The OuterBelt's Podcast
The OuterBelt's Podcast
The Certified Medical Examiner Integration Rule: What CDL Holders Need to Know
Two major regulatory changes are about to transform commercial trucking compliance this June, and drivers need to prepare now. In this information-packed episode, we break down the upcoming electronic medical certificate submission requirement taking effect June 23rd and the English proficiency out-of-service criteria implementation on June 25th.
The first change means certified medical examiners must electronically submit your physical results directly to the FMCSA and your state's licensing agency by midnight of the following day. While this promises to streamline the process, we discuss potential pitfalls, state-by-state implementation differences, and why you should still carry your paper certificate. Several states like Texas, Maryland, Minnesota, and Utah have already started implementing this system, offering a preview of what's to come nationwide.
The new English proficiency rule represents an even more significant shift. Previously a violation that affected carriers but kept trucks moving, language deficiencies will now become grounds for placing drivers out-of-service. We explore what this means practically, how inspectors might test comprehension, and why the CVSA is pushing to harmonize language standards across regulations.
Drawing from our collective decades of experience, we share stories about navigating international driving challenges – from deciphering road signs in Italy to managing language barriers in Canada – providing context for why standardized communication matters on American highways. We also dive into the often confusing world of weigh stations, where procedures vary dramatically between and even within states, offering practical advice for navigating these inspection points.
Whether you're a veteran driver or new to the industry, these changes demand attention. Join us for this crucial discussion and leave with actionable insights to keep your wheels turning through these regulatory transitions. Check out hyfieldtrucking.com to learn more about our custom sleeper trucks and career opportunities, or reach us at theouterbeltpodcast@gmail.com with your questions and comments.
Email us: theouterbeltpodcast@gmail.com
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Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Outer Belt Podcast. I'm Patrick and you're all my friends, chili.
Speaker 1:Buttermilk.
Speaker 2:Eric.
Speaker 1:Zucchini bread.
Speaker 3:And Jerry.
Speaker 2:And I'm Patrick. That's not how that works, is it?
Speaker 4:It worked. This time, though, it does, doesn't it?
Speaker 2:We should be like welcome to the show and then not say who. I am Right, I should be last. I should be last.
Speaker 4:You should be last Heart of a servant. Yes, exactly, the servant is last. The servant is last, can?
Speaker 2:I wash your feet. Yes, please, we don't have a vessel.
Speaker 4:Well, you are the servant, Go get a vessel.
Speaker 2:Tou, we don't have a vessel healer, I'll have to go to Walmart.
Speaker 4:All right.
Speaker 2:Well, and that's so far away, so far away. The thing is, I need a boat vessel to get to that vessel. Exactly, maybe a Mayflower. Ooh yeah, did you know? I heard a joke, did you I?
Speaker 4:did.
Speaker 1:I'm listening, I don't remember it. April flowers, april flowers bring May showers. Oh.
Speaker 2:Lord.
Speaker 6:And how does your garden grow?
Speaker 1:Oh my, goodness, All right Mary.
Speaker 6:Let's cockle bells.
Speaker 4:That was funny, that was funny. That was great, thank you.
Speaker 2:I appreciate it. Did you know?
Speaker 4:that Mary had a little lamb. His fleece was white as snow.
Speaker 2:They are.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. I heard a comedian once talk about like how Christopher Walken can say everything funny and he was like imagine if Christopher Walken said that Like Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow and like the whole crowd died. But he could actually do a Christopher Walken impression. I think, that could be what made the difference it could be. I try, I really do. Sometimes it's a swing and it actually should have been just a ball and I should have held it there.
Speaker 4:It's a swing and it's a foul ball, but you could.
Speaker 2:every now and then I get a nice punt in.
Speaker 4:Now you're mixing metaphors. What You're mixing metaphors?
Speaker 2:I thought baseball you punted.
Speaker 4:No, that's basketball.
Speaker 1:No, it's not.
Speaker 4:Are you sure it's? Football so in basketball you swing, you shoot and you score, you bunt. That's the biathlon.
Speaker 5:You bunt, not punt in baseball.
Speaker 6:Oh, punting, is you bunt in baseball? Punting, that's with football, football Football.
Speaker 1:Yes, bunting is with the baseball.
Speaker 4:I thought bunting was the stuff they put around the stands, like during playoff games the red, white and blue. That's called bunting, right Might be what.
Speaker 2:Well, now that we've lost our entire audience yeah, I think they're still all here.
Speaker 4:They're all still here with us because they're like where is this going?
Speaker 2:to go.
Speaker 6:Can it get?
Speaker 2:any more off the rails it could, it could be like that trestle, that burned down Jim.
Speaker 4:Trestle. He was the head coach of Ohio State football at one point. He was.
Speaker 2:So was Urban Meyer. Yeah, he was, he was, and now I think all he's good for is the Pine House in downtown Dublin.
Speaker 1:That's who Urban Meyer is. Yes, seriously, I thought he was like a clothing maker or something. No, you're thinking of.
Speaker 4:Urban Outfitters Urban.
Speaker 2:Out. No, you're, yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker 5:You're thinking of.
Speaker 2:Leslie Jordan, who, no, you're thinking of?
Speaker 1:I recently went to the Urban Meyer Pint House Recently.
Speaker 4:Yes, but the but.
Speaker 1:I thought it was a clothing store thing. No, it's all the hospitals around.
Speaker 2:Here are Wexner, who is the clothing line person.
Speaker 4:Yes, Wexner.
Speaker 2:Yes, what.
Speaker 5:Wexner.
Speaker 2:He owned. He owned Victoria's Secret Limited.
Speaker 4:Limited Express the Limited 2.
Speaker 2:Yeah, express.
Speaker 4:He owned Banana.
Speaker 2:Republic, banana Republic, did he?
Speaker 4:I don't know he fit into that group.
Speaker 2:Sears, roebuck and Company.
Speaker 1:No, I'm kidding. So Urban Meyer is an Ohio player.
Speaker 4:No, he was a former Ohio State football head coach.
Speaker 2:He might have been a player.
Speaker 4:Oh, head coach, he might have been a player.
Speaker 2:He was definitely a player. I think he's on his fourth or fifth wife.
Speaker 1:Well, that makes sense why their motif is now the way it is. That all makes sense as to why it was.
Speaker 6:Was there a lot of football stuff out there? There was, and it was sports.
Speaker 2:TV.
Speaker 1:It was very Buckeye-esque.
Speaker 5:There was a can of beer somewhere.
Speaker 1:Or on tap.
Speaker 2:yes, Well, they got a big hops tower out front, don't they? They?
Speaker 1:do? They do a lot of IPAs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so Well. Congratulations, isn't he the scandalous one?
Speaker 1:Who.
Speaker 2:Urban Meyer.
Speaker 4:There's a bunch of scandalous ones.
Speaker 2:That's true. So, we got to go back and just, we don't know.
Speaker 4:We're not accusing Urban Meyer of being scandalous. We don't know.
Speaker 2:No, but we will say look at that girl, so scandalous. Right, we will. That was a joke If you are familiar with the famous 1990s song by Cisco.
Speaker 4:Yes, not the food service provider.
Speaker 2:and not Crisco.
Speaker 1:All right.
Speaker 2:So how's everybody been? We've been doing good. But real quick a word from our sponsor, jerry.
Speaker 1:We have a sponsor tonight.
Speaker 3:OTR Services.
Speaker 2:I love that we never know who's sponsoring it until he tells us Right.
Speaker 1:We literally we back Bill, so like we don't even know I'm like who am I writing the? Invoice out to Zest used to not sponsor us.
Speaker 4:Who he is the producer. That would be his gig, oh.
Speaker 2:Zest did quit sponsoring.
Speaker 1:They did. No, they never sponsored.
Speaker 2:They never did, but we tried.
Speaker 1:We tried, yeah, but this one actually pays. Yeah, so OTR services, so we love them.
Speaker 2:They're great.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:OTR services and that's our sponsor of the day. We want to thank OTR services For all they do. If you need to get your carb tested, your car, if you need to get a carb test, please reach out to OTR-servicescom. That's OTR-servicescom. One more time. It's OTR-servicescom, you One more time it's otr-servicescom.
Speaker 2:You can fill out the little form there on the website and set it up and they'll have a tech come out to you and perform that service right at your truck stop here in the Columbus Ohio area. So I want to thank them again for sponsoring today's video and podcast. So no, I think what we've been trying to get to is it's wet. It has been raining all day. I mean all day, I mean.
Speaker 5:Every day.
Speaker 2:All day though. So like one thing, when I moved up here from South Louisiana, I'm from South Louisiana, y'all we're like.
Speaker 5:Wait, you're from Louisiana.
Speaker 2:I'm from South Louisiana. I went to college in New Orleans.
