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Troy: Alright, hello and welcome truckers. The date is August 21st and you’re listening to the 36th episode of Big Rig Banter. I’m your co-host, Troy Diffenderfer.
Lenay: And I’m your favorite co-host, Lenay Ruhl.
Troy: And truckers, before we jump into this episode we’ve got a quick PSA. I think you guys are missing out. Lenay, what are they missing out on?
Lenay: Our newsletter! We just released it and you can go to bigrigbanter.com and sign up.
Troy: Yeah, make sure to drop your email and we’d love to hear some feedback, so make sure to reach out to us on social media using the #BigRigBanter. But Lenay, how are you doing today? I think our topic is gonna hit home for a lot of you truckers.
Lenay: Yeah, I’m doing pretty good today. How about you?
Troy: I’m doing good. And I noticed you are not wearing your glasses today.
Lenay: That’s so I don’t have to see you clearly. I’m just keeping.
Troy: Wow, thank you Lenay. What a sweetheart as always. But truckers, we’re talking all about vision requirements today and like I mentioned before, Lenay you do wear glasses sometimes don’t you?
Lenay: Yeah, so my big thing is that my eyes just get tired of focusing after a while because I stare at a computer screen all day, but I’m not supposed to wear my glasses while driving actually, so.
Troy: Well, luckily I have 20-20 vision.
Lenay: Well, I wouldn’t know about that because-
Troy: I mean I do, we’ve had this discussion before, I’ve never been to an eye doctor. Doctors are terrifying and I don’t want to ever visit them.
Lenay: Anyway, the point is if you want to be a truck driver, you will have to go to the eye doctor.
Troy: Yeah, that’s for sure and luckily in this episode we’re going to go over some things that you’ll be required to do when you take your eye exam and things like that and some tips and tricks for keeping your eyes healthy as well.
Lenay: Alright, so the first thing when you go to get your DOT physical will be that you’ll need to have 20-40 vision to pass your eye exams. So that means you would be able to read text from 40 feet away at the same accuracy as someone who can read it from 20 feet away. If you don’t have that 20-40 vision, you can get eye glasses or contacts to correct this, so it doesn’t necessarily disqualify you from becoming a truck driver, but you will have to get you vision to that point.
Troy: Lenay, do you remember what vision you have?
Lenay: No.
Troy: No idea?
Lenay: Nope. But I doubt I can read things from 40 feet away, so.
Troy: Alright truckers, and then the second thing you’re gonna need is a healthy range of vision. This means that you’re vision exceeds 70 degrees on each side, so you know they’re definitely some diseases and issues out there that start with taking away your peripheral vision so unfortunately that may cause some issues if you’re trying to get your CDL or pass your vision exam.
Lenay: And the third thing is that if you’re colorblind, it can also disqualify you from being a truck driver. So, basically what it comes down to is that you need to be able to tell the difference between the colors in traffic lights and street signs. If you can’t differentiate green from read, I know I do struggle with this sometimes even though I’m not colorblind, you might not pass your vision requirements to get your CDL.
Troy: Alright truckers, so how can you keep those eyes healthy? Well, there’s a variety of ways you can keep your eyes healthy on the road, just like your body and your mind you wanna keep your eye health in tip top shape as well. The first thing is to eat for your eyes. A lot of these foods rich in vitamin A, C, E, such as strawberries, oranges, eggs, salmon, almonds, carrots, crab, and turkey can all support healthy eyes. So, not only should you be eating healthy on the road, you should be eating healthy foods for your eyes as well. What about you Lenay, what you got?
Lenay: Yeah, so I was just going to say you know, when you’re driving it’s really hard to stay focused on the road and it really it does strain yours eyes, especially at night. So another thing you can do to help with your vision is to exercise your eyes. I think it sounds a little ridiculous but if you actually roll your eyes in a circular motion and massage your temples, it can actually help you to avoid being tired and keep those muscles stronger.
Troy: And one more tip for keeping your eyes healthy on the road is to wear some sunglasses. I always like wearing shades, especially when it’s sunny out. I look pretty cool in them. But yeah, this is huge. So driving on the road during all times of the day can really take a toll on your eyes’ health. Obviously truckers, you’re staring into the sun a lot, depending on which direction you’re going and that can really do some damage to your eyes if you’re not taking care of it. So, always opt for UV protecting lenses and make sure that the tint of the lenses still allow you to accurately identify colors when necessary. There might be some cool yellow or rose colored glasses that you wanna try on, but that could affect the colors of your vision so just stick with some cool dark shades.
Lenay: So, id you have any questions about vision requirements when it comes to getting your CDL, you can check out AllTruckJobs.com and there is a blog on there all about vision requirements, so be sure to read that and if you have any questions at all you can use the #BigRigBanter, reach out to us on social media.
Troy: Yeah, and again truckers we’ll have some other eye resources in the show notes, there’s some great online resources that you can use to test your vision and to do it from the road, which is really convenient. And there’s also some resources where you can find the best eye care locations and some great deals on some glasses as well so we’ll make sure to include them down below.
Lenay: Yeah absolutely. I also don’t wanna forget to mention that I’m sure a lot of you might be heading to Dallas this week for the Great American Trucking Show. Out coworkers at AllTruckJobs.com which actually powers Big Rig Banter will be down there and they are going to be at booth 2924, so be sure to stop by and say hi to them.
Troy: Yeah for sure. And truckers, again we always ask it every episode but please leave us a review if you can, this is a great way to give us some feedback and it’ll help us figure out what you truckers wanna listen to on the next episode.
Lenay: Alright Troy, is that it? Does that wrap it up or do we have anything else we were forgetting?
Troy: Truckers, one last thing before we wrap up, don’t forget Big Rig Banter is powered by AllTruckJobs.com. Remember if you’re looking for a job, career resources, or any other trucking information, make sure to check out AllTruckJobs.com for all your trucking needs.
Lenay: I guess that about wraps it up.
Troy: Alright, once again, I’m your co-host, Troy Diffendefer.
Lenay: And I’m your favorite co-host, Lenay Ruhl.
Troy: And this has been Big Rig Banter.
Music – Thanks for tuning into another edition of Big Rig Banter. 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 Big Rig Banter.
