Truck Stop Blimps

[repojohn10]

What happens when I finally go deaf? (still a few years down the road but it is coming)

When that does happen, you will not be cleared for a medical card. You should be tested for this when you go for your physical, but in 11 years of having a CDL I've only been tested 2 times for this.

Truck drivers are making conclusions on 2010 based on rumors on the cb or boards like this. 1 person says a DOT officer told them so and so, and BAM ...here we go again. Legal law stats that if you can prove capable of the job, then you cannot be disqualified, however companies have figured out ways on paper to disqualify you w/o being sued everytime. Its the carriers choice to make rulings pertaining to physical aspects of a person, but it has to be put out in front of ANY prospects.

This is my personal view on 2010.

It has been put in place to do 2 things. 1. Remove unsafe drivers and carriers from the roadways. 2. Generate more revenue for states.
I personally think its more about the revenue then the actual safety concerns.

Lets face it. 2010 brings only 1 new reality to the table. The point system for drivers and carriers. Drivers are worried now because their names will be hurt just as bad as their carriers name. It's a catch 22 really!!!! 2010 does not effect your actual license, HOWEVER your CSA score will effect your chance to work for someone if you continue to get violations. ALL these rules that are (csa) related are the SAME laws that you have had to obey for the last, how many, years? Nothing is new, pti's, tires, maintenance, logs, insurance, bonds, yada, yada.....NONE of that should be a surprise to anyone that has been in this industry. People have been reacting like they just changed the industry around over night. They aren't making new laws, just putting pressure on DOT to ENFORCE the laws!!

Now, with that little rant over, I do feel CSA will get bad drivers off the road. ALSO, i feel its going to put good drivers in bad situations w/ owners that aren't 100% on top on their trucks. Now its again....a catch....... as a driver you should refuse to move that truck, but how many of us out here have done something just to get up the road to get it fixed? I'm sorry, but if you say that you've never been in that position then there is only 2 answers. 1. Your lying or 2. You haven't been out here long enough to have that decision forced on you.

How about we simplify CSA with this.......

Go to work and do your job the way its required of you. Pick your battles with the carrier/dispatcher but be professional and not the stereotype that truckers have. Then.....go home for your time off and not have to worry or complain all 3 days while your home.

I know I'm far from right or perfect, it just amazes me how many people cant do the simple daily requirements to be a safe, legal carrier/driver.

 

[layoutshooter]

Well, you are tested every time. They assume you passed a "forced whisper" test if you can answer every day questions. NOT the right way to do it but it is done that way. I was "tested" in a hearing box one year, failed, passed with hearing aids. Had those on my med card for one year. Now I pass the "whisper test".

What does my hearing have to do with driving? Not able to understand cops and scale guys? Can those who speak no English? Why should I lose my means of income because I served the country and my hearing was destroyed? I can't get compensation, how do I live?

I can see, work my clutch, my arms can handle a steering wheel. I can see emergency lights.

It just ain't right.

Just like my buddy whose knees are gone, multiple "jumps" into places that our military was never in. Like Cambodia, Loas etc. NOTHING for him either.

It just SUCKS!!!

 

[repojohn10]

Layover,

I have had the box 1 time and the little ear thing 1 time. Other then that, no whisper tests or anything close to it.

As far as you should be able to drive if you can't hear? I don't agree. Yes, your ears aren't your only means of driving or loading/unloading, but they are more important then you think!

Lets face it, if you cannot have a normal drivers license if your deaf, why should you be able to drive a commercial vehicle?

**I'm sure there are ways to get a license with disabilities, but without a right off or some pulling of strings, I know you can't just go to dmv and pass**

I think I conveyed what I was thinking....

 

[layoutshooter]

Layover,

I have had the box 1 time and the little ear thing 1 time. Other then that, no whisper tests or anything close to it.

As far as you should be able to drive if you can't hear? I don't agree. Yes, your ears aren't your only means of driving or loading/unloading, but they are more important then you think!

Lets face it, if you cannot have a normal drivers license if your deaf, why should you be able to drive a commercial vehicle?

**I'm sure there are ways to get a license with disabilities, but without a right off or some pulling of strings, I know you can't just go to dmv and pass**

I think I conveyed what I was thinking....

Since when can you NOT have a drivers license if you are deaf? Never HEARD that one!! (at least I can still laugh at it)

You cannot fire a deaf person on the loading dock. Read the regs on the "forced whisper" test. They don't "give" you that, like they should, they just "pass" you if you can answer the questions asked. SOMETIMES they even talk a little quieter.

 

[repojohn10]

Layover,

I totally get your point of view!! I know in VA and TX (where I've held licenses) depending on your situation, they do have the right to refuse you rights to drive. Most situations can be doc. approved with a bunch of hassle, but yes.....states do hold the right to NOT allow you to operate a motor vehicle. It all falls into proving that you are capable.

