CDL licenses require certain health qualifications before you can be CDL certified. Just because you have certain medical conditions does not mean that you will not be eligible for employment, but you must meet the basic standards of health before becoming certified. If you take medications for conditions, you may be required to be recertified more often than if you were in perfect health, but that does not disqualify you from seeking gainful employment with a reliable company.
Blood Pressure
If you have high blood pressure, you must be taking medications to keep your blood pressure below 140/90 mmHg. You will need to be recertified for your CDL license once a year if you have this condition. If your blood pressure falls in the 160/100 to 179/109, then you must continue treatment as prescribed by a healthcare professional, and you will only receive a one-time certification for a 3-month CDL license. If your blood pressure is any higher than that, you will not be given a certified CDL license. If you have regular blood pressure, you must still be certified every 2 years.
Diabetes
If you have diabetes that can be maintained with oral medications and a low-sugar diet, and you keep yourself under medical supervision, then you will receive your certification for a CDL license. However, if you are on insulin shots in order to stabilize your blood sugar, then you will not be eligible for CDL certification because of the potential reactions to your blood-sugar levels. This makes you a serious liability for the company.
Bodily Control
As long as there are no conditions which can limit or affect your movement in any way, making your bodily movements involuntary, or having any conditions which are likely to cause unconsciousness, spasms, or any other dangerous situations while you are operating a motor vehicle, then you may become a certified CDL driver. This includes illnesses or diseases involving the cardiovascular and/or respiratory systems of the body.
Hearing and Vision
Your hearing and vision must be able to be corrected with hearing aids, glasses, or contact lenses in order to be certified for a CDL license. You must be tested by a specialist in each of these areas with written consent that you are fit to operate a motor vehicle.
Drugs and Alcohol
You must not have any history of alcoholism, or use any non-prescribed pharmaceutical drug, narcotic, amphetamine, or use any other type of habit-forming drugs, illegal or legal in nature.
