Tobin: I am a fat guy and I have an 18.5 inch neck...

[dutch508]

Tobin S. (7,110 posts) http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018708548

My DOT physical certification is up in the air.
I'm a trucker and all CDL holders have to pass a Department of Transportation physical given by a certified doctor. My physical certification expires in a few days so I went to the doctor to get re-certified.

A new thing starting last year with the DOT physicals was that they have to check for signs of sleep apnea. These include body mass index and the size of your neck relative to the size of your throat. I am a fat guy and I have an 18.5 inch neck so they said I have to get tested. I can do everything at home, but it's going to put me out of work for a little bit.

Back when I smoked cigarettes, my wife told me that I snored a lot and sometimes gasped for air in my sleep. Around the time I quit smoking I tried to get tested for sleep apnea, but my insurance wouldn't cover it. Evidently, I had to be dying from it before my insurance kicked in. They wouldn't just allow me to get tested. The test at the local hospital costs $4800 and I can't afford that so I went without the test. As time went by without me smoking, my wife said my snoring greatly improved and I stopped gasping for air in my sleep so I figured I was okay anyway.

I don't have any of the symptoms of sleep apnea now, but the doctor said that since I have the physical traits that can cause it I have to get tested regardless. If it does turn out that I do have it, I'll have to get CPAP machine to sleep with, and do another test with it before I can be certified to drive again. This time the insurance has to cover it.

Commercial drivers are held to a much higher standard when it comes to certification and their licenses. You can't just decide you want to drive a truck for a living one day and just hop in one and go. To haul hazardous materials now you have to be certified by the TSA. You know how dealing with them goes. I was born in Germany to American parents. They ask for your place of birth on the hazmat security clearance application. I have to put Germany down and I can't offer any explanation at the time I'm filling out the application that shows that I'm a U.S. citizen. So I turn in the application and my clearance gets denied because they don't think I'm a U.S. citizen and that I'm in the country illegally. That's happened to me both times I've applied. The second time despite actually having obtained clearance the first time I applied. Then I have to go through a month of bullshit proving I'm a U.S. citizen that involves sending copies of my most sensitive personal documents in the mail.

**** that. I let my hazmat endorsement expire when I started driving for a company that didn't require it. 

 


 

CaliforniaPeggy (112,891 posts)
1. It sounds like you know what you're facing, my dear Tobin.

I hope it goes smoothly.

Hey, I can dream, can't I?

Good luck!

 

Tobin S. (7,110 posts)
2. There is a silver lining. This gives me a few days during the week to scout for jobs. I have an interview that I just scheduled a few minutes ago that I would not have been able to go to if I wasn't going to be off work. I got the call that they were interested while I was in the exam room at the doctor's office waiting for the doctor.

Tobin S. (7,110 posts)
5. They have a new addition to their repertoire of guages. The tape measure.

Poor fat Tobin. He can't drive a truck because he is too fat to fit behind the wheel... I mean has sleep apnea... At least he has CALPEG dreaming about him...

[franksolich]

Whoa.  What a thick neck the primitive has.

If one of Skippy's pals got a hold of him, it'd take far more than one slash of the scimitar to lop that head off.

[diesel driver]

DUmmie Tobin must live in a blue state, because I've had a CDL since 1984, including the required bi-annual physicals (the last one last year), and have never heard of such. 

Outside of a basic vision test, color blindness test, and the standard height, weight, BP, etc.,  I have NEVER had to do anything more strenuous than "turn your head and cough" for any of them.

Hell, I passed one of them with a fever of 100.4  (bad case of bronchitis).

[franksolich]

DUmmie Tobin must live in a blue state.....

He does.  Indiana.

[Mr Mannn]

DUmmie Tobin must live in a blue state, because I've had a CDL since 1984, including the required bi-annual physicals (the last one last year), and have never heard of such. 

Outside of a basic vision test, color blindness test, and the standard height, weight, BP, etc.,  I have NEVER had to do anything more strenuous than "turn your head and cough" for any of them.

Hell, I passed one of them with a fever of 100.4  (bad case of bronchitis).

Hi5. You called it. Tobin is lying. This is just another way of saying he got fired. Probably for failing a drug test,

[diesel driver]

Hi5. You called it. Tobin is lying. This is just another way of saying he got fired. Probably for failing a drug test,

                   

EXACTLY!

[JohnnyReb]

The newest disability scam.....fat neck disease.

[thundley4]

WTF? Does he have a job or doesn't he?  What kind of idiot waits until the last minute to take care of something so important to their livelihood?  Is he hoping not to pass and get laid off and join the unemployment gravy train?

The company I work for keeps track of the DOT certification for our drivers, and sends them on company time to get their physicals done and they do it a few weeks in advance.

