I looked into other non-narcotic alternatives and have found a happy medium and I just wanted to say thanks for the push in a positive direction in regards to my career, I really appreciate it
That is what we are here for. We may not have all the answers but we try to get you pointed in the right direction and perhaps a new way of thinking about an old problem.
When I was at FFE, it was not allowed even with a prescription. I'd talk to a doctor for safer alternatives.
Well.....it's not really nuts because you're driving an 80,000 pound building on wheels surrounded by minivans full of children. So even if a medication is legal, that doesn't mean it's safe to use while operating a commercial vehicle.
Anything that impairs your judgment or could make you drowsy will not be allowed for commercial driving. But as the others have stated there's pretty much always an alternative medicine that will do the job and be legal for commercial driving.
that didn't make any sense at all my friend,the purpose of adderall or any type of the sort is to treat individuals that have adhd, i think i would rather have a man with adhd to take his meds while driving i should know i take it, and i drive a truck..
here is the answer for you Andrew,or for anyone looking for the answer,you can drive a truck legaly while taking the medication a company can not fire or deny you,what you have to do is when you take you drug test the first thing will happen,the people testing you will contact you first telling you they found amphetamine in you system, you give them your info from your pill bottle then,you or they will get a release form from your doctor stating you a able and fit to drive under the medication some dot physicians my give you a 1 yr for your annual med card so far i only had that 1 time,so yes you can take adhd meds while on the road as long as you dont have any other health issues.
for any of the nay sayers out there who think add or adhd was made up just so the "pharmaceutical company's" can make money off of it is wrong i have lived with this crap my whole life and it sucks it causes alot of problems.
1 keeping a relationship 2 some people dont really want to deal with you because of the outburst 3 hard to clean or start a project 4 driving without being on your meds is scarry, you drift off into lala land and you cant help it because you have an attention span of a ferret.
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Unfortunately - some companies just don't want to risk the (potential) liability - EVEN WITH A DOCTORS NOTE.
If (god forbid) anything were to happen (an DOT reportable accident), and the post-accident-screen shows it - EVEN WITH backup evidence from your prescribing physician (and in this case - it's going to have to be a PSYCHIATRIST or some specialist in this particular field of disorder).
It's not that a waiver CANNOT BE HAD - just that for a newbie in the industry, it creates an additional risk that "starter companies" might not want to even bother with. Pre-hire testing, is not the same as "routine testing" - you will likely not even hear from an M.E. on a pre-hire "hot" - you will just be shown the door.
And until you've gotten through orientation (physical, drug screen, etc.), you are not actually HIRED. "Safety Sensitive Positions" have a slightly different criteria, with regards to meds, disabilities and other things - that are more stringent than "regular jobs".
This is not to say that YOU (Jeremy) are not working as a driver on ADHD meds, or that people who suffer from this condition do not do infinitely better ON MEDS than off - or that they cannot safely operate a CMV when they are stabilized on their meds.
But neither can you make a "blanket statement" with regards to a PARTICULAR COMPANY'S HIRING PRACTICE with regards to these type of medications. The same would apply to other types of conditions - with meds that are also on the "No-Go-List".
Since this is your first post here - and also a "recent join" - one gets the impression this is a "hot button topic" for you personally.
While DRUG TESTING is not typical for a DOT Physical (new card or renewal) - it IS for pre-employment/orientation phases of new hires.
Rick
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
A CMV is a vehicle that is used as part of a business, is involved in interstate commerce, and may fit any of these descriptions:
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Yes, let's not use a "blanket statement"... for or against. As a brother of someone with the condition on this medicine I would venture as far to say, it seemed more of a "hot button topic" with the uneducated theories on the matter, than with the guy with personal experience and an useful yet conclusive answer derived from more than speculation. I will say a if there were a hint of frustration in the personally experienced fella's advice it is probably due to the already prevalent discrimination toward the condition and it's treatments. Everyone treats these people like they are walking around with a buzz and having a blast when in reality after taking that medication correctly for a short period of time there are minimal to no effects on the person's daily life. It's these kids these days over doing everything they get their hands on...and then, yes, it can be abused and used as some sort of stimulant..but lets not kid ourselves, its not a party for these guys who benefit from regulated daily doses of this medicine for this widespread condition. If you pay attention to television, you will see most of these "side effects", that occur seldom and if happens the person is taken off the medicine...not to be confused with can happen randomly to a prescribed patient taken the medicine correctly...but yes you will see these are most of the same "side effects" you see for ...depression medicine, heart medicine, blood pressure medicine, and so on there doc. You can take enough cold medicine and to cause a lot more serious side effects than what this medicine is capable of. These people already have it bad enough and then you got the self righteous, discouraging a man from even trying to drive a truck...and after you heard the man's testimony to personal experience... And no, it will not have to be a "psychiatrist or a specialist" to sign off. If your family doctor writes it, and he is capable of physicals as I assume all doctors are, they can sign off on your ability to function normally on the medication. Do not let these guys talking out of there behind discourage you and cause you undue stress and anxiety which will only hinder your journey toward bettering your life. People tend to cast out what they do not understand, rather than sit back, and wait for an answer from someone with experience on the matter. It's disconcerting to say the least.
