Posted by NCWayne on December 31, 2013 at 19:45:54 from (173.188.169.54):
In Reply to: CDL Headaches posted by L C Gray on December 31, 2013 at 17:53:11:
Having just gotten my medical card renewed yesterday for another two years I will say only this. The whole medical card deal is nothing but a bunch of BS that does nothing to protect the public" as it's touted to do. I mean really in most states you can drive intrastate (ie within the state) without a medical card, but if you go interstate (into more than one state) you have to have one.
That said, what about those of us that live near the state line? A routine 40 mile drive for me can take me over the line, where someone driving the same distance from Greensboro stays within the state. So if I lived in Greensboro I wouldn't really need a card, but because I'm in Concord, I do.
Then there's the whole deal of the card is required even if you don't have a CDL. The Federal requirement is that if you drive a vehicle with over 10,001 GVW, in a commercial situation, and go interstate, then your required to have the card. So, what about the guys running a dually that had a 12,000 plus GVW and pulling a trailer with a skid steer on it. In state they need nothing, out of state they have to have a card. By the same token many of them don't even pull a trailer, or use the vehicle for anything but day to day driving, but by the letter of the law they have to have a card to drive over the state line regardless of wether they pull anything behind it or not. Heck customer had an audit done a few years back and the auditor hit him up because his wife had no card and she often drove his Surburban. Thing is it was tagged commercial because he often used it to pulled a trailer filled with explosives with it (he's a blaster by trade).
Now what I was just saying seems to only cover commercial drivers, as that's what the DMV say they have to do to 'keep the public safe'. Thing is what about the other guy that simply owns a dually, a skid steer, and a trailer. Even though he's not engaged in an actual commercial enterprise, by the letter of Federal law he also has to have a medical card to drive his rig around...but only if he crosses state lines.
Lastly, it seems that DMV completely forgets about the fact that an RV can easily match the size and weight of many commercial vehicles. Thing is the owner of said RV can be 91 years old, legally blind, have high blood pressure, and sleep apnea, and not have to have any kind of medical certification. Even worse he is also not restricted by any hours of service regs, or much of anything else for that matter. Heck, he can take the RV, put a dually that probably weights 10,000 plus lbs, in tow behind it, and still be legal......BUT, if a 'commercial' driver tows even an empty trailer that has a GVW of 10,001 lbs or more then, by law, he has to have a class A CDL to do so.
To top it off, how does having a hernia effect anyones ability to drive? Like I told the doc yesterday when he told me to "drop 'em", you'd think that they'd be more worried about a drive having hemorrhoids than a hernia. I mean seriously, who ever got a hernia from driving?
Ultimately all getting a medical card does is give some politician, who is so far removed from what the average working man already has to deal with that he might as well be sitting in a dark room all alone, feel good.......While the guys his 'feel good' regs effect are having to pay for needless medical exams, keep worthless log books, etc, etc, etc...........again, all so he can feel good and tell the rest of the public, who are in a room nearly as dark as his, what he is doing to 'keep them safe'.........
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