Expiration Of DOT Physical

It seeems silly to me that the DOT physical expires on the date of the physical.

Does everyone avoid operating illegally and get their new exam before the expiration? This means that the expiration date will move up a few days or weeks with every renewal.

Or, do you coordinate with a vacation so that your medical does expire but you're not driving and you get it renewed before going back to work?

I know there's a grace period for providing the new medical to the DOT but does that make it legal to run without a current medical during that time? I didn't think so.

My comparison is the FAA medical period which is based on calendar months. This basically provides an entire month to renew the medical and the expiration remains the same (the end of the month).

Travis, what's the point? You're a truck driver. You keep appointments on a daily basis. You sound frustrated over something petty. Don't make it too difficult.

Here's how I handle it. I'm fortunate enough to still be getting a two year approval. Sometime during the month prior to the renewal I will plan on taking my break at a company terminal. I'll get with the safety coordinator or person who does orientation and let them know I want to renew my medical certification. They send me to a local physician in a company van and they even pay for the exam!

I don't know if most trucking companies handle it that way or not, but it sure makes it easy. I don't even need an appointment. Most of our terminals have an agreement with a nearby D.O.T. physician that allows them to just walk in without an appointment. Check with your driver manager or terminal safety coordinator and see if you can do it this way.

Not frustrated at all. I'm not complaining. I'm not trying to change anything. Just curious as to how others schedule it. My apologies for wasting your time.

From your answer, I take it that you happily accept the fact that you renew your medical a few weeks earlier every two years. Got it.

My apologies for wasting your time.

From your answer, I take it that you happily accept the fact that you renew your medical a few weeks earlier every two years. Got it.

Travis, you haven't wasted my time. Please, don't take offense. I'm happy to be here answering any and all questions. I honestly don't know how or why they schedule these renewals like they do. I guess I've never questioned it.

I just wanted to get you to think about it differently. The way I do it costs me nothing in time or treasure. I don't know if you would have the option I presented, but you can do it while on home time or even out on the road. Some truck stops have a D.O.T. approved physician on location doing physicals. Look into your options and don't worry about losing a few days or weeks with each renewal. I just never considered it as something bothersome.

I don't have a problem getting it done. Just got mine renewed which is what got me thinking about it.

Mine was on January 10th. Now it's January 7th. When I scheduled it, I realized it would be hard to get the full value of the two medical I was paying for - both in time and money.

I don't have a problem getting it done. Just got mine renewed which is what got me thinking about it.

Mine was on January 10th. Now it's January 7th. When I scheduled it, I realized it would be hard to get the full value of the two medical I was paying for - both in time and money.

So doing the math, if you get your physical done three days early each time, with a two year card, 20 years from now you will have lost a month.

Most companies pay for the physical exams, too.

When I was over the road , the company would literally call me up on the day it was expiring and tell me to pull into such and such and get a physical. Didn’t matter where in the country you were.

I think the fleet managers planned it out-always happened to have a load with a lot of time on it on the day I needed a physical.

Swift puts you on a safety hold five days before it expires.