Speaker 1:Does it rain there?
Speaker 2:it does so. In south louisiana we get rain that literally starts in the middle of the night and it ends in the middle of the night three days later. So like we are used to, jerry, you grew up in uh in that area, you went to, you spent some time in uh in mississippi, had hatt, you went to, you spent some time in uh in Mississippi, hattiesburg, and you spent some time in Florida. So you know, like it all day, like it just rains and doesn't stop, it doesn't storm, it's not particularly windy, it just rains forever.
Speaker 3:Right, florida, you can pretty much set your clock by the rain.
Speaker 2:And so that's what I'm so used to. And we moved up here and have y'all noticed like Ohio is very much a storm place? Oh yeah. Like we don't get long basic rain.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:We get real quick microburst of storm and an hour later it's gone.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and then you continue with your life, or sometimes 10 minutes later it's gone, yeah, and then you continue with your life. Or sometimes 10 minutes later it's gone. Yeah, it can't blow through quickly, it blows through fast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it can be circular. Sometimes those aren't good, but it's just real quick. This is absurd. It just doesn't do this. It just feels like South Louisiana all of a sudden, where it's just like constant rain.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and not even bands. No well, if you, did you ever look at the radar today and how much it went up into, like Canada, and it just was this big ugly and it just kept swirling? Yesterday's storm system that we had, which was the brief storms that you were talking about, was traveling east, southeast to northwest, which our storms don't typically normally go that way.
Speaker 1:But that's the way yesterday's little, like you said, microbursts were traveling and then today I see that whatever's lingering on us just kind of came down from Canada, scooped down to maybe Louisville and then just circled back around, went right back up to Canada and came right back down on us. I'm like, well, that's just a weird airflow, we got going on. It just kept it over us all day.
Speaker 2:I saw there's two competing storms in the area and it's created a stagnant front.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:And because of that it's just—.
Speaker 1:Holding the rain here. Holding the rain here.
Speaker 5:By competing storm you mean the other one was in, like the Arizona area.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yeah, yeah, these are huge systems and it looks like the country has eyeballs.
Speaker 2:It's crazy. Yes, it does. So the last time I remember something like this happening and it being particularly impactful, I was still down in Louisiana, or we were still down in Louisiana, I should say, and hadn't moved to Ohio yet it was so much rain it flooded a good chunk of Baton Rouge, the Florida parishes, as we call them, which is your parishes, parishes of county in Louisiana. We call them parishes because you know the church and all. But if you ever take I-12 through Louisiana, i-12 is built exclusively on the florida parishes.
Speaker 2:So a little geography for you, real quick. A little history. That section of louisiana used to actually be a part of florida. Oh so when? Uh, this, when we bought the florida from the spanish, we got that. And then, uh, new orleans and everything east, not everything, but a good chunk of Louisiana west of the Mississippi River was part of the Louisiana Purchase. When you go with those top sections of North New Orleans, I don't know, north of Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, that was all part of Florida, obviously. So was that Mobile, alabama and Biloxi, and all that stuff was all Florida back in the of Florida.
Speaker 1:Obviously, so was that Mobile.
Speaker 2:Alabama and Biloxi and all that stuff was all Florida back in the day. I'm talking like 200 years ago, back when Jerry was a young man.
Speaker 5:If you're paying attention, you'll still see a sign on I-10 saying something about the Florida Republic.
Speaker 2:Yep, I think that's I-12. That section of interstate is the Florida Republic.
Speaker 5:That I think that's I-12.
Speaker 2:That section of interstate is the Florida Republic.
Speaker 5:That's interesting, so it's something to look for if you're ever on 10 and 12. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:And just find some food, because that section right there is littered with really, really good establishments. And here's a good hint If you've heard of it before, don't go there, just go somewhere you've never heard of. If you see an old, worn-out, tired-looking beat-to-hell building that's named Gabe's, give it a shot. It's really good, get the gumbo. Yeah, so down there we had two storms, came head-to-head and it flooded a ton of that area and they ended up blaming I think a lot of it, eric, if I'm not mistaken, on the interstate right Like they built a brand new interstate and put up a giant solid median wall what do you call that? Like a divider down the middle.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:But the wall is like six foot tall. It's a huge thing, and they didn't put enough drain holes through it, and so it basically acted like a dam and dammed up all that water, completely separated north I-12 from south I-12.
Speaker 5:Any rain in the north couldn't flow through towards the gulf, so it flooded the entire area.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what happened is all those drainage ditches and little canals filled up, and once they filled up, then they hit against that artificial dam that they essentially built Trying to send flood water through a funnel. Yeah, just couldn't get enough out of there.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:It was crazy because my parents' neighborhood it was like 92% of their neighborhood flooded and they were on the 8% that didn't. But my dad was actually you know, you see, like in a flooding situation you can actually see where the hills and valleys of a flat neighborhood are, because that area of Louisiana is flat. It is flat, flat In his little area, his little corner of the street. You could see where the embankment was, so to speak. But I mean, we're talking two inches, like just enough right. And uh, he was on an island. He was stranded there for several days until the water subsided. So, uh, we got my sister and my mom got out early enough that that wasn't a problem for them, but he was stuck and we couldn't get to my grandparents either.
Speaker 2:Like they were stuck, so it was the craziest thing I've ever seen. Like that area of Louisiana, you would think floods all the time, but it's not. None of those places are flood zones. None of them are.
Speaker 1:Just got to get the right weather system going.
Speaker 2:Yep, and it's those two fronts that come up against each other, which is what we're going through right now. So we keep an eye on the river here in Ohio, because, you never know, it just flooded too. That's what's crazy. How's your neighborhood holding up? Is it any deep water or is it no? No deep water.
Speaker 4:Green lush grass no, green grass We've had a pair of geese and A couple of ducks.
Speaker 1:Are they a pair? Have you seen both?
Speaker 4:I thought we saw both the other day. I know I've seen both male and female. I thought we saw both the male and female the other day.
Speaker 1:I only saw the female with the geese, like she was lost.
Speaker 5:I saw my first family of babies this afternoon.
Speaker 1:Little baby geese.
Speaker 5:That was so cute, but damn you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think ours are lost. We've been there three years and we've never seen large fowl. No ducks, no geese. They were in the cul-de-sac laying down Huh, right.
Speaker 2:So they think they're on a river or something.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure what they're thinking out there.
Speaker 6:I think they just didn't want traffic to go through, Probably Like I had to yell out the window to not move.
Speaker 2:That didn't work out. On sawmill, I saw a nice Just hang it.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, One took their own hands, wings, wings into their life.
Speaker 2:But that is annoying. They do not. They are the most disrespectful birds. These geese, these Canadian geese and I'm not trying to get geopolitical, I'm just saying what they are. They will just walk across the road like they own it, yes, and they will bring a four lane with a suicide lane road to a dead stop With their entourage, with their entourage of babies. It's never two of them, it's always like a school, like they're on a field trip.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm amazed there's not more carcasses of geese around.
Speaker 5:Honestly, which begs to differ. Where do these geese die? Where do geese go to die? Canada?
Speaker 6:They go back home.
Speaker 4:They go back to Canada for the health care.
Speaker 2:Anyways, we had deer in the backyard today. I noticed that I was on the phone a little earlier and I was walking around the house. I do that when I talk, I talk and walk, and I looked walking around the house. I do that when I talk, I talk and walk, and I looked at my back Exactly Pace Picante.
Speaker 5:So do you walkie-talkie?
Speaker 2:I do walkie-talkie.
Speaker 5:And.
Speaker 2:I was looking in the backyard just sad because the rain I mean like I guess we need it, but sad and I just saw like two little deer Actually, not two little deer- One little deer, one little deer, one big deer, just like cuddled up together in the in the grass and I was like, oh well, look at that.
Speaker 1:Then I finished my conversation. Um, you should have the ones here. I guess we have a few months left before they start birthing, but yes I'd say for the last three, four years you've had a consistent mama and they were in that same having babies down in the thicket of things down by the river.
Speaker 2:We run a maternity ward for deer.
Speaker 1:Last year was two, two babies.
Speaker 2:It'd be nice if we could hunt right, Because we could get some killer smoked venison going on. Make some jerky.
Speaker 1:Compared to Oregon, they're so tiny here so I don't really look at them as meat.
Speaker 2:Oh, but I thought smaller meant that they would be more tender.
Speaker 1:Yours are eating green grass.
Speaker 2:They are eating green grass. That's true, except for that corn that Vince puts down every year. So anyways, it's been interesting. It is nice how green everything turned all of a sudden. Today I was driving through Dublin and Hilliard and I was just adm. No, so it's been interesting. It is nice how green everything turned all of a sudden. Yes, today I was driving through Dublin and Hilliard and I was just admiring like, oh, it's green again. That just, it's so nice.
