I can drive another year

2underage · Mar 30, 2017

Because my pickup truck and my trailer are rated for over 26,000 pounds I must have a CDL to drive it. No big deal since I have had a commercial license for over 60 years but now, as all commercial drivers know, I must pass a physical each year to keep that CDL endorsement. I use my hauling outfit to move tractors and farm equipment that I buy and sell so I can not just give it up.

As anyone who must pass this health test knows, they can be quite inclusive and they have many reasons to fail you. One area is your blood pressure which can not be over 140 over 80. For a younger guy or gal that is no big deal but when you get older it can be more and more difficult to reach that limit. Myself, being in my eighties, it becomes more difficult every year. This year it was 128 over 70 but who knows what it would be after driving a few hundred miles in crazy traffic. Also, as drivers like Jon from MN, will tell you many of those little car and pickup drivers should be required to pass some annual driving test to.

I consider myself to be a good and safe driver and if I ever doubt that I will quit driving my rig but until then watch out for that crazy looking old fool barreling down the highway like some wild teenager. Happy farming.

farmerwithmutt · Mar 30, 2017

I had a good laugh on my renter last year he said one of his semi drivers wanted to go home at five but then he said i can't blame him he is over 80. It's nice to know that you can be needed and that driver is valued because at harvest you need everyone. What gets me mad is working in factories you get kids who don't want to do menial boring jobs but rather sit all day playing silly computer games and extra points to the ones that got kids to raise.

rrlund · Mar 30, 2017

You can keep your CDL here in Michigan without getting a physical,just don't get caught driving something that you need the CDL for. I've still got mine because it was too much trouble to get to just give it up,but no sense getting the physical if I'm not driving anything where I need it.

Billy NY · Mar 30, 2017

I thought the medical examiners card was only if you have to drive out of state, but even if not, still a good thing to do. I'm current with the recent physical for mine just in case I have to drive on short notice.

Mike M · Mar 30, 2017

With these ridiculous low pressure figures no way I will ever be able to get a CDL anymore ! Doc had me try all sort of meds and all I got from them was more problems.

rustyfarmall · Mar 30, 2017

I got tired of jumping through the hoops. Dropped the CDL. Still have the truck and trailer. A young, blond, still wet behind the ears female highway patrolman told me a cdl was not needed for a pickup truck and trailer. I expect she has been educated differently by now.

Dick L · Mar 30, 2017

I took old ugly North of Detroit Tuesday to pick up a 614. I took the Ohio Pike to 75 then North to 94. Going thru Toledo past the old Jeep plant was fun. No CDL and the scales were closed up on 75, I wouldn't have stopped no how. Had a cop pull up beside me for a look see then sped up went to look else where. He was probly only trying to figure out if old ugly was safe to be on the road. I be that crazy old fool thinking he was a young whipper snapper. Yup I stayed right up with the those careful 18 wheeler drivers whipping lane to lane where the signs say all trucks in the right lane.

^D

fixerupper · Mar 30, 2017

You have very good blood pressure for any age. My blood pressure is in about the same range as yours but I'm younger. Last time I had the CDL physical it was 140/80!!! A few months later it was 118/79! Grrrr.

2underage · Mar 30, 2017

I am close to several state borders and I often do cross state lines so I do need the CDL. I could get by if I traded my trailer for one that hauls less but then I would be tempted to go over loaded. I have been toying with the idea of getting rid of my truck and trailer and just hire everything hauled. The older I get the better that idea looks. Happy hauling and happy farming.

300jk · Mar 30, 2017

Yep ! Know all about the blood pressure thing and CDL. Failed mine at the end of January because of it. I am 42 and look to be in good shape. 6 ft. 190 lbs. I have been trying to lower it by watching my diet, daily dose of cider vinegar, and exercise. I don't want to be on pills if I don't have to. It seems to be working slowly. Once under control I will have to take the physical again.

