. Did you? Continued use will necessitate a much longer time period for it to heal properly. I ignored a small shrapnel wound from a grenade explosion several decades ago. I ended up with a dose of blood poisoning five years later, plus I still needed surgery in the end to get pieces removed. This operation took longer due to the fact that pieces had broken down over the years and migrated throughout my body. The recovery took longer, too.
Sounds like you could have really used this guy!
Seriously though, I do NOT work for them in any capacity, and I am not even mentioning their name for free search engine help...
But I encourage all drivers to look into getting one of their programs. For injuries like Brian's, it would be a God-Send right now. It's also about 100x easier than dealing with regular medical insurance companies. I'm still not sure how they make money, honestly.
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Well I was unloading some steel yesterday and it slipped off the bed and pinned my arm and wrist on the side of the bed fracturing my wrist in 2 places and making a cut that required 2 stitches. This was my first stop for the day and went ahead and finished the day out before going to the ER. Customers needed their steel so I was hard headed. Long story short, I’m in a half cast on my right arm so can I still legally drive my truck. Doc wanted me to stay off till next week but I can’t miss because I need the money. I know their is workers comp but I can’t wait on them. Bills don’t wait because you are hurt! I can still shift the gears and turn steering wheel with no problems because I made them form the cast on my hand part as if I was holding the gear shift. Just didn’t know what DOT might say. Thanks!
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.