 

[layoutshooter]

Layover,

I totally get your point of view!! I know in VA and TX (where I've held licenses) depending on your situation, they do have the right to refuse you rights to drive. Most situations can be doc. approved with a bunch of hassle, but yes.....states do hold the right to NOT allow you to operate a motor vehicle. It all falls into proving that you are capable.

As far as I can find out, NO state restricts deaf people from driving. Michigan allows it. So does PA, MD and SC. Those are the state I held drivers licenses in. As far as I can find out there are NO restrictions on deaf driving other than mirrors. I prove I am capable every day.

 

[layoutshooter]

Proper "forced whisper test" proceedure:


Forced Whisper Test

A hearing aid may be worn while testing. When a hearing aid is used to qualify, the hearing aid must be worn while driving.

The testing area should be free from noise that could interfere with a valid test. Measure and mark the five-foot passing distance.

Right ear examination:

Have the driver cover the left ear.
Stand to the side or behind the driver to eliminate visual cues.
From the measured five-foot distance from the right ear, exhale fully and then whisper a sequence of words, numbers, or letters.

(Avoid using only s-sounding words.)

Ask the driver to repeat the whispered sequence.
To pass, the driver must respond correctly.

Repeat the procedure for the left ear, making sure that the right ear is covered and that you are positioned the measured five-foot distance from the left ear.

Complete the forced whisper test for both ears, whether or not the initial test result meets the hearing requirement.




One of the two test are required to pass your DOT medical. The hearing is OFTEN ignored.

 

[AMonger]

http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&context=crs

It would appear obesity is not covered under the ADA with very few exceptions. If a driver is unable to fit behind the wheel of any truck owned by the company, I doubt he could claim ADA rights. Unless you are covered by a Union contract you are for the most part an "at will" employee and as such, can be terminated without cause.

In 2008, iirc, some clarification was made, and one of the factors triggering ADA involvement was if the obesity is glandular in origin. There was some further clarification regarding whether or not one was morbidly obese or merely regular-obese.

One of those links I posted is from a legal advisor to corporate America, and he says the ADA will increasingly cover obesity.

 

[AMonger]

Read the regs on the "forced whisper" test. They don't "give" you that, like they should, they just "pass" you if you can answer the questions asked. SOMETIMES they even talk a little quieter.

I haven't had the forced whisper test on every exam, but I do remember I one occasion on which the doctor whispered, but it was definitely not a FORCED whisper, just a regular whisper that there was no way I could hear. Now, it's true that I may have listened to too much Judas Priest in my youth, and I do have a permanent ring in one ear from the first time I fired a .357 magnum, but I've never had trouble hearing a legit forced whisper. But the thing is, one doctor calls one thing a forced whisper, but it's not, and the others have all done what must be the forced whisper. So there I was, thinking I'm going to fail this hearing test because this one doctor has a different definition of forced whisper. Fortunately, he repeated it and I heard it that time.

But it made me think that there should be some standardized machine or something, not individual doctors with their own standards and definitions.

 

[xiggi]

this might upset some people. I believe unless a persons obesity is caused by something like a thyroid problem no way should it be covered by anything like ada. I smoke I would never expect to be covered for lung cancer. If a ailment is caused by personal decisions then that person should be responsible for the consequences.

 

[greg334]

I think you missed the point.

The ada does apply to trucking, there have been already issues with disabled truckers who got waivers and are driving, even a few in wheelchairs. The problem is that it circumvents other regulations that were put there for safety reasons and take up parking spots. I didn't say I agreed with it, I don't - I think people with some handicaps don't need to be in a truck.

With that said, the Obesity thing is another issue.

Like PTSD, there can be a number of doctors who can write you off as disabled, just look at how some insurance companies justify gastric surgeries and you will get the idea.

I think if the FMCSA want to do something positive, remove some of the archaic logging rules and allow the driver to make decisions based on their bodies and schedules. Remember that they (the advisory boards) link fat people to sleep issue and sleep issues to fatigue and fatigue to accidents but the very latest accident investigation report published by the FMCSA showed that fatigued drivers were not the number one cause for accidents, I think it came in at 6 or 7. Speeding I think tops the list with distracted driving running a close second (Distracted driving is redefined with every report or seems to be).

BUT in a lot of cases with the VA, there is no hope, it is a government entity and subject to being a rather protective bureaucracy. Having hearing problems may be the end of your driving career (hope not) because the laws are clear, you must be able to hear audible signals, but put yourself in the place of someone who lost her arm and had to fight to get continuing care for the unit she received. The VA with all of it's glory is defective.