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Q&A
What are the vision requirements to get a DOT medical card?
What if I have monocular vision?
Can I wear contact lenses to do the vision test?
What if I have had laser eye surgery?
I need to obtain a vision waiver. Where can I get the forms?
What are the vision requirements to get a DOT medical card?
You must have a distant visual acuity of at least 20/40 with or without corrective lenses:
- see at least 20/40 with both eyes together
- see at least 20/40 with the right eye
- see at least 20/40 with the left eye.
Monovision is a disqualification. Use of a contact lens in one eye for distant visual acuity and another lens in the other eye for near vision is not acceptable, nor are telescopic lenses acceptable for driving a commercial motor vehicle.
Exemption: A driver with monocular vision may be able to get a Federal Vision Exemption Certificate, if medically fit for duty in all other categories of the physical exam.
What if I have monocular vision?
If you pass all other aspects of the DOT physical, and you meet all vision requirements in the functioning eye, then you may be considered for a Federal Vision Exemption.
Can I wear contact lenses to do the vision test?
You are permitted to wear contact lenses provided you’re used to wearing them and have a good tolerance for wearing contacts. Be aware that monovision is a disqualification, so use of a contact lens in one eye for distant visual acuity and another lens in the other eye for near vision is not acceptable.
What if I have had laser eye surgery?
Provided you meet the vision requirements, you should have no problem.
I am legally blind in one eye from an injury? With documentation from my eye specialist can I pass the DOT physical?
This type of injury will require documentation.
If you are going to drive only within your state borders, it will be easier. Just check with your DMV to see what the states rules and regulations are.
To pursue an interstate medical card will require an exemption that you can only get from FMCSA. Check out the requirements to determine if this is something you want to pursue. It is possible, but a bit tough to do. Lots of hoops, but do-able.
I need to obtain a vision waiver. Where can I get the forms?
FMCSA has a Vision Exemption Program which has specific requirements for each application. You will get a decision within 180 days of completing your application. To find out more and get the forms go to this FMCSA official webpage.
I have 20/20 vision corrected, right eye. 20/200 uncorrectable in my left eye, 70 degree plus horizontal left and right. Does this fail the DOT physical?
DOT requires you have a minimum of 20/40 vision in each eye, and in both eyes together, either non-corrective or with corrective lenses. Your peripheral vision is within normal limits.
All that being said, you could be driving skills tested with a FMCSA exemption. Check with the FMCSA for the requirements for that particular exemption.
I’ve been a CDL driver for 16 years. Last week, for my DOT physical the doctor made me do the color test from a book with numbers and dots. I could get only half of them right. I have always been able to see the colors red, green and amber and pass my DOT physical. Now the book test has made me fail the color portion of the DOT physical. What’s going on with this?
It looks like the doctor is trying to determine if you may be color blind. But the primary reason for the DOT physical color test is to determine your ability to distinguish red, amber/yellow and green – not a color blindness examination. Not really sure as to why they would do this. Especially since you have been driving for so long. You are correct to question this.
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I am an admissions and placement rep for a CDL school. One of my students is unable to pass the vision test in his right eye. He has passed his driver’s license test and has no other medical issues. I know we can file a vision waiver, but the wording in the waiver precludes him because he’s not driven a CMV the past 3 years. How do I get someone who has never had a CDL a waiver so he can GET his CDL?
@Kym
Start with the state Driver’s License Department and see what they have to say. Once the state gets involved, they may be able to help you with the DOT paperwork.
The same doctor that failed my hearing test also failed my eye test. I went to an eye doctor later that day, and tested 20/20 in one eye and 20/30 in the other eye. Do I need a better doctor? This guy was also a chiropractor. Amazing.
@JC
So when you go to retest, try somebody else.
It’s not about generalizing a profession. It’s the supposed professional, and maybe their role, that you need to look out for.
I have only 20/50 in my right eye, corrected, due to corneal scarring from a viral infection. My left is 20/15 corrected. Together I can achieve the 20/40 no problem. I find I was misinformed that all that mattered was the two eyes together. I already have a WIA grant for CDL school and am supposed to start in March. Right now I feel devastated. Can anyone offer me advice or a glimmer of hope? I wanted to drive interstate and am a Chicago, Illinois resident.
@Alan
Somebody has mis-informed you about the vision portion of the test.
Class A-interstate driver must have 20/40 or better, either corrected or not, in each eye individually and together.
You may want to check into driving intra-state, as the state laws may allow for the visual difference. Or you could check into a vision waiver through the FMCSA.
