In a span of five days, I drove in excess of 1,000 miles and not once did I have to prove I’m healthy. And I had a firearm (kind of) in the car.
I’m pretty much in the homestretch of studying for the permit portion of my CDL test. Last week I got some expert help from Tom Fallon, Ryder’s top safety, health and security guy. The seemingly endless sections of the CDL manual were starting to stack up, and Tom basically told me to chill out and focus on general knowledge, air brakes and the combination sections. I kind of already knew that but having that kick in the pants from someone a lot smarter than me made me feel better.
Tom quickly diagnosed my over-thinking of this entire process and threw out a couple “you better know these” tips. With the exception of knowing what a wig-wag was, I did.
With my mind at ease, and now knowing what a wig-wag did, I expected to go take the test Friday. Expected. That changed with one call to the license office.
I first had to find a doctor to sign off on a Department of Transportation physical exam. You already knew that. I didn’t.
I called Thursday to ask a few questions about what all I needed to bring to take the test, expecting to hear a driver’s license, maybe a social security card and a small fortune. Then she hit me with, “don’t forget your DOT medical card.” Just exactly how stressful is this test? You need medical clearance to choose between multiple choice?