Well Jury-judge-executioner C. your nickname suits you. You somehow decided everyone here giving advice was making wild assumptions and tried discouraging him from driving a truck and nothing could be further from the truth. Everyone simply stated what we know about it - that you have to get approval for any prescription medications you're taking before you can use them behind the wheel.
Lighten up man! We're all doing our best to help each other out.
Yes, let's not use a "blanket statement"... for or against. As a brother of someone with the condition on this medicine I would venture as far to say, it seemed more of a "hot button topic" with the uneducated theories on the matter, than with the guy with personal experience and an useful yet conclusive answer derived from more than speculation. I will say a if there were a hint of frustration in the personally experienced fella's advice it is probably due to the already prevalent discrimination toward the condition and it's treatments. Everyone treats these people like they are walking around with a buzz and having a blast when in reality after taking that medication correctly for a short period of time there are minimal to no effects on the person's daily life. It's these kids these days over doing everything they get their hands on...and then, yes, it can be abused and used as some sort of stimulant..but lets not kid ourselves, its not a party for these guys who benefit from regulated daily doses of this medicine for this widespread condition. If you pay attention to television, you will see most of these "side effects", that occur seldom and if happens the person is taken off the medicine...not to be confused with can happen randomly to a prescribed patient taken the medicine correctly...but yes you will see these are most of the same "side effects" you see for ...depression medicine, heart medicine, blood pressure medicine, and so on there doc. You can take enough cold medicine and to cause a lot more serious side effects than what this medicine is capable of. These people already have it bad enough and then you got the self righteous, discouraging a man from even trying to drive a truck...and after you heard the man's testimony to personal experience... And no, it will not have to be a "psychiatrist or a specialist" to sign off. If your family doctor writes it, and he is capable of physicals as I assume all doctors are, they can sign off on your ability to function normally on the medication. Do not let these guys talking out of there behind discourage you and cause you undue stress and anxiety which will only hinder your journey toward bettering your life. People tend to cast out what they do not understand, rather than sit back, and wait for an answer from someone with experience on the matter. It's disconcerting to say the least.
You seem to be an authority on medication. Hopefully you can help me out. What can one take to remove the chip from one's shoulder?
Oh by the way, it's not for me, it's for you.
Sorry to re-has this topic, but thought it better to ask there than create a new thread.
Is there anyone here who is ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that DOT will allow Adderall use if their prescribing physician is wiling to back them up? At my last physical, the DOT physician had a real problem with it and told me that it is absolutely not allowed and that my doctor was required to change to a non-amphetamine if I wanted to get re-certified. This doctor seemed to believe every stigma about ADD.
I'm on a super low dose and don't even really like taking the medication. The only ADD problems I have seem to come up since I'm also back in school as an adult. It finally made sense when the learning center explained why I wasn't able to ever just sit and read through a textbook (cause of my poor grades the first time around). I'm not taking it because I can't function in the world. I'm taking it because I can't spend hours reading a textbook, no matter how much I really really want to.
I can drive just fine (and don't actually even take it at work, because I have no need). Long drives are not a problem because there's something to actively keep me engaged (the moving road).
Anyway, back to my original issue. I'm going to be forced to discontinue it. I read the DOT rules and it seems like there aren't exemptions available, but it seemed like people in this thread were stating there were with a doctor backing you.
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Last time i checked adderall does not make u sleepy it just helps folks wit adhd to stay focused and not lose interest in what they are doin ...with adhd ur mind is constantly running .. Sri the adderall just slows ur mind to the same speed as some one who doesn't have adhd if any thing the person on adderall would be more alert paying more attention to the road ...but people who have no clue just assume that everyone on adderall is twacked out .. Just saying
So I could be blacklisted for drug use for prescription meds, wow thats nutsWell.....it's not really nuts because you're driving an 80,000 pound building on wheels surrounded by minivans full of children. So even if a medication is legal, that doesn't mean it's safe to use while operating a commercial vehicle.
Anything that impairs your judgment or could make you drowsy will not be allowed for commercial driving. But as the others have stated there's pretty much always an alternative medicine that will do the job and be legal for commercial driving.
So I could be blacklisted for drug use for prescription meds, wow thats nutsWell.....it's not really nuts because you're driving an 80,000 pound building on wheels surrounded by minivans full of children. So even if a medication is legal, that doesn't mean it's safe to use while operating a commercial vehicle.
Anything that impairs your judgment or could make you drowsy will not be allowed for commercial driving. But as the others have stated there's pretty much always an alternative medicine that will do the job and be legal for commercial driving.
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I looked into other non-narcotic alternatives and have found a happy medium and I just wanted to say thanks for the push in a positive direction in regards to my career, I really appreciate it