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Pennsylvania CDL DOT Medical Card Requirements
The new Federal regulations also require commercial drivers to self-certify the type of driving in which they operate or expect to operate. Nearly every commercial driver, unless the type of commerce you drive qualifies as ‘Excepted’, is required to submit their valid Medical Examiner’s Certificate to PennDOT.
- Non-Excepted Interstate (NI)
You must meet the Federal DOT medical certificate requirements. - Non-Excepted Intrastate (NA)
You must meet Pennsylvania requirements under Title 67, Chapter 231.
If you are not currently working as a professional driver, and to avoid the loss of the commercial driving designation and the requirement to apply for a learner’s permit, you may self-certify as either “Excepted Interstate” or “Excepted Intrastate” transportation. Making this change to the driving record will automatically disqualify you from operating in any form of non-excepted transportation. If and when your driving type changes, you will be required to resubmit the Self-Certification Form and submit a valid Medical Examiner’s Certificate.
CDL Self-Certification
Submit the following two documents:
- Self-Certification Form (DL-11CD) – download the form here from PennDOT.
- Copy of your valid DOT medical card. (Medical card only, not the long form.) Enlarge the copy to 5 inches by 7 inches, to ensure that all information is legible.
By Mail:
PennDOT
Bureau of Driver Licensing
P.O. Box 69008
Harrisburg, PA 17106-9008
By Fax:
717-783-5429
In Person:
At your local PennDOT Driver License Center.
PennDOT will mail you a receipt indicating that the Medical Examiner’s Certification and/or Self-Certification Form has been processed. You should keep this receipt.
Keep your Medical Card Current with PennDOT
If you self-certify “Non-Excepted” (NI or NA) you are required to keep a valid medical card on file with PennDOT. Check your medical card expiration date! If it expires within the next 60 days you should renew it, and get it updated with PennDOT before it expires.
Approximately 90 days prior to the expiration date of your medical certificate, PennDOT will mail you a reminder letter. Approximately 30 days prior to the expiration date of your medical certificate, PennDOT will mail you an official downgrade notice, which emphasizes the date the commercial designation will be removed from your driver license.
A new medical card can be processed at a PennDOT Driver’s License Center as late as the day the current certificate expires to avoid the downgrade process.
Submit a legible copy (enlarge the copy to 5 inches by 7 inches) of your Medical Certificate (medical card only, not the long form) to PennDOT:
By Mail: Only if you are submitting at least 30 days before the due date.
PennDOT
Bureau of Driver Licensing
P.O. Box 69008
Harrisburg, PA 17106-9008
By Fax: If you are submitting less than 30 days before the due date.
717-783-5429
In Person: For immediate processing.
At your local PennDOT Driver License Center.
Other Contact Information:
Website: www.dmv.state.pa.us
Commercial Driver’s Information Center
Commercial Driver Information Phone: 717-412-5300 or 800-932-4600
Notice To Medical Examiners
PennDOT notice to medical examiners regarding Medical Examiner’s Certificate
Special Information Updates Pertaining To ALL STATES
MEDICAL EXAMINERS MUST CONTINUE TO ISSUE MEDICAL CERTIFICATES TO ALL DRIVERS
The FMCSA has requested that all medical examiners continue providing drivers with a paper copy of the Medical Examiner’s Certificate – Form MCSA-5876, so that Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) holders can provide a copy to the State licensing agency, and the non-CDL drivers can provide the documentation to their employers and Federal and State enforcement officials.
The Agency is currently completing efforts to put into place an electronic system to enable medical examiners to transmit the medical certificate information from the National Registry system to the State licensing agencies.
Until that system is completed, which compliance date according FMCSA is June 23, 2025, medical examiners must continue to issue paper copies of the medical certificates to drivers who pass the medical exam.
ALL DRIVERS MUST CONTINUE TO CARRY A PAPER COPY OF THEIR MEDICAL CERTIFICATE
Commercial Drivers – You still need to carry a paper copy of your medical card, until FMCSA announces that this is no longer necessary.
Your Feedback Is Welcome
Dealing with Federal DOT Regulations across the board is tough enough!
But when it comes to State Regulations — There are 50 different sets of rules. Someone could move the goal posts at any time…
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If the medical dr. Denies your medical card for a year do they notify the state and what if you just go to a different facility and don’t tell them anything and they give you a card what will happen.
@ Tom
Everything depends the class cdl you are carrying.
Where can I find the information for a 2 year medical card with medication for BP and it being under control for multiple years
@ Ray
DOT/FMCSA class A interstate driver, no such thing as a two year with you on blood pressure meds. Lesser class cdl’s fall under the states rules and regs.
I had a hospital stay and my medical card runs out 5/18. I am not sure when I will be released to return to work. I may have to wear a catheter bag for several more weeks. Is there am extension
form to keep me from losing my medical card.
@ Ronald M K
No. Once you are released to return to work, get a medical exam done and take a copy to your state DLD. They will understand your situation, so should not be an issue.
I do not think all of this is possible.
How can 1 person destroy all of that?
There is no way he can know that much about you in a couple minutes of talking to him. (As you clame. ) So I am pretty sure that most of that is your own fault. And not the doctors. Because there is no way he can know all that information about you. If you only talk to him for a couple of minutes, so it is your own fault.
Unless you Whence in talking and telling more information than you even had to.
Can I ask who you were replying to? I’m not quite sure I know
Do church bus drivers in Pennsylvania require a medical exam to get their cdl?
@ marcy
That question will need to be answered by your local drivers license department.
