License Downgrade

Well, my friends, today was the day. I went in to the DMV and downgraded my license to a tier 4. That means I can still drive, but only intrastate because my fed med card will expire in two days.

I want to thank everyone who advised me about this, because without all the information I received here on TT I wouldn't have known that this was necessary to keep me legal. I would have been happily motoring along until I got busted. BTW, it cost me a $14 fee to downgrade, so I'm hoping someone here will start a Go-Fund Me page on my behalf.

I might donate to a go fund me to keep moochoo poochoo knee deep in milk-bones...but you're on your own on that $14.

Well, my friends, today was the day. I went in to the DMV and downgraded my license to a tier 4. That means I can still drive, but only intrastate because my fed med card will expire in two days.

Intrastate Exempt You operate in excepted intrastate commerce when you drive a CMV only in intrastate commerce activities which your State of licensure has determined do not require you to meet the State’s medical certification requirements

What "exempt" means (that is, the type of driving that doesn't require a med certificate), may vary slightly from state to state.

Michigan for example: Transporting school children and/or school staff between home and school; Transporting human corpses, or sick or injured persons; Operating a fire truck or rescue vehicle during emergencies and other related activities; Primarily transporting propane winter heating fuel when responding to an emergency condition requiring immediate response such as damage to a propane gas system after a storm or flooding; Responding to a pipeline emergency condition requiring immediate response such as a pipeline leak or rupture; Working in custom harvesting on a farm or to transport farm machinery and supplies used in the custom harvesting operation to and from a farm or to transport custom harvested crops to storage or market; Working as a beekeeper in the seasonal transportation of bees; Operating a vehicle controlled and operated by a farmer, but not a combination vehicle (power unit and towed unit), that is used to transport agricultural products, farm machinery or farm supplies, but not placardable hazardous materials, to and from a farm and within 150 air miles of the farm; Driving as a private motor carrier of passengers for nonbusiness purposes; or Transporting migrant workers.

So there is actually a very limited type of CMV driving you can do on an "intrastate exempt" - and if you get caught driving ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF the fairly limited scope of the exemption, it is the same as "operating a CMV without a CDL".

Now - most people around here, will do the downgrade while waiting to clear up medical issues so they can medically re-qualify, as some states may make you jump through hoops if you downgrade all the way to a non-CDL Class License. With an Intrastate Exempt CDL , all you have to do is produce a DOT Med Card - and upgrade back to an Interstate Non-Exempt.

So Bruce - DON'T GET THE IDEA YOU CAN DRIVE A CMV - as long as you don't leave the state. That is NOT what "exempt" means.

Rick

Rick, what can I drive here within the state of Wisconsin??????

Rick, what can I drive here within the state of Wisconsin??????

CDL Medical Tiers, Wisconsin DOT

Rick, what can I drive here within the state of Wisconsin??????

Your CAR?

The exempt (from DOT Med) is meant for very limited circumstances - and I'd suspect the Michigan guidelines would probably be a good example of everywhere - as the exemption is based on Federal Regs.

You will NOT BE driving for a local LTL company, or pretty much anything involved in COMMERCE that requires a CDL. Most exemptions are for farm type operations, or other vehicle types that would require a CDL based on vehicle classification.

An exempt CDL isn't a LICENSE TO FAIL TO COMPLY with the reasons WHY YOU LOST YOUR MEDICAL CERTIFICATION.

So either deal with the issues that created your OSA and retest to certify you no longer have it (keeping in mind, if you go to another OTR company and they test for OSA again and you FAIL - you WILL HAVE TO GET ON THE CPAP). Or just get a "compliant CPAP" and get into COMPLIANCE.

As I recall - you LEFT THE ROAD - because you couldn't/wouldn't COMPLY with CPAP Requirements - or they GAVE YOU A CHANCE to go home and GET INTO COMPLIANCE AND RETURN - and you DID NOT.

Again - the suggestion that you go "exempt" when your Med Cert expired, was to retain a CDL and upgrade back into non-exempt when you were able to re-acquire a valid Med Card. NOT so you can go out and get a driving job.

I sometimes get the impression that you are looking for ways to "beat the system", and get back into a TT. There AREN'T ANY. And much as we like you here - we aren't going to encourage you to "skirt the rules".

Get healthy, get COMPLIANT, get you Med Card and get back out on the road.

Rick

Rick, I appreciate your advice and I don't have any problem with you concluding I'm looking for a loophole, I know it looks that way, so no offense taken.

I wasn't taken off the road by Schneider for OSA. I had my CPAP machine and was getting into compliance. They took me off driving because of another issue that came up in regard to a prescription I was taking. They needed the original paperwork for that from my Doctor, which they had and couldn't find. My Doctor couldn't find it either. So instead of giving me time to get my Doctor to re-submit the needed paperwork, my DBL called me in Georgia and told me I was medically disqualified to drive until I got the needed physician approval. My doctor wouldn't do that until I came in for an office visit. So, I was stuck 1200 miles from home with a truck I wasn't allowed to drive. They told me to clean out my truck and they would buy me a plane or bus ticket back to Madison. They wouldn't rent me a car because I wasn't allowed to even drive a car if they rented it. The bus and plane were not options because of all the stuff I needed to remove from the truck. So, I rented a SUV on my own and it cost me just over $600 and two days to get home. Now other things have presented themselves at home, so I'm going to get those things taken care of. For, one, I sold my house and have to move by July 31. Working on that big change. I'm also on my weight loss plan. Down to 220 from 238. I hope next time I go in for a DOT physical, the OSA is not an issue, but if it still is, I'll just accept it and deal with the CPAP machine.

I know all that is confusing. Heck, I went through it personally and even I'm confused. But it is what it is and I do miss being on the road solo. It was so much simpler and enjoyable than what I have to do during the coming months. I do plan to start driving again and that's why I'm trying to keep my head in the game by participating here on TT. I really enjoy hearing all the chatter from you drivers about your experiences and, yes, even the difficulties. Be safe, my friends!