55 50 Ron · Mar 30, 2017

118/79 Grrr Is that a bad reading? I don't know what the limits are although I do have CDL with School Bus endorsement. It needs renewal every 2 years.

dpendzic · Mar 30, 2017

here in NY state you can keep your CDL without a physical if you certify to drive only intrastate---need the physical if you drive interstate

Crazy Horse · Mar 30, 2017

Blood pressure readings can vary from one minute to the next. Even a bit of anxiety when they wrap that blanket around your arm can make a big difference. Problem is, the first reading is usually the only one they do and the results could not be what someone else wants.

4520BW · Mar 30, 2017

Around here we just slap farm tags on it and CDL needed. Another good thing is we can plate our grain haulers for the empty weight of the unit. Still have to keep weight under gvw

john in la · Mar 30, 2017

As long as you are at of below 140/90 you qualify.

fixerupper · Mar 30, 2017

LOL. The reason I went GRRR was, why wasn't it that low when I took the CDL physical? It's just my luck! If I remember right the first reading was 142 but the nurse took it again and the second time it was 140.

showcrop · Mar 30, 2017

The biggest physical problem now is your neck size. I am 68 and am due for my physical this year. I drive only occasionally but I still like to go out and push for twelve hours if they need me. I even help out as a laborer now and then to try to keep the job moving along. Other than bad arthritis I am in very good health so no worries about the physical. I have a friend who must be 85 and up until they failed him on his road test five years ago he was still driving regularly for the family business. He would tell anyone who would listen for the next two years about how they had mistreated him.

NCWayne · Mar 31, 2017

What gets me is a 90 year old man with high blood pressure, sleep apnea, hemorrhoids, and any number of other disqualifying medical afflictions can get in an RV, with a GVW over the 10,000 lb limit set for a commercial med card, an drive it coast to coast, North to South, pulling a vehicle/trailer, and never worry about having to be 'checked out' to say he's healthy enough to do it.

On the other hand, try to make a living, and they do everything in their power to make it as impossible as they can to do.

Now, just be lucky your not like me and have 'white coat syndrome'. In other words, the second I walk through the door into a doctors office, my blood pressure goes up. I was diagnosed with it as a teen, and it hasn't gotten any better as I have aged. I can, and do, routinely keep track of it at home and I always stay around 120/80. On the other hand, I've had it taken at the doctors office and seen it jump in excess of 170/90 plus before dropping back, just not all the way back to where it needs to be.

I 'passed' three physicals with them letting me have time to rest/relax, and then letting the doctor come in and use a regular cuff instead of the machine. Not sure if it really went down enough or not, but the doc showed it as being good on the report.

The last time I went in there was a new nurse practioner doing everything. Just her deemener didn't set well with me, but it was what it was. Anyways, I told them going in my blood pressure was going to be up, and to give me enough time and it could drop, which it did, just not enough because they kept screwing with me. For instance the female nurse practitioner said I really needed to get a physical therapist to say I was OK to drive because I had hurt the end of my left index finger....even though I had just left the specialist's office an hour before and went from a chicken leg sized dressing to a single Band aide..

How the heck did they think a hurt finger was going to effect me driving? Anyways, they decided I could go get a note from the specialist and waive the physical therapist deal. So they said to go get a note and they would bring me immediately back in when I returned. I figured it would give me time to get out of the office and let my blood pressure drop, so I was all for it.

So, I went and got the note. They took my blood pressure within 5 minutes of me walking back in with the note. The assistant who took it said I was good to go, and she would let the nurse know. They made me wait another 15 minutes before the nurse came back in. By this time it has already gone above normal again. She decided she'd give me ten minutes and try again. When she came back it was higher than it was to begin with.

At this point I just said to heck with it, took the three month card, and haven't been back. I know I need to do it again, as I do go out of state on occasion, but I have no idea how to get it to drop when the doctors office is what makes it go up. Like I told them, I avoid doctors to stay healthy.

What do I do from here, I don't know. I refuse to spend time and money going to half a dozen doctors for them to tell me something I already know. I'm thinking seriously about trying it again, but to start taking aspirin a week or so before to thin my blood enough to keep it down when I go in. Thing is I know this can potentially hurt me by causing it to drop too low.....

