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Commercial drivers may face different schedules, physical demands, and work conditions depending on the type of driving they do. Common driving patterns include turnaround or short relay, long relay, straight-through haul, and team driving.

Driver duties may also involve abrupt schedule changes, rotating work schedules, long hours, time away from family and friends, tight pickup and delivery schedules, irregular work, rest, and eating patterns, and difficult road, weather, or traffic conditions.

Some jobs also include additional physical tasks such as coupling and uncoupling trailers, loading and unloading freight, inspecting vehicles, lifting tire chains, and handling tarpaulins.

These duties require agility, bending, stooping, crouching, frequent entry and exit from the cab, climbing ladders, perceptual skills, judgment, and the ability to control and maneuver the vehicle safely.

§391.41 Physical Qualifications for Drivers

(a) A person shall not drive a commercial motor vehicle unless physically qualified to do so and, except as provided in §391.67, has on their person the original or a photographic copy of a medical examiner’s certificate showing that they are physically qualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle.

(b) A person is physically qualified to drive a motor vehicle if that person:

• Has no loss of a foot, a leg, a hand, or an arm, or has been granted a Skill Performance Evaluation (SPE) Certificate (formerly Limb Waiver Program), pursuant to §391.49.
• Has no impairment of a hand or finger that interferes with prehension or power grasping, or an arm, foot, or leg that interferes with the ability to perform normal tasks associated with operating a commercial motor vehicle, or any other significant limb defect or limitation that interferes with the ability to perform normal tasks associated with operating a commercial motor vehicle; or has been granted an SPE Certificate pursuant to §391.49.
• Has no established medical history or clinical diagnosis of diabetes mellitus currently requiring insulin for control.
• Has no current clinical diagnosis of myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, coronary insufficiency, thrombosis, or any other cardiovascular disease of a variety known to be accompanied by syncope, dyspnea, collapse, or congestive cardiac failure.
• Has no established medical history or clinical diagnosis of a respiratory dysfunction likely to interfere with the ability to control and drive a commercial motor vehicle safely.
• Has no current clinical diagnosis of high blood pressure likely to interfere with the ability to operate a commercial motor vehicle safely.
• Has no established medical history or clinical diagnosis of rheumatic, arthritic, orthopedic, muscular, neuromuscular, or vascular disease that interferes with the ability to control and operate a commercial motor vehicle safely.
• Has no established medical history or clinical diagnosis of epilepsy or any other condition that is likely to cause loss of consciousness or any loss of ability to control a commercial motor vehicle.
• Has no mental, nervous, organic, or functional disease or psychiatric disorder likely to interfere with the ability to drive a commercial motor vehicle safely.
• Has distant visual acuity of at least 20/40 (Snellen) in each eye, a field of vision of at least 70 degrees in the horizontal meridian in each eye, and the ability to recognize traffic signal colors showing standard red, green, and amber.
• First perceives a forced whispered voice in the better ear not less than 5 feet with or without the use of a hearing aid, or does not have an average hearing loss greater than 40 decibels at 500 Hz, 1,000 Hz, and 2,000 Hz.
• Does not use any drug or substance identified in 21 CFR 1308.11 Schedule I, an amphetamine, a narcotic, or other habit-forming drug.
  (i) Does not use any non-Schedule I drug or substance except when prescribed by a licensed medical practitioner who has advised the driver that the substance will not adversely affect the driver’s ability to safely operate a commercial motor vehicle.
• Has no current clinical diagnosis of alcoholism.