Speaker 1:I think when the rain comes, everything's more vibrant.
Speaker 2:I can see that. Yeah, it like puts a little polish on it. Yeah, like your car doesn't look faded, it's like oh look, it's nice. It looks clean until it dries this is what it would look like if we waxed it that kind of thing.
Speaker 4:I drove up to Medina today. I saw a deer along the side of the road and it was very green and beautiful.
Speaker 2:When you saw him on the side of the road, were you like, stay there, stay there, stay there, stay there. I was?
Speaker 4:yes, I was. They were also behind some K-Rolls construction zone. Oh yeah, they're behind the K-Roll and I'm like you just want to jump that thing, don't you, oh, so badly you just want to jump that thing, don't you do it. You just stay right where you are.
Speaker 2:Do you find that your deer spotting abilities have greatly increased since you've been a driver?
Speaker 4:Mine certainly have, because I never saw deer when I was growing up in the city.
Speaker 2:They're not sure they have deer there.
Speaker 4:They don't. Yeah, what about you, Jerry. You grew up in the country.
Speaker 5:I was going to say, especially the night driver looking for little white dots in the night.
Speaker 3:Yep, I was about to say that I'm sure Don can spot them way better than I can.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 6:I grew up in the country, so we saw them all the time I did too, so.
Speaker 2:I guess it's like down in south Louisiana. We're driving through those parts I can spot alligators and most people are like what? And it's like all right, let me stop and pull over and look there and they're like, oh my gosh, it's an alligator. It is funny when you talk to people when they go down south. They're like we were in Louisiana. We never saw any alligators and I'm like they were there.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Because you just see two little eyes and maybe a snout.
Speaker 4:Growing up in South LA we spotted different things. People were like really.
Speaker 2:Yep, you were like, see that over there, heroin needle.
Speaker 4:Don't touch it. Well, what's that? That's a crack pipe. What's that holding it? Well, we don't talk about that. That's funny.
Speaker 2:Oh, man. Well, let's get to work, let's get to business, let's get this show going on the road. Vince, we've got some exciting news coming along that. I am scared and excited about and terrified and thrilled about.
Speaker 4:I'm scared it's going to cause all kinds of problems.
Speaker 2:And you know what it affects me, because when I get back I've got to do this immediately. Yeah.
Speaker 4:So, starting on June 23rd, certified medical examiners will be required to submit all commercial vehicle driver medical exam results directly to the FMCSA and state driver's licensing agencies through the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners. The results of the exams must be submitted by midnight of the calendar day following the exam, per the rule. So what this means in theory is that when you go get a medical exam and you finish the exam whether you pass or fail the medical examiner will submit that electronically to the FMCSA and your state driver's license agency, whether it's the BMV here in Ohio or the DMV in California or whatever they call it in the state you live in OMV, omv.
Speaker 4:There you go Somewhere.
Speaker 2:It's the state Never mind I forget State licensing department or something.
Speaker 4:No, it's like the county clerk, but not the county clerk. What do they call it? Oh, it's division in every state, but they don't handle that stuff. But in this state they do.
Speaker 1:County assessor.
Speaker 4:No.
Speaker 1:Anyway, doesn't matter.
Speaker 2:We were OMV in Louisiana. Yeah, we were DMV in California. We're BMV in Ohio. Yep, jerry, anything unusual?
Speaker 5:DMV.
Speaker 1:DMV.
Speaker 5:The Bureau, the Office, the Department.
Speaker 4:Yeah, heather, you had.
Speaker 6:I'm pretty sure it was DMV.
Speaker 4:Okay, all right. Well, we settled that. Here's my concern with that. So what that means is that they'll submit it electronically, and the driver will then not have to go to their state office, whatever you want to call it.
Speaker 1:To self-certify.
Speaker 4:To self-certify.
Speaker 3:Yes, jerry. I had a question. Can you clarify is this just the certificate or is this the long form?
Speaker 4:I believe, it's everything.
Speaker 2:It's everything. How are they getting around HIPAA? Well, so, because you have to, because then I guess they're saying the CDL person would generally have to bring that to the state anyways, right.
Speaker 3:No, the long form is never turned in because of HIPAA.
Speaker 2:It may not be the long form, it may not be, it may not be Okay.
Speaker 1:So you get a copy. It says medical exam results. Yep, so just the certificate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it looks like it is just a certificate, okay.
Speaker 1:So certificates go on to FMCSA and your local Department of Motor Vehicles and why are you concerned?
Speaker 4:It's the medical examiner certification integration rules, so I think it is just the certificate yep okay so the fmcsa is suggesting you continue to carry your paper certificate up until the june 23rd deadline and then also beyond that. That's where my concern is is what happens if things don't go quite right and you don't have it. I would suggest even calling your state driver's license association administration, whatever they call it here and make sure that they've received it, so you're not temporarily disqualified by your carrier for not having that on file. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:My concern was exactly what you're saying. I will be gone the first few days of June and my medical card because I have a CDL is due, I think, june 6th. I want to say it is Okay. So when I come back I'm going to immediately go get my medical card done. Then I'm going to bring it straight to the Department of nope the. Bureau of.
Speaker 5:Motor Vehicles here in.
Speaker 2:Ohio and I will give it to them pay the $5 fee because I'm doing it right then and there and it will be updated in that system immediately.
Speaker 4:And we have that luxury right. Since we're local here, we're not over the road we can go straight to the B&B and get it taken care of. Yes, they charge you $5 doing it in person versus emailing it, where it's free. But if you email it it can take 14 days.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly, so I'll be good to go basically, immediately.
Speaker 4:Sure.
Speaker 2:But I am wondering with this system, is that going away? So will you be able to take your medical card that you just got and bring it to the state, or no, you're subject to that 14 days.
Speaker 4:That's a very good question. So a paragraph further down says according to the FMCSA website, states including Maryland, minnesota, utah and Texas have already started implementing the new rule. From March 23rd to June 23rd, texas will accept both paper medical certificates and electronic submissions through the National Registry. After June 23rd, texas will only accept medical certificates submitted electronically through the National Registry.
Speaker 1:They don't want you in their offices clogging up space.
Speaker 2:Or they're trying to get rid of fraud.
Speaker 1:Plus they make appointments. Texas is an appointment only.
Speaker 2:They are.
Speaker 1:So that could cut down on quick five-minuters. If it's a force, Somebody else has to do it. That makes sense.
Speaker 4:Well, it seems like if it's going electronically this way too, then it should be updated automatically immediately as well, or at least 24 hours out of 14 days. There isn't any comment here or note here.
Speaker 6:It says it has to be done by midnight, the day that you have it done.
Speaker 4:The next business day.
Speaker 6:By the next business day. Okay, so that would be. The only thing is, if the facility doesn't do their part, that that could slow that down a little bit.
Speaker 2:Well, I think they get in trouble if they don't. But that means that I show up at 8 am at my office. I get my physical done. 9 am. I'm done. I got my paper copy to keep in my wallet. I'm good to go. It could be midnight the next day before they actually process it. So they have 30, 40, 38 hours, 36 hours.
Speaker 4:If you get your test on a Friday, the next business day is until Monday. So they've got until midnight Monday to submit it.
Speaker 2:Sure, but even if you email it. It's going to be that long yeah.
Speaker 6:For those of us that aren't, yeah, because the DMV is not open until Monday anyway.
Speaker 1:So here's a couple of things as a recruiter in dealing with the carriers that we have. It is quicker if you go in and do your self-certification with your DOT physical. It makes the process of getting approved by a carrier at least the two carriers that we do business with go quicker, as opposed to emailing it or submitting it through an email of some sort per your DMV's instructions. So I am curious as well how immediate is it in our 48 states uploading DMV process? My other question is can you take your own certificate down and will the DMV still permit that?
Speaker 4:Well, Texas, they won't. Okay. I want to correct something I just said Results of the exams must be submitted by midnight of the calendar day following, not business day. So if you do it on a Friday, it has to be submitted by midnight Saturday.
Speaker 1:Okay. And then secondly, make sure you get all your paperwork from your DOT physical, because sometimes carriers ask you to send in the long form, which is all five pages sorry pages plus their certificate, so that's six total. So do be sure, as you're leaving a clinic, that you're collecting all of your paperwork and not just relying on them to take it wherever. Again, you still need it on your person for a DOT inspection. But I'm curious To check on your status too. There's a lot of the DMVs. You can create a portal or your own account and you can go in and check on it. So if you're ever curious probably be quicker than waiting on a phone line or going and standing in line is to create a portal on your DMmv's website so so a couple things I'm curious about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one, you said the self-certify. So in louisiana, and I believe in ohio as well, when you turn your medical card in, you also turn in a separate sheet of paper that says are you interstate, interstate exempt or non-exempt? And those are your four choices. So you have to fill it out right. Are they doing that at the DMV now?