Thus I am stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place......dealing with one of the most idiotic rules I have ever seen, especially in light of what I mentioned in my first paragraph......

Mike M · Mar 31, 2017

I might also add that the motor home can have people in it standing /roaming around and not need be strapped in.

showcrop · Mar 31, 2017

(quoted from post at 22:09:49 03/30/17) What gets me is a 90 year old man with high blood pressure, sleep apnea, hemorrhoids, and any number of other disqualifying medical afflictions can get in an RV, with a GVW over the 10,000 lb limit set for a commercial med card, an drive it coast to coast, North to South, pulling a vehicle/trailer, and never worry about having to be 'checked out' to say he's healthy enough to do it.

On the other hand, try to make a living, and they do everything in their power to make it as impossible as they can to do.

Now, just be lucky your not like me and have 'white coat syndrome'. In other words, the second I walk through the door into a doctors office, my blood pressure goes up. I was diagnosed with it as a teen, and it hasn't gotten any better as I have aged. I can, and do, routinely keep track of it at home and I always stay around 120/80. On the other hand, I've had it taken at the doctors office and seen it jump in excess of 170/90 plus before dropping back, just not all the way back to where it needs to be.

I 'passed' three physicals with them letting me have time to rest/relax, and then letting the doctor come in and use a regular cuff instead of the machine. Not sure if it really went down enough or not, but the doc showed it as being good on the report.

The last time I went in there was a new nurse practioner doing everything. Just her deemener didn't set well with me, but it was what it was. Anyways, I told them going in my blood pressure was going to be up, and to give me enough time and it could drop, which it did, just not enough because they kept screwing with me. For instance the female nurse practitioner said I really needed to get a physical therapist to say I was OK to drive because I had hurt the end of my left index finger....even though I had just left the specialist's office an hour before and went from a chicken leg sized dressing to a single Band aide..

How the heck did they think a hurt finger was going to effect me driving? Anyways, they decided I could go get a note from the specialist and waive the physical therapist deal. So they said to go get a note and they would bring me immediately back in when I returned. I figured it would give me time to get out of the office and let my blood pressure drop, so I was all for it.

So, I went and got the note. They took my blood pressure within 5 minutes of me walking back in with the note. The assistant who took it said I was good to go, and she would let the nurse know. They made me wait another 15 minutes before the nurse came back in. By this time it has already gone above normal again. She decided she'd give me ten minutes and try again. When she came back it was higher than it was to begin with.

At this point I just said to heck with it, took the three month card, and haven't been back. I know I need to do it again, as I do go out of state on occasion, but I have no idea how to get it to drop when the doctors office is what makes it go up. Like I told them, I avoid doctors to stay healthy.

What do I do from here, I don't know. I refuse to spend time and money going to half a dozen doctors for them to tell me something I already know. I'm thinking seriously about trying it again, but to start taking aspirin a week or so before to thin my blood enough to keep it down when I go in. Thing is I know this can potentially hurt me by causing it to drop too low.....

Thus I am stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place......dealing with one of the most idiotic rules I have ever seen, especially in light of what I mentioned in my first paragraph......

Wayne, that is a tough situation. You need to acclimate yourself to the clinic. I am prone to sinusitis, some times it drags on for weeks with multiple visits to the doctors at the medical center and to urgent car. So what you do is go in complaining of sinus problems, don't get over it for six weeks and get three visits over six weeks. they will check your BP each time. :lol:

Leroy · Mar 31, 2017

Empty weight determins cost of plate and GVW determins load weight, no way around that to get a different weight.

showcrop · Mar 31, 2017

(quoted from post at 14:30:59 03/31/17) Empty weight determins cost of plate and GVW determins load weight, no way around that to get a different weight.

No, Leroy, they don't care how much you are or are not carrying, and they will not get up and look. All they care about is the plate on the door frame and does it match your registration, and they will charge you for your plate according to weight. It is the same for trailers, the higher the load capacity the more it costs. It is supposed to be related to road wear.

I can drive another year

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