Every 2 years — sometimes every 3 months — your CDL hinges on 15 minutes with a certified medical examiner. Fail and you park the truck. Here's how to walk in ready.

The BP tiers examiners follow (49 CFR 391.41)

• Under 140/90 → 2-year card. This is the goal.
• 140–159 / 90–99 → 1-year card. You'll be back sooner than you want.
• 160–179 / 100–109 → 3-month card. Fix it fast.
• 180+ / 110+ → disqualified until it's under control.

The 72 hours before

• Cut sodium. Skip Pilot chicken sandwiches, jerky, ramen, and pizza. Sodium alone can push you 10–15 points.
• Drop the caffeine to one cup. Two energy drinks the morning of will spike you.
• Sleep 7+ hours in the sleeper. Under-sleep drives BP.
• Walk 20 minutes at each fuel stop. Compression alone is worth 5 points.

The morning of

Water. No coffee. Empty bladder. Sit in the waiting room 5 minutes with feet flat before they cuff you. If the first read is high, ask for a second read — it's your right.

Weight and waist

There's no hard BMI cutoff for DOT, but a waist over 40" plus BP flags sends you to sleep-study land. FreightFit's tools log both weekly so you see the trend before an examiner does.

A1C and diabetes

Insulin-treated drivers can still hold a CDL with an ITDM form. A1C targets stay under 10 for most examiners. If yours climbs, get ahead of it — don't show up hoping.

The card is the truck

Vault your med card in FreightFit and it counts you down to expiry. Miss the window and you're not legal to roll.