[franksolich]

comments 2729, 2730:
http://conservativecave.com/index.php?topic=81827.2725

[franksolich]

comment 2611:
http://conservativecave.com/index.php?topic=81827.2600

[GOBUCKS]

DUmmy Tobin S. resides in the DUmp nuthatch most of the time.

If he was denied a CDL, which even rsmithnumbers could get, it may have had something to do with his repeated involuntary commitments to public loonybins.

[Chris_]

DUmmy Tobin S. resides in the DUmp nuthatch most of the time.

If he was denied a CDL, which even rsmithnumbers could get, it may have had something to do with his repeated involuntary commitments to public loonybins.

Or extreme fatitude.

[Big Dog]

Or extreme fatitude.

An 18 1/2 inch neck, tapering to a size 6 7/8 head.

Tobin sounds like an aardvark.

[Chris_]

An 18 1/2 inch neck, tapering to a size 6 7/8 head.

Tobin sounds like an aardvark.

Or a traffic cone.

[Conservative Libertarian]

He does.  Indiana.

You're joking, right? I live in IN. The only blue areas are in the state are INDY (excluding the burbs), outside of Chicago, parts of Fort Wayne, and Monroe County (where IU is located, they let the students vote locally).

[Chris_]

You're joking, right? I live in IN. The only blue areas are in the state are INDY (excluding the burbs), outside of Chicago, parts of Fort Wayne, and Monroe County (where IU is located, they let the students vote locally).

What about Columbus?

[thundley4]

You're joking, right? I live in IN. The only blue areas are in the state are INDY (excluding the burbs), outside of Chicago, parts of Fort Wayne, and Monroe County (where IU is located, they let the students vote locally).

Indiana is kind of like Illinois, isn't it? Most of the liberals are concentrated in the big cities?

[SVPete]

18 1/2" neck? That's close to having your shirts borrowed for use as a home movie screen! The dude needs to lay off the sodas, sports drinks, and shakes. That and wake up to the fact that he's a VICTIM .......... of Mooch-Chelle & the Obesity Nazis!

[Conservative Libertarian]

Indiana is kind of like Illinois, isn't it? Most of the liberals are concentrated in the big cities?

Yes, except that the ratio of small town/rural to urban vote in IN is about 70%/30%. This ratio in reversed in IL which is why it is blue and not red.

I stand corrected, Fort Wayne is red, Terre Haute went blue. Other than INDY and the Chicago area, all counties that went blue have large college student populations. However, Terre Haute also has an entrenched Democrat Party machine.

Please see the IN map in this http://www.usatoday.com/election-2012/results/.

If Tobin is in IN, he's probably lying. He got fired and came up with an excuse.

[GOBUCKS]

Indiana is kind of like Illinois, isn't it? Most of the liberals are concentrated in the big cities?

That's pretty much the case in every state.

Even California would be repuke without the L.A. and Bay Area cesspools.

[Conservative Libertarian]

That's pretty much the case in every state.

Even California would be repuke without the L.A. and Bay Area cesspools.

It usually boils down to the urban areas vs. the small town and rural areas.

Urbanites require more government to wipe their posteriors for them on a daily basis. Also, marxist/liberal/commie/democrats are herd animals and tend to collect in high concentrations.

[Gina]

**** that. I let my hazmat endorsement expire when I started driving for a company that didn't require it. 

is he saying he is driving hazardous materials without the endorsement?

[Gina]

Whoa.  What a thick neck the primitive has.

If one of Skippy's pals got a hold of him, it'd take far more than one slash of the scimitar to lop that head off.

My first baby was 18.5" long.  Whoa! That's a big neck!

[Gina]

An 18 1/2 inch neck, tapering to a size 6 7/8 head.

Tobin sounds like an aardvark.

I just chortled 

[franksolich]

DUmmy Tobin S. resides in the DUmp nuthatch most of the time.

If he was denied a CDL, which even rsmithnumbers could get, it may have had something to do with his repeated involuntary commitments to public loonybins.

I'm concerned for two reasons.  Would someone who's been nuts before really be competent to drive some monster-sized vehicle weighing several tons?  One has to be careful, because he might have a recrudescence of his fits.  And also, he's probably on pharmaceuticals to "stabilize" his sanity.  Pharmaceuticals tend to have unanticipated side-effects.

And okay, so he just got his degree in business administration, and kudos to him for that.  But would someone who's been nuts before really be competent, for example, to manage, to supervise, other people?  He might go nuts again and make decisions that screw up other people's jobs.....and lives.

We've all worked under managers and supervisors with mental problems; it never ends well.

I honestly don't think the Tobin primitive should fill either sort of position.  Since he lives in Indiana, I'd suggest some sort of assembly-line or agricultural work.  He might think himself "above" or "too good for" assembly-line work, but hey, it's union wages and union benefits.  It's not a bad life if one accepts one's limitations.