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Tennessee CDL Requirements
Updated: 3/23/22
Starting on January 30, 2012, all CDL Drivers will be required to self certify to a single type of commercial operation. You are responsible to provide TDOSHS with your self-certification of operating status by January 30, 2014.
Based on that self certification, you may need to provide the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS) with a current medical examiner’s certificate and show any variance you may have to obtain or keep your CDL.
Interstate Non-Excepted
You must meet the Federal DOT medical certificate requirements.
Intrastate Non-Excepted
You must meet the medical requirements for the State of Tennessee.
If you do not provide TDOSHS with your self-certification and medical certificate by January 30, 2014, TDOSHS will notify you that you are no longer medically certified to operate a CMV in non-excepted Interstate commerce. TDOSHS will then remove all your CDL privileges from your license.
Submit your Affidavit Self-Certification and Medical Certificate Form MCSA 5876 to Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security
Submit the following two documents:
- SUPPLEMENTAL APPLICATION FOR COMMERCIAL DRIVER LICENSE – download the form SF-1480 (Rev11/18) here from Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.
- Copy of your valid Medical Examiner Certificate – Form MCSA 5876 (the medical card, not the long form). Enlarge the copy to ensure that all information is legible.
By Mail:
Tennessee Dept. of Safety and Homeland Security
Commercial Driver License Division – Med Cert
1148 Foster Ave
Nasvhille, TN 37243
By Email:
DI.CDL.Medcert@tn.gov
If by email please send the scanned copies in a PDF.
Upload Self-Certification Affidavit and Medical Examiner’s Certificate:
TN Driver Services upload link
For questions please call 615-502-4179. Please have your commercial driver license number readily available.
Keep Your Medical Card Current With Tennessee Department Of Safety
The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security will be adding your medical certification status and the information on your medical examiner’s certificate to your Commercial Driver’s License System (CDLIS) record. CDL holders required to have a ”certified” medical status who fail to provide and keep up-to-date their medical examiner’s certificate with TDOSHS will become ”not-certified”.
It is the driver’s responsibility to maintain up to date medical certification notification to the state.
Before your medical card expires you must have a new medical examination and obtain a new medical certificate. You are responsible for providing your valid medical certificate to TDOSHS.
If your medical card expires, TDOSHS will notify you that you are no longer medically certified to operate a CMV in non-excepted Interstate commerce. TDOSHS will then remove all your CDL privileges from your license.
You may submit your new medical certificate by mail, email, or online as described above.
Other Information:
Tennessee official website Driver Services
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.
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Hello, I have a CDL, but do not drive for a living any longer. I still want to keep my CDL (ya never know). Will I need to update my medical card now, or can that be done when my license expires ?
Thank you !
when you renue you medical card, you have to fax an affidavit form. there are 4 questions on that form, which of the questions is the correct anwer if: you have a cdl class A non restriction and you can drive state to state. please help me to anwer the correct question ….. excepted interstate , non excepted interstate, is confused to me..
@Herbert
Non Excepted Interstate.
I just want to know how long is a Medical Examiner’s Certificate valid for in the state of TN. 1 year or 2 years?
@Betty
All depends on how well you did on the examination. Two years is the longest you can get a card for if all is well. It can reduce from there based on findings, medications, ongoing conditions, etc. This applies to all states.
All medical certificates expire two years from the date of issuance, regardless of state the CDL was issued.
@Zach
Incorrect.
A medical certificate expires at midnight on the expiration date.
Medical cards can be issued for any time period e.g. 30 days, 3 months, 1 year… up to a maximum of 2 years.
NOT TRUE. A medical can be written for as short as 3 months up to two years pending your level of health.
Is there a limit to the number of times an operator can be issued a 3-month medical card?
@Beverly
It would depend on the reasoning for the three month card to begin with.
There are never any “Limits”, but there are reasons. If, for example, your reasoning is due to blood pressure, or some other acute (temporary, or sudden) reason, then it will most likely have to be monitored and renewed every 3 months until the matter is medically resolved. If the matter tends into the chronic (long term) reasons, you may actually lose your right to operate a CMV. The FMCSA is currently investigating whether sleep apnea and diabetes is a deniable medical condition for CMV/CDL operation. Only time will tell.
I have a valid medical card my employer wanted me to take a physical for my current job.my old medical card doesn’t expire until 2016 because I took another dot physical do I need to send in another self certification form or can I stick with the old medical card and certification until it expires
@H Taylor
Your most recent medical card was put into the FMCSA data-base, which now over-rides your earlier medical certificate. I suspect you need to send a new self certification along with a copy of your new medical card. But check with your local DLD and make sure.
You should always send in a copy of your newest medical certification whenever you renew. While the doctors offices are supposed to update electronically, they don’t always do so, which can you leave you at a disadvantage if you are ever pulled over and there isn’t a medical card on file electronically attached to your license. Always look out for yourself when dealing with your states licensing departments. And always keep records on your person when it pertains to certifications/ endorsements. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to ensure your home driving state has a copy of all records. You can blame the dr.’s offices til you are blue in the face, but it is not them that will be sitting on the side of the road, waiting for something to clear the DMV.
@Zach
That’s not quite correct. The updates are two separate processes to two separate entities, for interstate drivers.
The medical examiner’s office submits information online to the Federal/NRCME database.
It is the driver’s responsibility to ensure that a copy of the new medical card is updated with their driver’s license at their state driver’s licence department. The SDLA may also require an updated self-certification form. Each state has their own process.
And, yes, it’s best the driver keeps a copy of their medical card with them at all times whilst driving, to save hassles on the road.
Can you get a health card if they claim you are color blind?
@Elizabeth
If you personally can distinguish the colors of the traffic signals, then being color blind is not a part of the DOT examination. It only becomes an issue when traffic signal colors are not easily determined, making the world around you, as a driver, unsafe.
Medically, if you cannot distinguish between traffic signal colors, you cannot obtain a driver license. If you lie on your driver license application, they can arrest you for falsifying information. If it is stated on your medical certification, that you have been determined to be color blind, you cannot claim ignorance. There is a reason you have to take an eye test in order to obtain a driver license.
my husband didn’t renew his health card due to health problem, he had a below the knee ampution a couple of years ago and is fine now and.he wants to return to driving again. where do we start to get his health card so he can get his cdl.
@Rosa
First start with the state DLD. They may have some restrictions and waiver forms for driving within the state. Once that part is done, he will then need to get his medical certificate completed. There will be a restriction and waiver needed from the FMCSA for him to drive interstate. That will require a skills performance test, which will have to be administered by a certified tester from your home state. Once all of this is done he should be able to return to driving.
I just want to encourage your husband Rosa! My husband Mike Kilby is a RBKA. He just got his SPE and medical card finished in December of 2014. We wasted 2 years dreading the process but I promise it’s easy. He is now back on the road jamming the gears with no modifications nor restrictions. He now has his life back again! Good Luck y’all can do this.
Gina
I drove team with my husband for years. He died because he had metastatic colon cancer. I haven’t driven since that but NEED to keep my CDL’S. At this time I am recovering from back surgery & probably will not drive unless financially it is necessary & WILL not be driving unless I am totally able to do so. I know the hazard it could be if I don’t comply with all medical requirements. I’m in limbo as to what I should do to keep my CDL’S. Please advise.
@Alice
Well you won’t pass the DOT medical examination at this time. So you need to check with your state DLD to see what they say about you maintaining your CDL while you are in recovery. Once you feel strong enough to pass the DOT examination, then take a medical release form from your doctors with you and take the DOT examination, if you are going to go back to driving.