Speaker 4:I mean at the medical place.
Speaker 2:Good question or do you still have to go in? And self-certify what you are.
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 2:And then if they do say no, they're going to do that. At the medical we have had several teams over the years incorrectly not understand what they're saying or what they're asking for.
Speaker 4:They're so confusing.
Speaker 2:And so they put it in wrong and then it has to be corrected Again. It's a quick go to the. It may not be quick, but it's go to the DMV.
Speaker 1:Especially if you're OTR.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but a lot of times it is go to the DMV, sit there for a couple hours, get it done and leave, and it's done pretty immediately. Is there a way to fix that now, or are you going to have to go to another clinic and get another DOT inspection done On?
Speaker 1:your body.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what's it called Medical done? Are you going to have to go like, is there a process? With the state where you can oh no, I told the wrong thing, or what. There's a lot of questions about that kind of stuff. How's that going to work? I can see it going sideways.
Speaker 1:I can see some positives, though, too.
Speaker 2:Sure, if it is so. Right now, when you email, fax or mail your medical card in, they take it, and then they it literally has to go to a person who has to then enter all that information in. If it's going into a portal, then it can be set up where it instantly fills out all the information and then gets done immediately. So if it's something like that, that'll be great, right, but if it's just really just being scanned in the system and then it's still waiting on someone on the back end to manually input it, that would suck. I can't imagine that's what they're doing, though, can you, jerry?
Speaker 3:No, I wouldn't think so. If you're building something from the ground up, it's just like the CARB, I mean, you know.
Speaker 2:OTR services.
Speaker 3:They do the carb test and it's immediately submitted to California.
Speaker 1:But to one entity.
Speaker 6:But it's to the entire state. But when?
Speaker 1:I did mine.
Speaker 6:All I had to do was go to a website that the DOT has set up through the state. So I didn't send an email, I didn't scan it. They gave me instructions. You upload PDF to their system and when I called three, four days later, they're like no, it's here, it's updated. We just got to push the button that says yes, we got it. So I guess it's not updated, but they got it and all they had to do is push a button. They didn't have to actually put it into the system, it was just in the system. They had to acknowledge they received it.
Speaker 2:So when Eric and I back in 1487, when we did our medical cards years ago, if you couldn't email it to Louisiana, you could fax it to Louisiana or you could hard copy it, send it to Louisiana. So we did a hard copy with the self-cert forms, sent it in a couple weeks ahead of time and so we knew it would be good, or whatever. In Louisiana you can easily pull up your medical card history Anybody can, as long as you have your license. So I pulled it up. I was good. Eric wasn't. All right, that's fine, we'll just wait. I'm sure Eric will clear up any day now.
Speaker 2:Never did. They were in the same envelope. Never. They never processed Eric's. So we got put out of service from our carrier because they knew that that's when his expired. So they logged online and pulled it and it never was updated. So they put him out of service. We had to get a medical card. Oh, he had a copy of the medical card, so we just had to send it out real quick. And Louisiana said if you fax it to us, we still take seven days because it goes through a company that then actually looks at it, scans it and sends it to us If you want it to be immediate, you can overnight it to us and as soon as we get it the lady even said call me at this number and we will take care of it. We were in California so it was really inconvenient. So we went to a UPS store, overnighted it to Louisiana and then called the next morning and got this lady who then entered it in manually and got it processed quickly. But that was expensive.
Speaker 2:That added on another like $75, $80 to our medical card thing, and again they were in the same envelope Somebody probably didn't realize it Back to self-cert.
Speaker 4:I'm looking at the Texas Department of Public Safety. They have a kind of FAQ and they're saying this applies to all CMV drivers requiring medical certification for interstate commerce, including those holding or applying for cdls or clps permits, as well as those operating under applicable state variances for intrastate operations. So somehow they're getting that self-cert as part of this, okay, I believe.
Speaker 6:I believe I did like you said. You have to choose if you're interstate or interest. Whatever, I did that when I renewed my CDL it didn't have anything to do with my medical card. And then once they had the updated medical card, like I already had a valid medical card on file, so they just said everything was good when I did my renewal of my driver's license. They didn't ask for any of that when I sent him my medical card.
Speaker 1:I think it's tied to your license, not your DOT physical. My question which, going back to Jerry's okay, the carb testing that OTR Services is doing, it just uploads and it goes to California, but it's going to one entity Like yes, multiple people are doing it, but it's going to one entity, like yes, multiple people are doing it, but it's going to one entity. My question is is if you live in Texas but you do your DOT physical in Ohio, does Ohio have your DMV's information?
Speaker 4:It's not going to your DMV, it's going to a federal registry.
Speaker 1:And then the federal registry takes it to the DMV. I think the DMV actually goes to the registry, pulls it from the registry Yep.
Speaker 4:So how do? They know you have a new one Because when they pull the registry for new ones that are in Texas, it pulls down the ones from Texas.
Speaker 2:Yeah, your medical card has your CDL information on it. Yeah, so when they go, to the National Registry.
Speaker 1:Somewhere in the brains of a computer system. It goes these are all the Texas people. We're putting them in a queue and then in the morning the Texas DMV logs in and pulls all those people from across all 48 states.
Speaker 4:That's probably a very simplistic way of saying it, but yes, they're probably not even pulling it.
Speaker 2:They're probably going online looking, validating it's there and updating the information, but there's no reason for them to move that data, that actual PDF certificate, to their database. Sure, they can just leave it in the federal one.
Speaker 6:I get it. As long as they know it's there, I get it. It's probably the search thing, like what you do. You just put in like your filters. Okay, I need state of Texas or wherever. Yeah, For the month of may yeah.
Speaker 1:So my question on the the dmv side is are they getting a list of people whose med cards expired? No and then they go on and they look for them. So they're getting notified somehow that someone from their state. Oh, that's my question. So how is their state getting notified?
Speaker 4:is, the registry gets everything that's loaded into it and the state of Texas pulls the registry for new Texas MedCards and they go in and those MedCards have driver's license numbers attached to them and when the state says, oh, this driver's license number has been updated, they mark it as updated and they go through and mark everything that's new as updated license number. It's been updated. They mark it as updated. They go through and mark everything that's new as updated and when yours pops up on their system as expired, so does your cdl.
Speaker 6:Yes, I think it's actually deleting a step, because I think right now it's going to the states and then the states are putting it in the system so that it can be seen by anybody in the us, and now it's just going to be able to be seen by anybody in the US. It doesn't have to go to the state first to get it put into the database.
Speaker 1:Got it. I think there's going to be a lot of confusion.
Speaker 6:I don't think there will be. I don't think so.
Speaker 1:I hope it goes smoothly. I think there are states that are doing it already.
Speaker 4:I don't think there will be, but I think there could be some issues. Sure, a number gets entered incorrectly, sure.
Speaker 1:The 14-day wait. That would be my biggest thing.
Speaker 6:Not only that the state doesn't comply.
Speaker 1:Was that a record?
Speaker 2:It sounded like it. Sorry, we got DJ DJ.
Speaker 1:I was trying to do a trick but it's not working.
Speaker 2:I was thinking who's the? But it's not working. I was thinking who's the? Is it Jazzy Jeff, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?
Speaker 6:Yeah, my apologies on that oh sorry for going old school Jerry.
Speaker 1:Sorry, I thought I was being quiet over here. They even held my eye, so it didn't cling. I love it.
Speaker 2:So I do, what about states that you? What about states that just aren't compliant yet, like, if you remember? So the Real ID just became, like June 7th Required.
Speaker 1:Right May 7th, may 7th, sorry, so it just became required.
Speaker 2:So if you're, by the time you're listening to this, it just became required.
Speaker 1:It's come and gone?
Speaker 2:Yes, it just came and gone. So Real ID, they've been talking about it for like.
Speaker 1:Years, years.
Speaker 2:And I remember Louisiana being one of the states because I was living there back then where they said like we don't have that technology yet, so you might want to consider a passport or something when that time comes, because we don't have the technology for the Real ID.
Speaker 2:Sure and it was like, oh no, what are you going to do? Then they rolled it out and said if you have a non-CDL, you're just a regular license holder, you can get Real ID, but if you're a CDL holder you can't. It was such a slow rollout of Real ID and now pretty much everybody has it and it's. You can get one with or without. But what if you have states that aren't compliant with this yet? I'm curious if we're going to see this come and go and certain states are going to say, hey, you still have to send us a paper copy because we're not on that system yet.
Speaker 4:I would not be surprised, because this new rule was adopted in 2015. The compliance date was initially set for June 22nd of 2018.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 4:And here we are seven years later. I'm sorry. It was then pushed to 2021 and now we're at 2025.
Speaker 1:They're ready.
Speaker 4:They think they're ready.
