Arnold Safety Blog » ASK ERIC

Can any doctor do a DOT physical?

Eric Arnold — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:15:39 +0000

I had a good question from a customer today. Can any doctor do a DOT physical, or can only specially “DOT-certified” doctors do the examination? Presently, any doctor can do the DOT physical. However, the doctor needs to be familiar with the guidelines of the examination. For example, a driver must have 20/40 vision in each eye to pass. He must have 140/90 blood pressure or better. Some doctors do the exam, but are unaware of this, and qualify drivers with blood pressure over 140/90. The instructions are on the examination form, but a few doctors do not read the instructions.

You should ask whether your doctor is familiar with the DOT physical procedures before you make the appointment. DOT has been making noise about setting up yet another regulatory-bureaucracy which will qualify doctors to conduct the exams. For now, though, any doctor can do the exam, provided they follow the guidelines found on the examination form.

How Many Miles Can I Legally Log?

Eric Arnold — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:01:22 +0000

This is a popular question in safety classes. Drivers want to know how far they can show themselves driving on their logs, without it being questioned. The short answer is, you are supposed to log it as you drove it. In other words, if you left Carlisle, PA at 8:45am, and arrived in Columbus, OH at 3:00pm, then that’s what you put on your log. If you log it as you do it, you don’t have to worry about miles driven, etc.

However, to answer the question, the DOT will generally allow you to log 5 mph below the speed limits in whatever states you’ve driven in. For example, if you are driving in states where the limit is 65, you can have 60 x however many hours you’ve driven, without arousing too much suspicion. Many drivers try to cheat an extra hour here and there by driving 12 hours, but logging 10.5 or 11. This is common practice, but just remember, if you are involved in a big wreck, the police and the district attorney are going to go over your logs with a fine tooth comb.

Logbooks…. Can I Abbreviate?

Eric Arnold — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:46:20 +0000

Many drivers ask, “When I’m filling out my logbook, can I use shorthand when putting in the locations in the ‘Remarks’ section?” Instead of writing, Cincinnati, can I write Cincy? Or NYC? Or STL? The rules do not provide for that. They say city, town, village, and the State abbreviation. They even say you’re supposed to write down the mile marker of the highway, followed by the nearest city and State, if you are not in a city when you stop.

In reality, most DOT cops will not give you grief if it’s clear where you are. For example, I’ve never seen a DOT person complain about something being logged as Ft. Washington, rather than Fort Washington. No doubt someone will post a comment within 15 minutes saying they got a ticket for just such a case, but I’ve never seen it. If you are only marking MM 68 on the log, that’s a problem. Which highway? Which way to the mile markers run? 0-300 or 300-0? DOT uses the cities and States to determine where you were, and whether or not your log is an accurate document. If they can’t figure out where you were, they can cite you for a false document.

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Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Agent with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and a leading expert on USDOT compliance for small businesses. Do you have a question for Eric Arnold? Email him at eric@arnoldsafety.com.

Arnold Safety simplifies D.O.T. Compliance for commercial vehicle operators. Get Eric Arnold’s USDOT Compliance Guide, DVD, & Regulations at ArnoldSafety.Com.

Learn more about Arnold Safety compliance consulting services at ArnoldSafety.Com.

I just had an accident. Will it count against my record?

Eric Arnold — Wed, 30 May 2007 20:46:48 +0000

Dear Eric: A car stopped short in front of my driver on the interstate. He locked up the brakes, but jacknifed into the median. He did not hit the car. The police were called and filed a report. I went up to the accident scene, and drove the truck and trailer out of the median, and back to the yard. Will this count against my record?

Answer: No, as this does not meet the DOT definition of a recordable accident, which states there must an injury treated away from the scene (no in this case), or a vehicle towed from the scene (no again in this case). I would recommend keeping detailed notes, just in case the police officer checked the wrong box on the accident report, but this should not count as a DOT recordable accident. However, you might want to talk to your drivers about driving too fast, following too closely, or leaving themselves an out when driving. You might not be as lucky next time.

Arnold Safety simplifies D.O.T. Compliance for commercial vehicle operators. Get Eric Arnold’s USDOT Compliance Guide, DVD, & Regulations at ArnoldSafety.Com.

Learn more about Arnold Safety compliance consulting services at ArnoldSafety.Com.

When do I have to fill out logbooks?

Eric Arnold — Wed, 30 May 2007 20:38:09 +0000

Dear Eric: Do I have to fill out logbooks?

Answer: The regulations state that you must complete a record of duty status (aka a logbook) every day, unless if you:

1) stay within a 100 air mile radius from your office, and 2) return to the office within 12 hours.

If you do that, your driver may record his time on a time card, time sheet, any thing that captures the time started, time finished, and the total number of hours worked that day. In the event the driver does not meet those requirements one day, then for that day, he must complete a logsheet. Logbooks are generally available at truckstops, or online from www.jjkeller.com. If you are a non-CDL driver, there are numerous exceptions that apply instead of the 100 air mile rule.

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Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Agent with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and a leading expert on USDOT compliance for small businesses. Do you have a question for Eric Arnold? Email him at eric@arnoldsafety.com.

