If you hold a commercial driver’s license, it’s always been enough to carry your medical card with you on the road. But a set of federal regulations adopted a couple of years ago means you may have to submit your medical card to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Ohio CDL holders who drive across state lines, or transport freight that crosses state lines, have to submit a medical examiner’s certificate to the BMV under new regulations adopted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in 2012. Many truckers already have done this as they applied for or renewed their CDL within the past two years, but the deadline is fast approaching for all interstate truckers to file their medical form.
Even if you’re not an interstate trucker, anyone in Ohio who has a CDL has to file a form saying how they use their CDL.
What You Need To Know
Self-Certification
Everyone with an Ohio CDL has to file a form by Jan. 30 telling the BMV what kind of driving you do. That’s process is called “self-certifying” and the form is called a BMV2159.
You can find the form online or you can get it from the BMV.
Once you have the self-certification form, you can submit it a few ways:
- By mail to Ohio BMV CDL/Out of State Process, PO Box 16784, Columbus, OH 43216-6784
- By email to CDL@dps.state.oh.us
- By Fax to (614) 308-5181. You’re asked to include a cover page with your name, address, and phone number
Driving Categories
On your self-certification form, you’ll have to indicate what category of driver you are. You can only choose one.
- Category 1 is for drivers who drive outside of Ohio or haul freight that has been transported across the Ohio border.
- Category 2 is for interstate drivers who don’t meet federal medical requirements
- Category 3 is for drivers who only drive commercial vehicles inside Ohio
- Category 4 is for drivers who don’t use their CDL for business purposes. That might include retirees who keep their CDL, as an example.
Medical Card
Drivers who tell the state they’re in Category 1 have to submit their medical card to the BMV by Jan. 30, 2014.
Drivers in Categories 2, 3, and 4 do not have to submit medical cards to the BMV, but Category 3 drivers may need to have one and keep it on them.
A blank medical card, also known as a Medical Examiner’s Certificate, can be found online at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/safetyprograms/Medical-Examiners-Certificate.pdf
You have to take the form to a health care practitioner — usually a doctor — that is licensed to do physical examinations. In Ohio, a physician’s assistant, advanced registered nurse practitioner, or chiropractic doctor also may be able to do your exam.
Once your medical exam is performed, the health provider signs the form and you turn it in to the BMV. You also should keep a copy with you.
You can submit the medical card to the BMV:
- By mail to Ohio BMV CDL/Out of State Process, PO Box 16784, Columbus, OH 43216-6784
- By email to CDL@dps.state.oh.us
- By Fax to (614) 308-5181. You’re asked to include a cover page with your name, address, and phone number
What happens if I don’t turn in my medical card?
You will lose your CDL if you don’t meet the Jan. 30 deadline to turn in your medical card. You won’t be able to get your CDL back until you turn in the medical form.
If you have questions about what to do, you can call the BMV at 614-752-7500, or call attorney Ben Luftman at (614) 500-3836 and he may be able to help you avoid loss of your CDL. To contact the Columbus criminal defense attorneys at Luftman, Heck & Associates today, fill out the form at the bottom of the page.
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