Speaker 6:Gene, you would think the DOT could help these places get the technology to be able to do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's not always easy. There are some states out there that want to do things their way and they don't like the federal government interfering with what they do. So I do get there's a philosophy. I'm not saying I agree or disagree, I'm just saying I understand there's philosophies that don't necessarily allow for that. I think when you look at DMV websites and stuff like Ohio, I have become madly in love with Ohio's Bureau of Motor Vehicle Investigations online because you can do so much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can it is. They're a porthole. Yeah, you can it is, and it's tied to other agencies. Yes, like your tax agency and this. And that. It's all tied into this one Ohio portal.
Speaker 2:Yes, and for those of us that are in business here, the way it integrates with Fortman's Comp, the way it integrates with just a bunch of different stuff, it's a thing of beauty. It's 1997. Graphics Secretary of State?
Speaker 4:Yes, it is Secretary of State. That's what I was trying to think of earlier. Oh yes, dmvs and things, the Ohio Secretary of State website.
Speaker 2:Oh, piece de resistance, but again the graphics 1997. Yeah, reminds me of Windows, not XP.
Speaker 1:Older Almost Oregon, tre-less yeah.
Speaker 2:It's really old. It's better than.
Speaker 5:DOS Is it easy to navigate? Yes, can you understand it at first looking at it? Then who cares?
Speaker 2:Then that's all that matters, it's easy, it's clean, it's not very nice looking, but it's better than C colon backslash OregonTrailexe. It wasn't exe, was it?
Speaker 1:It was exe.
Speaker 2:So it's not that.
Speaker 1:No, but it's a little archaic, but again, you can do your car registry and your title renewal and your own DMV change of license or registration. You can do employment stuff. Maybe you were unemployed and wanted to look for employment. You can do employment stuff. Maybe you were unemployed and wanted to look for employment. You could do your taxes.
Speaker 2:They have a great job search engine on there. Again, it's integrated.
Speaker 1:Anyway, that's what Ohio has.
Speaker 4:So if you're looking, for a great government website. Move to Ohio and you can use ours If you're looking for a pretty one.
Speaker 2:Louisiana's website's beautiful. It's useless but it's beautiful. They got the picture of the Capitol building the Florida Lee. They got the pelican for the flag.
Speaker 5:The current administration's picture.
Speaker 2:Yes, Louisiana's website's the opposite it's gorgeous. It is completely non-functional, but it is gorgeous.
Speaker 4:The banner says Les Lillet Montaurou.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 1:I have a question about this. As a CDL holder, and for those of us that may be getting this done in the next six months, nine months, are you going to be checking on your status yourself, because I can see a lot of people just kind of doing it and now they don't have to take all these extra steps. For me, I would be a little cautious and just want to make sure things are. This is the way I roll, though. I would want to make sure, and I know we all do it differently, but do we just let it be and it's all going to work out.
Speaker 4:I think, ultimately, you go get your MedCard after June 23rd and you just go to work and see if your carrier calls you and says hey, where's your med card? No, let's not do that. No, we shouldn't do it that way.
Speaker 1:There's some due diligence there, I think anyone that's in trucking.
Speaker 2:Once you get into it, if you are on the precipice, you're like I'm about to go to CDL school or I'm in the middle of CDL school, or whatever. One thing you will quickly learn is that we're a very, very regulated industry.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And because of that there are lots of opportunities for things to go wrong, and so I think the longer you're in it, the more you try to be proactive.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:So, the longer you're in it, the more you have to make sure your medical card. Like I know, I just told y'all getting my medical card a couple days before it's due If I was actively driving a truck as part of my job it would already be done, not in a million years.
Speaker 2:But that's not a critical function of my job If I have to tell Chili hey, you know, these three days still waiting on my medical card to come in, can't drive a truck today, still waiting on my medical card, can't drive a truck today, not the end of the world to come in. Can't drive a truck today, still waiting my car can't drive truck today, not the end of the world. Um and so it. You know I'm gonna, I'm gonna have that luxury, but if, but back when I was driving a truck for my, my income, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Oh, two weeks before. Every time we were like never to the last minute, always way ahead of time, because they don't care. I mean like, depending on your state, if you get that sympathetic person on the phone, like we did with Eric and we had a one-day delay and it cost us $80, cool, like at least it only cost us $80 in one day. But if you don't get that sympathetic person on the phone and we've had this happen I can think of several examples especially in.
Speaker 2:Texas because Texas has been really strict about it and we've had this happen. I can think of several examples, especially in Texas, because Texas has been really strict about it, where we've had a team sit at home for a week and a half. 10 days waiting on a freaking person to go click. It works. So I mean they don't care that you don't make any money like zero income during that time.
Speaker 5:That's their responsibility.
Speaker 4:Let's hope this makes it easier, right.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 4:Let's hope it makes it a lot easier and a lot quicker.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I would still say you know until we know what it really does. Follow up A and B go a couple weeks early, always 14 days at a minimum. You know, a two-year CDL is now a year and 11 months. In my opinion, One year is now good for 11 months. A six-month is now good for five months, A three-month. Please go take care of your health. That's more important than driving a truck, but that's the way I look at it. So yeah, again, after you get burned a couple times, that really sinks in.
Speaker 2:But if you are new to the industry, if you haven't gone through the process yet, when you get your CDL immediately. Well, before you get a CDL, you have to have a medical card. Yes, you do so. If you're going to school on July 1st, by mid-June, have that medical card. Make sure you've at least gotten that process started when this rolls out. I know we're still about a month away or so when this rolls out. Please let us know as you start upgrading your medical cards or experiencing this. Let us know how it's going. I'm curious if it's going to be a slick process or not. My medical card I didn't realize it. I knew it was June. I thought it was June 1st. I didn't realize it was June 23rd.
Speaker 1:So I'm actually going to do the old-fashioned thing.
Speaker 2:I just did mine. I'm going to go and get mine in paper copy and go straight to the DMV, so I will not actually get to experience this. So we are very curious how it goes for you all. Let us know and leave your comments in the box. We've had a lot of comments lately. I'm loving it. A lot of people are talking very much so about our next topic and so we'll just roll right into that. But we appreciate your comments. We love seeing what you have to say about these different things.
Speaker 1:Do leave your comment. Leave what state you're from, so we know what your comments are about for your state.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, if you can leave your CDL number, your credit card number, your social security?
Speaker 1:No, I'm kidding. Just what state, just what state.
Speaker 2:What state you maybe?
Speaker 1:had great luck in what state you have your CDL in? Yes, not what state you did your DOT physical in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we do recognize some people where you live and where your CDL may not be the same place or where you call home.
Speaker 1:I should say I guess we're wanting to track the DMV.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. What that leads us into is what we talked about a couple weeks ago, because what we talked about a couple weeks ago, trump administration signed an executive order saying, well, I guess Donald Trump signed not his administration. But he signed an executive order saying the federal out-of-service criteria include English proficiency. So you have to be able to speak English to be a CDL holder in the United States.
Speaker 5:Right.
Speaker 2:And if you cannot speak English, then are proficient enough English, then it used to be a. It was an offense, but it wasn't an out of service.
Speaker 2:It wasn't a service violation, so you could continue going on, but your carrier would get dinged for it, right? And he said make it an out of service. So you put the truck down out of service, if that happens. Just a week or so ago, the CVSA, which are the inspection people that's Commercial Vehicles Safety Alliance Board they are the ones that kind of dictate what the FMCSA does during a roadside inspection they did just vote to agree to this and are making English proficiency violations grounds for truck drivers to be placed out of service. It's not surprising. You know, trump kind of said hey, this needs to happen and I want this executive order saying we'll do it. And the Commercial Vehicle Safety Administration came and said you know what? We actually agree with that and have joined on as well. So the new out of service rule will become effective June 25th. So if you don't speak English you probably can't hear what I'm saying, but you have until June 25th.
Speaker 1:And is it only speaking or is it speaking and writing?
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a good question. I think it's speaking and reading.
Speaker 1:I only asked because I think Arkansas was both, wasn't it question? I think it's speaking and reading.
Speaker 2:I only asked because I think Arkansas was both, wasn't it? Yes, I believe it's. I don't know if it's writing as much reading, so I don't think they have to necessarily write, but I think they have to be able to read. So, if I can quote here, you can't by adding English language proficiency to the out-of-service criteria.
Speaker 4:A commercial motor vehicle inspector may place a driver out of service if they cannot demonstrate proficiency in reading and speaking English. That's a quote from the CBSA press release.
Speaker 1:So reading that's right reading, because we want you to be able to read signs.
Speaker 6:How are they testing this?
Speaker 1:We don't know they don't say that do they.
Speaker 2:So is it just the inspector's?
Speaker 6:choice. I did see it. So is it just the dad inspector's choice? I?