Arnold Safety simplifies D.O.T. Compliance for commercial vehicle operators. Get Eric Arnold’s USDOT Compliance Guide, DVD, & Regulations at ArnoldSafety.Com.

Learn more about Arnold Safety compliance consulting services at ArnoldSafety.Com.

Do you have a question?

Eric Arnold — Thu, 10 May 2007 15:39:47 +0000

Post any and all of your D.O.T. compliance-related questions here. I will do my best to answer them.

Within reason, that is.

For example, if your question is, “what do I have to do to comply with all these rules?”, the answer is, buy my DVD.

Or, if your question is “What’s the girl in the truck have to do with compliance questions?”, the answer is: Did you really want another picture of me?

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Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Agent with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and a leading expert on USDOT compliance for small businesses. Do you have a question for Eric Arnold? Post them here, or email him at eric@arnoldsafety.com.

Arnold Safety simplifies D.O.T. Compliance for commercial vehicle operators. Get Eric Arnold’s USDOT Compliance Guide, DVD, & Regulations at ArnoldSafety.Com.

Learn more about Arnold Safety compliance consulting services at ArnoldSafety.Com.

Why are there non-safety posts on your website?

Eric Arnold — Thu, 10 May 2007 15:35:35 +0000

Basically, I need something to keep myself interested in the website. Posting ALL safety/regulatory related posts would probably drive me crazy. So I need a diversion. I will try to keep it around a 70/30 split. Also, the other posts will be in the General, Sports, or Politics categories.

So if you don’t want to hear about the Philadelphia Eagles, George W. Bush, or my cat, simply skip to the next post.

Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Agent with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and a leading expert on USDOT compliance for small businesses. Do you have a question for Eric Arnold? Email him at eric@arnoldsafety.com.

Arnold Safety simplifies D.O.T. Compliance for commercial vehicle operators. Get Eric Arnold’s USDOT Compliance Guide, DVD, & Regulations at ArnoldSafety.Com.

Learn more about Arnold Safety compliance consulting services at ArnoldSafety.Com.

What is the ‘DOT’???

Eric Arnold — Thu, 10 May 2007 15:17:01 +0000

If you are somewhat new to operating heavy vehicles on the road, you may not be familiar with the alphabet soup of regulatory agencies who will be looking in on you.

The most common name for the regulatory body which enforces the safety regulations on trucks is ‘DOT’. Which is short for Department of Transportation. If you cross state lines with your vehicles, you are then the Federal DOT has jurisdiction over you, aka the United States DOT (USDOT). USDOT is a cabinet level department, just like the Department of Defense, and Department of Justice.

Within DOT there are a number of sub-agencies, such as the Federal Rail Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

The FMCSA is the organization which enforces the safety regulations. Most people recognize them as “DOT”, but they are also known as “FMCSA”. So, if you get any type of correspondence from these organizations, you should pay attention to it.

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Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Agent with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and a leading expert on USDOT compliance for small businesses. Do you have a question for Eric Arnold? Email him at eric@arnoldsafety.com.

Arnold Safety simplifies D.O.T. Compliance for commercial vehicle operators. Get Eric Arnold’s USDOT Compliance Guide, DVD, & Regulations at ArnoldSafety.Com.

Learn more about Arnold Safety compliance consulting services at ArnoldSafety.Com.

Introduction to the Arnold Safety blog

Eric Arnold — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:14:06 +0000

After a great deal of effort, I have a new website.

It appears that I can post articles, information, rants, etc. at my pleasure, and the world at large can comment on them.

I am still finding my way around the new website (designed by someone else). However, I will try to keep it current and active. Nothing sucks worse than a website which was last updated in 2002.

I figure that most of the activity will take place in the “General” category, as that’s where I’m going when I need to vent after Uncle Charlie Manuel just blew another ballgame because he doesn’t know how to manage the bullpen or double-switch. Or if someone in DOT has particularly aggravated me. I figure it will be a fine line. If I am controversial, and say controversial things, I will probably get more traffic to the site. However, it will probably be mostly DOT-types, surfing the Internet, and they won’t be buying any DVD’s. So we will try to keep it nice here, which will make my lawyer happy.

If I actually have something to say about the regulations, I will try to cut and paste it to the appropriate category. Right now it seems like we have 100, I may try to cut that down. Again, I can see this being a fine line. If I spill out every last thing I know about the rules, regulations, trucking, etc., then why do you need to buy the DVD, or otherwise pay me for my services?

Well, just remember, no matter what is written here, that is only scratching the surface of everything you need to know. I am going to add an “Ask Eric” category, for questions on the rules, which will help generate traffic. I will have to be careful that people don’t overuse it. Again, don’t be a leech, buy the DVD.

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Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Agent with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and a leading expert on USDOT compliance for small businesses. Do you have a question for Eric Arnold? Email him at eric@arnoldsafety.com.

Arnold Safety simplifies D.O.T. Compliance for commercial vehicle operators. Get Eric Arnold’s USDOT Compliance Guide, DVD, & Regulations at ArnoldSafety.Com.

Learn more about Arnold Safety compliance consulting services at ArnoldSafety.Com.