The funny thing is I’ve been given both answers by two different driver’s license departments I’ve been told yes by one and No by the other.
@ marcy
Then ask your local DOT. It is a question of cdl vs church bus driver.
Has anyone ever had a dr, break hippa laws, defame your character, break patient privilege guidelines, give you a psychological evaluation on your mental health. This unqualified doctor is so stuck on himself that he discloses his opinion on a one time meeting for a few minutes, as a diagnosis of my mental state? This one indiscretion has destroyed my life. I lost my job, my CDL license, my regular license. I’ve destroyed my credit, lost standing in the community, on the verge of bankruptcy and losing my home.
@ JC
Sounds like you need a good attorney.
Hello, I am still confused about seizure exemption for intrastate non CDL…does this go just to PA DMV or Federal DOT & who do I specifically contact (at DMV)? Thanks
@ Dee
You are a non cdl holder and in most cases your medical card does not go to anyone. Since you fall under your states guidelines and variances, you will get your best answers from your local DLD/DMV. If your state has issued a standard drivers license, then you should be fine. Do confirm with your local DLD and follow their process.
Has any CDL driver ever been asked for extra verification from PA DOT, regarding their DOT physical?
Good afternoon, I was wondering if a medical card can be submitted via email for certification? If so what is the appropriate email address that we can use?
@ Mary
Check with your local drivers license department (DLD) for guidance.
I had my medical card disqualified for a synope event related to covid. How do I appeal or get my medical card reinstated?
@ Jay
For a class A cdl holder, you will need supporting medical documentation from your cardiologist, along with a medical release form. Then get a new medical cert exam.
I got hired to drive a school van non cdl I have monocular vision in one eye hot denied to pass the physical due to this but I have no restrictions on my dl what do I do to be able to get my physical passed.
@ Yvette
Your medical examiner is holding you to DOT/FMCSA guidelines for a class A cdl holder, which you are not. You fall under your states guidelines and variances, which are more relaxed. Find a medical examiner that know the difference between the two standards. And make sure you explain that you are not a cdl holder, you just need medical card.
have a valid medical marijuana card that was issued because of a knee replacement that I use for pain management. can I still receive and be eligible for a DOT medical certification?
@ James A
Everything will depend on the class cdl you will be going for.
Not a CDL medical certificate!
How do I get a wallet size card?
Jim, If your provider did not issue one, take your certification to a Staples. They will be happy to shrink it down for you for a reasonable fee.
@ Rick
Just make sure a DOT officer or highway patrol can read it at night with the naked eye.
How old do you have to be to get a physical card?
@ Ryan
Just old enough to get a standard drivers license. CDL, you will have to pass the states requirements.
How do I get a seizure exemption to get my DOT medical card. I need it for PA I already contacted the FMCSA and the said that they do not have any jurisdiction I can you tell me who I can contact to help me with this.
@ Debra G
Lots will depend on the class cdl you carry. Class A cdl will be very difficult, but a lesser class cdl or intra-state only may fall under the states requirements and not federal regs.
My friend lost his DOT physical card. He knows it’s due sometime in August, but doesn’t remember when. The reminder 90 days prior accidently got thrown away. Is there a way he can find out when it expires, so he can get the physical prior to that?
@ Karen
Best advice is get it done now.
Call the doctor’s office where he got the last one done, they are required to have it in their files.
If my medical examiner’s certification card is expired because of sleep apnea what are my next steps? I am currently on day 10 of 30 days of using a CPAP machine and then get retested. Do I need to do anything between now and then ?
@ James K
If you were not given a short medical card, then ask the examiner for one while you complete the remainder of the test. Or, if you were given a short card, ask for another while you complete his request.
Is it true that part of the exam is a neck measurement, and if it’s beyond that limit, the driver has to use a CPAP if they snore? Someone told me that last week. Asking for a man that stopped by my church asking for help with rent, he had a CDL, is able to drive, but vaguely remembers the neck measurements. He tried the CPAP, but got less sleep than without it.
@ Rev. AJ S
These are not mandatory according to DOT/FMCSA. The driver has to present with a multitude of symptoms for OSA before a sleep study is requested. Best to get a second opinion from a company that is not in bed with a sleep study facility.
I am trying to get a job as a non CDL truck driver. I had a seizure about a year ago so I wanted to know if I would be able to pass the DOT medical card process. I will be driving only in PA
@ Logan
Since you will not be going for a cdl, then your physical requirements are at the state level and not federal standards. Make sure the medical examiner knows you are NOT a cdl holder. And that he understands the states requirements versus federal DOT/FMCSA.
You have to go to your family doctor and be cleared by them. If you have high blood pressure you need to me medically cleared. And the meds to keep it stable. Heart problems you have to be medically stable and all the paperwork for proof. And you have to do all this crap every year. I just got mine and it’s a pain in the ass!!!!
@ John
Welcome to the fed, we think so also at times.
Hi, i am a driver with cdl and i was just diagnosed with an aneurysm and i wanted to know what is the size limit of an aneurysm for a commercial driver to pass the physical exam required by the DOT in Pennsylvania?
@ Fernando
4 cm and without symptoms and your medical card will be reduced to an annual recertification examination. This is done to monitor your aneurysm data. Greater than 5 cm, starts getting risky and the CME will need additional documentation regarding your well being.
I lost my wallet.
How to I get a replacement Medial Card?
A driver with our company in SC needs to have his medical card non excepted interstate certified. Is there a fax # I can send the required documentation to?
@ JP
You should be able to acquire that information from your local DLD.