My husband had a brain tumor that was removed on 01/27/2015. It was in a part of his brain that affects the vision. The only part of his vision that is affected is his left side peripheral vision.
Today we went for an eye exam & the eye doctor said that he has 70 degree peripheral in his left eye, and normal range in his right eye.
My 2 questions 1) what is normal range (what degree is normal?), as I was also told that I have normal range in both eyes, and what is the degree for him to pass a DOT physical?
Lauri
@Lauri
70 degrees from straight forward looking to lateral most. Average is in the 90 to 120 degrees. Each eye, individually, must see at least 70 degrees from straight ahead.
I worked for the Madison county highway for 16 years had time invested in my retirement and was let go only after passing all written test went in front of a judge in Indianapolis at the Ameriplex center OFF 70 WEST was never told I could get a federal waiver the judge told me there was no way possibale for me to get my c.d.l license do to the fact im blind in one eye………so now I come to find out that’s not true hows come I was lied to I went thru pure hell with my ex employer and I have called back down to indy every year and was always told the same thing WHY??????
@David
Sounds like no one there knows their behind from a hole in the wall. FMCSA has a visual waiver process and lots of drivers have qualified for it.
Hi, I’m asking this question for my husband. His certification expires 1/31/15, he fell on the ice and his glasses broke, he has no spare set. Our optician won’t be able to get his new glasses till sometime in February. He’s going for his physical 1/30/15, the facility advised if he fails his vision, the doctor will not even see him, he has to turn in his cdl license which expires 6/18. When I questioned this, then they changed the story and said if he comes back in February with new glasses they can date the certificate in February, not 1/31/15 when it expires. Could you please clarify? Also, he is not working currently. Thanks so much!
@carol
Unless you are in a state like California, there should not be a major issue. Just go get the glasses first and then go for the DOT examination. The medical card is tied to the CDL so the driver can drive, but it is not tied in such a way as to have to give the CDL up and start all over. By FMCSA regulations he must be able to pass the medical examination to carry a medical certificate. And if he can’t pass the vision test, then he should not be driving now anyhow.
The DOT certifiers are being told to encourage drivers to carry a spare set. Zenni optical online can give you a set of ugly ones for about 7$ making that possible without breaking the bank. Otherwise for quick solution to broken glasses for most folks, the eye doc can fit you with a set of contacts for a few weeks so you can keep on trucking and pass the exam. If you need glasses to pass the physical, your license carries the stipulation, “while wearing corrective lenses.”
My state will demote my CDL A to a regular class d license if I don’t fax them a new dot medical card by Feb 21 I’m retired haven’t driven a truck in 10 years but I don’t want to give up my CDL, why should I? I failed the vision part of physical, theye used a 5″ x 7″ eye chart on the wall @ 6 feet from me not the Snellen eye chart
@Val
You have to maintain a valid medical card to maintain a valid CDL in most states now a days. Thank the Fed for that.
Also you should have had your eye examination on a standard snelling chart, so whomever did your examination is at fault for not using the correct chart. So go to your eye doctor and have him perform the eye examination, then take the results back to who ever failed you and get your medical certificate.
I’ve had my class A CDL for 9 years now, I have a blind spot in left eye from injury when I was a kid 20+ years ago, I’ve essentially passed the exam by cheating but my job states no CDL your fired, I need to come clean with my doctor as I don’t want to jeopardize his career not to mention my hands are crippling with dupuytrens contracture, should I just accept the fact it’s over with my CDL or do you know of any option I can take?
@frank
You may have another option, which would be to do a slight downgrade in your drivers class and work intra-state only. The rules and regulations may be a bit more relaxed for your state. Check with your state DLD and see what it would take to downgrade and drive locally. Good Luck
Hi i’m 24 years old and I went to a cvs minute clinic to take my dot physical in Florida. I passed everything on the physical except the vision portion. The examiner temporarily disqualified me due to my vision which needs to be corrected with glasses. The doctor also mentioned that I need to see a specialist and than retest. Does this mean that the dot now has the information that I took the test and failed the vision portion? Can I just go to another testing site?will my first tested attempt be recorded in their system?
@Angel
All you really need to do is get your glasses or corrective lenses and go back to the original examiner and have them confirm that you made the necessary corrections and you’ll be good to go.
And, yes, your information was entered into the FMCSA data base. That portion is really immaterial. Once you have shown that you got corrected lenses, the examiner will go back into the FMCSA data base and update the original information input.
FMCSA has a website that tracks drivers DOT results, and prevents drivers from “Doctor Shopping” so yes, you have been marked as failed.