Speaker 2:did see it. No, I did see an article where they were talking about how they're doing it in Arkansas, and there is a state official criteria sheet of paper that has certain things on it.
Speaker 6:So it's kind of a checklist, it's kind of a checklist.
Speaker 2:If you can read that piece of paper, you're good to go. So I'm sure what's going to happen is every cdl, uh school and every uh motor carrier that works with uh non-english speaking people are going to make sure they can make sure they can pass that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, but which makes sense? Again, we talked about this last two weeks ago. Um, you got to be able to know what the signs say speed limit signs. You know what a runway, uh, ramps, all that stuff. There is a limited amount of English you need to know to be able to safely function. Now there's a higher standard that you need to be at to comfortably navigate truck stops and all the other stuff. But that's not what they're looking at. They're looking at core safety and they're saying this is your bare minimums. You need to be able to read. So that's why they had that piece of paper there, and then you have to be able to speak to an officer or someone else that's helping with safety, and that's the. That's the minimum.
Speaker 6:That's the part I'm maybe not concerned about. But is that just their judgment as to how well they understand the person?
Speaker 2:That's a good question yeah.
Speaker 5:Well, if there's a written test that the state does, then you pass that test.
Speaker 2:But there's oral. There's no judgment, it's a reading, so you have to be able to read and speak.
Speaker 5:Okay, and I'm worried about the different standards for different states.
Speaker 2:Sure, I don't know.
Speaker 5:Colorados have different signs that maybe Nebraska won't.
Speaker 2:I think you should know all of those. Are you going?
Speaker 5:Yeah, but you're testing in each state their own test at the station as you pass through.
Speaker 2:it, like going to Massachusetts and they give you Shakespeare to read and then you have to explain what it said.
Speaker 5:If you're going to Louisiana, it's in Cajun.
Speaker 2:You go to Louisiana it's in Cajun. You go through Mississippi and they're not really worried about the reading part and you go through Mississippi and they're not really worried about the reading part.
Speaker 5:So if you make this a federal thing and come up with a federal, you need to be able to do this to be all through the 48 states. Heather, you've been to Canada.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 5:Canada O'Canada In the.
Speaker 1:CMV yes. So my question is were you worried about your? I know it's French, but I'm going to say Canadian because I don't know what their signs are written in. Canadian because I don't know what their signs are written in.
Speaker 1:I've never been there myself French, you had it right. So are you worried about that? With your first load, before you go in, are you studying their guide? Are you like the shoe on the other foot here? Are you worried about that? Going into Canada the four of you, because Vince and I did not go to Canada.
Speaker 2:I can say this on a couple different levels, so one I want to say when we first, Eric and I, first went to Canada, we went to Winnipeg, which is just right in the middle of good old fashioned.
Speaker 5:North of North Dakota.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're just, they're just Midwesterners, they're just. Don't. You know, you're so nice to see you, you know so they don't. So that just felt like being in America. It just didn't. There's nothing about that.
Speaker 1:That felt French at all, including their signage, including their signage, everything so the first time, same thing with Alberta.
Speaker 2:Yep the first time we went into. Ontario, ontario. That's when I was like nervous and I knew going into it. I'm like these people speak French.
Speaker 5:Only French, only French.
Speaker 3:And Ontario speaks English Not.
Speaker 2:Ontario, quebec. Quebec yeah sorry, I got confused too. Quebec is Toronto. I'm sorry, quebec is Montreal, ontario is Toronto. Correct, I got a like and Saskatoon is Saskatchewan. And Lincoln is Nebraska, so Manitoba would be. Manitoba is Winnipeg right.
Speaker 1:That sounds right.
Speaker 3:Isn't it? Yeah, calgary is Alberta, okay.
Speaker 1:Now that we've done the capitals.
Speaker 5:Thank you For those who do.
Speaker 2:Canada Then there's some northern territories no one cares about.
Speaker 1:Okay, so when you're going into these, hold on, we got Prince Edward Island.
Speaker 5:Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Speaker 2:Yes, okay.
Speaker 5:That's how it's easier to remember. And then you got St John, okay.
Speaker 2:So you were going into the French cities the first time we're going into Quebec and I knew it was a French-speaking culture, and then the signs and everything were in French, everything from spanish and french. I was super nervous because, you know, I grew up in south louisiana so I had to take french, but I don't remember any of it. So, going there I was super nervous. For me, enough of the french that I learned came back that I was able to slightly navigate. I mean, y'all kind of saw this when we went to uh cosmo, or when we went to um argentino with you, or we went to mexico city.
Speaker 2:Sure, like enough spanish starts to come back now chile has way more spanish than I do, but enough spanish comes back that I'm able to like work my way around. Same thing happened. We went to quebec. Like enough french came back, where I'm like, oh okay, I kind of vaguely remember this I I would not be able to talk to an officer in french, but they don't require you to no, I'm just asking so that didn't have that pressure, sure, but um, but I but enough.
Speaker 2:It came back. So I am curious, uh, for someone like y'all that did not go grow up in a french-speaking community, how did y'all feel about that?
Speaker 3:I would say it's also a lot of their signs make sense because they put pictures on them. They do when you go to a, when you pass a way station, it literally has a truck sitting on a scale yeah, oh, that's funny literally on the sign. You you know it's a weigh station. All of their signage has a lot of pictures that go with it.
Speaker 2:That's very true.
Speaker 6:When we went you have GPS that still works. You can match up what they're saying the sign says to what it looks like the sign says. I think they have both English and French on a lot of the signs where we went.
Speaker 2:Ontario has a lot of French and English, like Toronto is. They're like close enough that they speak French, but it's not really like the law of the land. Quebec is the one where it's like.
Speaker 6:Yeah, oh, they think that they're French from the French CanadiansCanadian side, and they don't have any drastically different driving.
Speaker 2:It's very similar instruction. You're not driving on the left side of the road, like in Britain or something Sure. Yeah, now, the way that I and I'm curious, jerry, because I know you're the only other person I know that's like this I am curious because I did get experience of just being lost, of just I don't necessarily know what to do Twice, once when I was in Italy and once when I was in Portugal. So both times I was also with Jerry, who I was driving.
Speaker 1:Not in a CMV.
Speaker 2:Not in a CMV, thankfully, but the Italian government doesn't recognize my CDL. Actually, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to drive in Italy. So, being in Italy and being in Portugal, portugal's all Portuguese, italy's all Italian there is no English subtitles, it's just, this is what it is. And in those two countries, I felt like I remember being with other people in the car, because both times there were a lot of us together and both times it was like what do y'all think we should do? And, uh, I'd like to sit here and tell you I was an amazing driver and I figured it all out and it was great in In Italy. I still don't know what the speed limit sign meant. Did you ever figure that out?
Speaker 3:No, no, I got so many tickets.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, For the next like six months. I would just randomly get a ticket in the mail.
Speaker 6:What they looked like.
Speaker 1:Like so they had cameras, so they're circles with numbers.
Speaker 2:They're circles with numbers and lines to them, but then there's different colors and sometimes they're on top of each other and sometimes they're side by side. Oh, it's a Montana speed limit sign. I have no.
Speaker 6:Similar and not similar to Germany.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so some are minimums and some are maximums.
Speaker 6:Right.
Speaker 2:And some are recommended.
Speaker 6:And some apply.
Speaker 5:Certain hours of the day.
Speaker 2:Certain hours of the day.
Speaker 5:Montana has nighttime speeds for CMV.
Speaker 2:It was a nightmare, did you?
Speaker 1:just stay 45 the whole time.
Speaker 2:No, but I take that experience and I go. If I was a CDL holder in this country and I was driving a truck professionally here, I would have to take some Italian, or I'd have to take some Portuguese to understand what to do. Give me the cheat sheet card. Yes, some Italian, or it takes some Portuguese to understand what to do.
Speaker 1:Give me the cheat sheet card.
Speaker 2:Yes, because we were only going from major city to major city. We'd park and basically walk around the entire cities, but that's because those cities are walkable and then we would, a couple days later, get in the car drive to another city park, it be there for a few days or whatever, and even then it was just so hard to navigate. So I can imagine if you speak only french or you speak only spanish and you come here and you speak nothing of english, it would just be daunting sure because, I, I experienced it, and, jerry, you did the same thing so the fmcsa or cvsa is actually doing something to work on that.
Speaker 4:So in the same article there's a quote from the CVSA saying the CVSA will also send a petition to the FMCSA requesting that the agency harmonize the commercial driver's license English language requirements in 49 CFR Part 383, quote commercial driver's license standards end quote with those in 49 CFR Part 391, quote qualifications of drivers and longer combination of vehicle driver's instructions end quote so that the standards are consistent.
Speaker 2:That's good.
Speaker 4:So they're looking to make those standards consistent across the board and not just subjective.
