Music – Whether you’re hitting the road or kicking back in the cab, it’s time to take a load off with BigRigBanter, powered by AllTruckJobs.com, your source for finding the trucking jobs drivers really want. Get ready to shift into gear and let the conversations roll.
Troy: Alright, hello and welcome truckers! The date is June 19th, and this is the 32nd episode of Big Rig Banter. Lenay, how are you today? The first day of summer is coming up soon. Are you excited? I know you’re definitely more of a summer person.
Lenay: Yup, first day of summer is on Friday. Although I feel like Memorial Day kind of signifies the first day of summer for most of us. I’m pretty pumped about summer. I love that it’s warm outside and I’m getting my pool time in and going to the beach. What about you?
Troy: Is that your low-key way of trying to invite yourself over to my pool?
Lenay: Yeah, you know it’d be really cool if I had a pool to go to every day after work.
Troy: I think it’ll be fun. That’s probably my favorite thing to do is lie out by the pool and get some reading in. It’s definitely refreshing. I think the pool is the best thing we ever bought. It helps to have one and I guess maybe, depending on how nice you are to me this summer, maybe I’ll let you buy a pool pass.
Lenay: Oh yeah, well I guess I won’t count on that. I didn’t know if you guys opened your pool or not this year, so.
Troy: Yeah, we have it up and ready and we’ve been enjoying it. Maybe if you’re lucky you’ll be over here soon.
Lenay: Alright well maybe I’ll try to be nice to you.
Troy: Alright, truckers we have an exciting episode on tap today. We’re talking all about what disqualifies you from getting your CDL. You know, on a lot of our blogs and social media posts we get all of these questions of “can I still truck with blank?” and it’s usually different things truckers are asking. If they can still get their CDL with certain stipulations. Luckily, we have a blog online that we would love you to check out and we’re gonna go through some of the points that blog makes.
Lenay: Yeah, so there are several things that do disqualify you from getting your CDL. The number one thing that I think comes to mind for everybody right away are just the physical and medical standards in the trucking industry. This can be a barrier for a lot of people. For example, you have to have excellent vision. Of course, we don’t want anyone driving down the highway that can’t read the road signs or see the car in front of them. Some of the vision requirements do have to do with range and color. There are also some other physical conditions that can be questionable like epilepsy. Obviously, there are other ones that people talk about a lot like sleep apnea. These can cause barriers. Sometimes there are ways around some of these physical requirements. If you’re seeing a doctor, you can get treatment, and they deem you safe to drive then you may be able to get past it. But it’s definitely important to be aware of your physical and medical screening.
Troy: Yeah, I think sleep apnea is the big one. Truckers, I’m sure you’ve heard of it and you know people that either had their license taken or they weren’t able to qualify for their CDL because of different sleep disorders. That’s definitely a huge one that people deal with.
Lenay: Yeah, absolutely. The second thing that really affects people from getting their CDL is having a clean criminal record. Now obviously if your license is suspended for any driving violations, it’s going to be harder to get your CDL. For example, if you are drinking and driving or driving under the influence of any other kinds of drugs this can make it harder to obtain your CDL. Other criminal activity can affect it as well depending on the type of freight that you’ll be carrying and what your criminal charges were. So, definitely important to be honest about your criminal record. It doesn’t mean that a trucking company definitely won’t hire you or you can’t get your CDL but it is important to bring that up and find out what you can do or how long it would take before that record passes and you can get on the road.
Troy: Yeah, it’s just like applying to any job. You know, they are gonna find out your criminal history and most of these places do background checks regardless but it’s nothing to be afraid of. As long as you’re honest and open with them, that’s gonna give you your best chance. That’s for sure.
Lenay: Definitely. Another thing that is a big hot topic in the trucking industry is the age requirement for obtaining your CDL. Most people are not allowed to cross state lines until the age of 21. There’s a big debate going on right now about lowering that age to 18. That’s a hot topic and something that could be changing. Definitely something to keep an eye on. If you are 18 and you still want to be a truck driver, there are truck driving jobs available for you, they just might not be long-haul at the moment.
Troy: I think “hot topic “is an understatement. I know whenever we post anything about the driver age, you truckers out there are happily gonna chime in. Some people argue that it’s gonna help the driver shortage, but I know a lot of you truckers think that might be one of the worst ideas possible. Again, we love hearing your opinion when you interact with us on social media.
Lenay: Definitely and don’t be shy. We love to hear from you. Use #bigrigbanter on twitter and let us know your thoughts if you have any other questions about obtaining your CDL.
Troy: Lenay, what about the fourth thing that could disqualify you? Talk about the CDL suspensions and reinstatements and how those work.
Lenay: Something to keep in mind is once you have your CDL, it doesn’t mean that you have it forever and you’re free and clear to do whatever you want. There are things that you can do that get your CDL suspended or that you might have to get it reinstated. So definitely, all of the things we talked about before, especially your criminal record and your medical history are things that can change as you age and so just because you got your CDL at 21 and you’re a long-haul truck driver and everything’s going great doesn’t mean that down the road your medical history won’t change. You might get a traffic violation and it’s important to drive as safely as possible and to just pay attention to anything that could cause you to lose your CDL license.
Troy: Yeah, truckers. Once again if you have any other questions about what disqualifies you as a truck driver, feel free to comment on the blog that we mentioned. We’ll have that in the show notes. Ask us anything you want on Twitter or Facebook using the #bigrigbanter. We’d love for you to leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you’re listening to this as well.
Lenay: Definitely. I have a question, Troy. Do you think that you would qualify for your CDL right now? How’s your driving history?
Troy: Of course. I’ve only ever gotten one ticket and it was for an expired registration or something like that. But I have a clean record. You know I’m a saint.
Lenay: I thought maybe that Taco Bell breakfast accident might have-
Troy: That was a fender-bender and it was not my fault! The cops didn’t even need to be called. What about you though, you think you’d qualify?
Lenay: Oh….I did have to go to driving school one time. I ran a red light in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. Somebody hit me and my car spun in circles. When I got out all of the bums were clapping for me, so it was pretty exciting, but yeah, I got in trouble for running the red light.
Troy: Alright, so maybe I’ll do the driving and you can be the passenger whenever we go anywhere from now on.
Lenay: I am a good safe driver.
Troy: Thank you for letting me know that for future driving experiences with you.
Lenay: Alright, well if you have any questions feel free to reach out to us and if you are looking for a trucking job and you’re unsure about where to get started, check out our last episode which covers all of the various job board available to you.
Troy: Awesome. Thank you, truckers. Once again, I’m your co-host Troy Diffenderfer.
Lenay: And I’m your favorite co-host Lenay Ruhl.
Troy: This has been big rig banter.
Music – Thanks for tuning into another edition of BigRigBanter. For your next job check out AllTruckJobs.com, the premier online source for finding the best driver jobs in the country. Browse hundreds of positions by freight or driver type to get back on the road with confidence. Click subscribe to keep the conversations coming until next time on BigRigBanter.