Speaker 5:Each individual state Right exactly.
Speaker 2:CVSA gets a lot of heat right. They are the people that put you out of service. They are the ones that give the inspectors the authority to do all that stuff. They are the reason why if you have a tire that's a little low on air pressure, or if you have a tire that is not quite to tread depth, they will put you out of service. That's them. Like the roadside inspections that you see are all cvsa roadside inspection blitzes, so they get a lot of slack and a lot of people don't like them, but I do genuinely feel like they are. I'm gonna say 100 but 98 out for vehicle safety.
Speaker 4:That's all they care about I've always felt that it doesn't feel like they're pushing an agenda.
Speaker 2:It just feels like we just want the roads safer and they are pro-driver in the sense of like you're talking about. We want consistency, Right. We want to make sure people can have a living here. We just want you to do it safely, Sure. So I really appreciate that they are doing that and I did not catch that in that article. Thank you.
Speaker 6:I think, yeah, it's like anything like you're talking about in different states. We don't have falling rock signs in Nebraska, but when I saw one when I was driving through California or Arizona, I knew what it meant.
Speaker 2:Yes, but in America, like all of our waystation signs are just labeled waystation.
Speaker 3:And you never know what to do. When you pull into one, they're all different and within the same state they Waystation, and you never know what to do when you pull into one.
Speaker 1:They're all different, every state's different, and within the same state they're even different.
Speaker 2:But you have to understand it's bypass when flashing unless it's closed when flashing.
Speaker 1:Louisiana. Whenever in doubt, pull in Louisiana go in when we're not flashing.
Speaker 2:When in doubt, pull in or pull in, but the transponder in your truck says don't pull in. Even better, the transponder in your truck says pull in. The sign says don't pull in, we're closed.
Speaker 3:I pull in, or Anytime there's a conflict, I pull in, or just pull in and pull up to the scale and like, do you slowly roll the car?
Speaker 2:Do you come to a stop? Yes, I never know that. And then what's the speed going?
Speaker 1:across Because some of them other trucks are going quick, but I'm like I think it's at five miles.
Speaker 3:And I'm like watching my miles per hour gauge, you don't want to
Speaker 4:slam on that brake, because if they do, stop you on the scale.
Speaker 6:You know you're going to sit there and rock.
Speaker 2:And then rolling, which window do you roll down? Because some have the speaker on the left, some have the speaker on the right.
Speaker 4:I roll them both down, my headset came off, I roll both windows down.
Speaker 2:My headset came off every time. As soon as I saw that, it came off immediately. Mine always came off at the weigh station.
Speaker 4:Mom, I'll call you back.
Speaker 2:Yep, yep, turn the podcast off. I've had people. I didn't even know.
Speaker 6:They yelled at you until I was driving for over a year.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, oh yeah. I've had people that they've been just chatty and I'm not going to say they are from Georgia, and I've put them down, gone through a weigh station. And then once I got clear, put the headset back on and they're still talking. They never knew. I have no idea what they said during that time, but we all have those people right.
Speaker 1:There was one in Washington weigh station and I'm prepared and nothing, nothing, nothing. And there's the exit, so I take it. It's literally maybe 200 feet of off and on and it's dilapidated, just a little bigger than an outhouse building, and I'm like are you kidding me? This thing hasn't been operational in years, probably 20 years. They can't put a closed, they can't take down the sign that says wastage. It was clearly a waste of my night. I still drove through and I had to do it on the way back on the other side.
Speaker 2:Texas. Texas has the little pull-offs and they'll just randomly show up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, throw their sign out, Yep. And they're like hey, we're testing.
Speaker 2:Oh man, no scales at all. I got passed by one one time. The guy pulls up has me stop. He walks over there. I see my mirrors. Two guys go on, or two officers go on either side. They open up my fuel cap while I'm talking to this officer. They shine their light in there, they put the fuel cap back on, they give the guy a thumbs up and then he's like all right, man, good to see.
Speaker 4:Or have safe drive or whatever.
Speaker 2:Just checking to make sure you're not running cultural fuel.
Speaker 4:Yes, and I'm like.
Speaker 2:I never would have thought in a million years they would actually check that. But sure enough, they're making sure they have no red dye in there.
Speaker 1:We made a crew.
Speaker 5:But it was very clear you have to get off here.
Speaker 4:You have to stop here.
Speaker 5:You got to wait for this. They give the thumbs up. You're good to go Go.
Speaker 2:Well. So a lot of my long-distance driving nowadays are in trucks that are either going in for like what we call heavy maintenance, so like I'll bring a truck to AA Trucks in Fort Worth. That's a big like they do a lot of. When I say heavy-duty retrofit I do mean like it's going to be down there for a month, it's a remodel. It's a remodel or sometimes not a remodel, but it's just a. It's a large scope of work and so it's going to be there for at least a month, sometimes two, three months, um, and then I will, which is fun because sometimes I'll get pictures from our drivers of like hey, I noticed our trucks in here and here's, here's what it looks like, or whatever, um, but so that typically mine it's over 1,000 miles.
Speaker 2:So a lot of times when I'm doing those runs we don't have transponders in the trucks, because they're not running freight. There's no reason to have them. It's not a tollway the whole way down, so they don't have transponders, or if they do, they don't work or they're not assigned, or once the truck's been sitting for so long, you have to resubmit that information, yada, yada. So I typically don't have transponders, so I'm typically dealing with way stations.
Speaker 2:You're paying attention, and can I tell you how much it's like. You drive past the way station and the sign says like truck cleared to bypass. And then, like, when you're next to it, it says truck must pull in. And you're like Changes that fast? Who's that for exactly? I don't know if that's me or the or the next person, or whatever. My favorite is uh, you're pulling up to a way station that says closed and right before you pass a sign it says open. A hundred percent of those have been closed for me. I don't know if that's proper or not.
Speaker 4:I saw a closed officer. I saw a closed officer. I will.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Now, if it's clearly open, I'm pulling in oh yeah, of course, but if it flips right as it's right here that's closed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, or my favorite, I love this one too. You ever see the big signs where it's like truck's okay to bypass it once the line's here, yes.
Speaker 5:Yes, california does that.
Speaker 2:And then there'll be like five more trucks past it, still in line, and then being able to go past all those people who are like you know.
Speaker 3:So, like North Carolina, the way they do that is they actually have sensors. So whenever the trucks do hit that, it'll automatically flip the sign. To close.
Speaker 4:California does that too, but there are those states that have the sign do not block interstate.
Speaker 2:I hear you saying it's different in every state, and even within states they're different it's crazy, and some of those wait stations don't give you a whole lot of information a whole lot of a gap so we've had teams get in trouble because they were passing an 18-wheeler and saw the sign and then the exit's right there and they couldn't get over soon enough, and the cop did come and pull them over and give them a ticket for bypassing a weigh station when they weren't supposed to.
Speaker 3:I got stopped in Arizona because I went through the weigh station. I had the green light going through Arizona and Arizona does the you have to remain in the right lane until you're completely past the weigh station. Yes, and I moved over to the left lane Like I was past the weigh station but not far enough to where the markings were, and when I moved over too soon he came out and got me. Yeah, it was a warning, but still.
Speaker 1:Wow, that seems a little nitpicky.
Speaker 3:I think it's because he explained it to me that they're doing visual inspections on the truck as you pass by, Even though you're getting a green light.
Speaker 4:they're sitting there looking at all these trucks Still looking at you.
Speaker 2:And so he was still looking at me and just yeah, yeah, and so he was still looking at me and just yeah, yeah, it's a fun world out there.
Speaker 1:So if you're considering being a truck driver, Always go in if you're unsure, always, always, always, and if you're placarded yes, forget about what your sign says.
Speaker 3:Always pull in, always, especially in Ohio, especially in Ohio.
Speaker 1:Especially in Ohio.
Speaker 2:Yep, pull in is not worth it. You'd never get in trouble for pulling when you're not supposed to. No, you wouldn't.
Speaker 6:But the opposite can be true.
Speaker 1:I like the ones that have the lights above too, where you have to go in and then it'll give you the green arrow to bypass. Pick an arrow and then pick an arrow to go. Here it feels like choose your own adventure.
Speaker 2:I don't like the ones that wait to the last minute, so you're like really up on the steering wheel looking. It's like okay, I'm going left.
Speaker 1:I don't know that you and Eric were ever on the road when the new one in Arizona opened up the one right across the border. So literally you exit and you go down, and you go down, and you go down, I don't know half a freaking mile, and then you make a right, and then you go up, and then you come back the half mile and the half mile this is all on their property too and the half mile, and then you loop back around and maybe you go a quarter of a mile and then you go across the way station and you're
Speaker 5:like how are you like, and it's got all this lovely parking.
Speaker 1:It's a brand new facility. They opened it at least what Is it on 10?
Speaker 4:It's on like 10, it's ridiculous.
Speaker 2:I drove 40. No, I didn't, I went up through.
Speaker 1:Sneaky.
Speaker 2:Pete's what's it called? You did, Bale didn't you Sneaky Pete's.
Speaker 4:You went up 15.
Speaker 2:You know the old Whiskey, pete's.
Speaker 4:That's what it is Whiskey Pete's.
Speaker 1:Whiskey, pete's, that's what it is Whiskey.
Speaker 4:Pete's and the other one.
Speaker 1:They opened that one mid-time of our three years out there. And when they finally opened it because we did go out there an awful lot and it's the first way station across the state line and I was like, are you kidding me All? You're going to do is just wave me through 20 minutes later and you're finally going through, are you talking?
Speaker 5:about the one with the Texas service roads going from Vegas to LA.
Speaker 2:No, but that one's, it's, a new one, it's like five miles of service road. Did we ever drive it?
Speaker 5:I don't remember going in.
Speaker 2:I don't think we ever drove it. We watched them build it. It's the one that's out there by the solar plants. Oh yeah, going from Vegas to LA. So if you're driving from Vegas to LA on 15, you know there's those right on the border, there's these giant mirror facilities.
Speaker 5:Right.
Speaker 2:And they go up to a tower.
Speaker 4:Yep.
Speaker 2:And I don't know if you know or not, they are literally melting salt. Salt, yeah, salt, yeah, they are salt, like you put on a pasta or your french fries. Whatever they are taking that salt, they're heating it so hot that it melts, and that is what they are, uh, powering these turbines and stuff with to run these plants, I saw that did you see the number of like birds and stuff they've killed over the years?
Speaker 2:oh, you know, look, know, look. I'm all for green energy but sometimes you give a swing and a miss. And that was a miss, but I saw them build that. It's funny, that environmental thing next to seven miles of unnecessary concrete. And if you don't know, concrete's one of the biggest To make concrete. It's one of the biggest carbon emitters of anything we do as a race.
Speaker 5:If you're going southwest, it's in Prim Nevada, Right before the state line. When you cross the line, you look left, going towards LA. There's three of them.
Speaker 2:Yes, and then there's this huge, huge weigh station and then you go past that a little bit and there's an agricultural station and all the stuff to get into California.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:No, we watched them build that weigh station. We never had to stop there, though I don't think they've rebuilt the one and if you have, please let us know if you know better, but I don't think they rebuilt the one on. Is it the Grapevine? Yeah, the Grapevine's the one that burned to the ground right.
Speaker 1:Oh, I don't know. We've been through that one a few times.
Speaker 2:What interstate is Grapevine?
Speaker 1:I-5.
Speaker 2:No, not Grapevine, I'm talking 15 or 40. Comes into Ontario, 15 comes into Ontario.
Speaker 4:I-10 comes to Ontario also.
Speaker 2:Yes, but going north.
Speaker 4:It's 15. It's 15. There's a giant pass. Great.
Speaker 2:And there was a way station there and there was a fire that happened several years ago and burned the way station down. You remember this? That was great. I'm so happy.
Speaker 1:Tell us how you really feel about way stations.
Speaker 2:I always used to say from like Barstow, not really Barstow. So if you go to the 15, there's a pilot and a couple of exits down later is a Love's. Is that Barstow?
Speaker 4:That's Barstow.
Speaker 2:Okay, so from Barstow into LA any morning at between like 5 and 8 am in the morning, that mountain pass is a Formula 1 racetrack. Not anymore, not anymore, no.
Speaker 4:No, because you have everybody coming from Apple Valley, Hesperia, Victorville, coming into Los Angeles. Oh, it stopped, and that early in the morning because everybody's coming and traveling. So far it stopped, Do you not?
Speaker 2:remember racing down that mountain? Yeah, oh my gosh, I mean I'd be going around the legal limit and I would get passed. I was going still, it was so busy. Maybe it was earlier, maybe I'm just missing.
Speaker 2:Could be like 4 o'clock in the morning. I'll give you 4. Just trucks with their exhaust brakes Like passing me. Every morning it was like, oh my, we did a lot of work back in that area and it was like holy cow. Every time I went down that road it was always like this is a Formula 1 track Just right into Los Angeles. It's a beautiful drive too. I love going down that. Not once you get to Ontario it sucks, but going down that pass.
Speaker 1:I think that's the.
Speaker 2:Cajon Pass. Yeah, through Cajon Pass. It's gorgeous. I love the scenery. It actually is a fun drive.
Speaker 4:If you like driving. It's very curvy, it's fun.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I remember driving that many times being like oh this is sketchy, but no, that's where the fire happened and it burned the way station to the ground. I don't think it's reopened, but I am very curious if it is Southbound or northbound Southbound.
Speaker 4:I don't think there is one there southbound anymore.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there used to be, when Eric and I drove back in the early 40s before the war. I could be wrong. The early 40s before the war I could be wrong.
Speaker 1:The early 40s before the war.
Speaker 6:I don't remember seeing one anytime we went through there.
Speaker 2:Jerry, you remember, don't you? It was like a little tiny building and they pull you over.
Speaker 3:My memory's not that good, sorry. I believe that.
Speaker 1:I do believe that I bet you can remember the way station in North Carolina.
Speaker 6:Or South Carolina.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, I lived there many, many, many, many years.
Speaker 1:They're just all different, just beware.
Speaker 2:You know what we need to do. We need to get an update on how 40 is doing through that area.
Speaker 3:I heard recently that it is back open.
Speaker 2:It's one lane, but it's back open. I did hear that it was one lane as well, but I am curious, which direction?
Speaker 1:What do you take? Turns no, it Direction. What do you take?
Speaker 2:turns no One lane each side. Oh, one lane each, like they got one two-lane section and then they just put K-Rolls down the middle. Got it yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm like, what are we doing? The red light and you take turns.
Speaker 2:Oh, can you imagine? No, that would be a nightmare. At least you're still getting traffic through Local traffic.
Speaker 1:Local at that point.
Speaker 2:Well, no, I'm very curious what they end up doing, because that's some interesting terrain. It's going to end up being super expensive when it's all said and done, fixing all that. But I think that's all the time we have for this week. It's been a lot of fun. Stay tuned. In a couple weeks we're going to come back. We are going to continue the highfield saga.
Speaker 1:I don't know what you call it history highfield history.
Speaker 2:we're going to talk about detroit diesel and how that factors into what we do, why we do what we do, and also we're going to talk a little bit about the history of that company and how it relates to not only the what we do now with it and with freightliner western star, but also some competition and a little bit of days of our lives, of what family used to be entangled with what family and no longer is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's some good drama, so we'll talk about that in a couple weeks. In the meantime, if you are interested in contacting us and seeing what it is we have to offer, what we're doing, you can feel free to reach out to us at highfiltrackingcom chat.
Speaker 1:outerbuiltpodcasts at gmailcom or 833-HIGHFIELD, 833-493-4353, option 1, Monday through Friday, 8 to 5 pm Eastern Time.
Speaker 2:And if you want to see us on the website, you can go to.
Speaker 3:Highfieldtruckingcom.
Speaker 2:And what can they do there?
Speaker 3:You can chat with one of our recruiters. You can get tons of information on what we do over here at Highfield the carriers we run with.
Speaker 1:You can submit a form and a recruiter will call you back.
Speaker 2:Yep, you can check out pictures of these trucks. We talk about how we have these custom sleeper trucks and everything. What does that really mean? We've got a nice gallery there, ever-expanding gallery.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of information.
Speaker 2:Some new features that are coming up soon. If they're not already there, I don't know. It's a really cool website. It's developing, it's growing along with us. It is much nicer looking than the Ohio State website. But if you want to reach us on this show directly and you want to say, hey, we want to comment on something you said or we want you to talk about, fill in the blank.
Speaker 4:You can drop us a comment right here, or you can email us at I don't know the email address. You literally just said it, the Outerbeltpodcast at gmailcom Also known as the Outerbeltpodcast at gmailcom.
Speaker 2:And if you're watching us on YouTube, all this information is going to be down in the description, so check us out there. If you're listening to us on a podcast, you just have to remember one of these things.
Speaker 3:All the same information is in the description of the podcast there it is.
Speaker 2:If you can, if you listen to us on a podcast, no matter what platform you're on, shoot us a review. Let us talk about what we're doing. It helps us get more viewers and more listeners and we appreciate that, and thank you all so much for everything you all do. Until we see each other next time, stay safe, make good decisions.
Speaker 4:The Outer Boat Podcast. Don't leave money on the table.
Speaker 3:And keep those wheels of turner. All righty, good night, bye. Until next time, alrighty.
Speaker 5:Good night Till next time.
Speaker 1:Till we meet again. Thank you.