What to Bring to a DOT Physical Exam: Checklist and Conditions

For a DOT physical, bring a valid photo ID, the Medical Examination Report (Form MCSA-5875) with your identifying information filled in, a complete list of every medication you take with dosages and prescribing doctors, and documentation for any ongoing medical condition — diabetes records, cardiology clearance, a CPAP compliance report, neurological records, and so on. Bring your glasses or contacts if you use them for driving, your hearing aids if you wear them, and take your blood pressure medication as scheduled before the appointment. Showing up without the right paperwork is the single most common reason drivers waste a trip.

The Core Items Every Driver Brings

Start with identification. The examiner has to verify who you are before beginning the exam. A commercial driver’s license works, but a regular driver’s license or a passport is also acceptable.¹

The central document is the Medical Examination Report, Form MCSA-5875. You’re required to fill out the medical history section as part of the physical.² Download it from the FMCSA website or pick one up from the examiner’s office. Fill in the identifying information ahead of time (your name, address, date of birth, and license number), but leave the medical sections blank for the examiner to complete during the appointment.

Bring a written list of every medication you take. Include the dosage, how often you take it, and the prescribing doctor’s name and contact information. Cover prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and supplements. FMCSA has an optional companion form (MCSA-5895) that some examiners use to gather more detail on your prescriptions, but whether your examiner uses it or not, arriving with the information written down keeps the appointment moving.³

Sedating medications need extra paperwork. If you take narcotics, sleep aids, anxiety medication, or ADHD medication, you’ll likely need a letter and medical records from your treating doctor confirming you can safely operate a commercial vehicle while using them.⁴ Don’t leave that letter until exam morning. Call your prescriber at least two weeks ahead.

Ask your employer whether they require any company-specific forms on top of the federal paperwork. Some do.

Documentation for Specific Conditions

If you have a diagnosed medical condition, bring records for it. Missing the right documentation for one of the conditions below almost guarantees you won’t get certified that day.

Insulin-Treated Diabetes

If you use insulin, your treating clinician must complete the Insulin-Treated Diabetes Mellitus Assessment Form (MCSA-5870) before your exam.⁵ The form must be signed no more than 45 calendar days before the certified medical examiner begins your exam.⁶

You also need at least three months of blood glucose self-monitoring records from an electronic glucometer that stores readings with dates and times. Your most recent HbA1C measurement should be within the last three months, with intermittent measurements over the prior 12 months.⁶

Heart Conditions

Bring a clearance letter from your cardiologist along with recent test results such as stress tests, echocardiograms, or other relevant cardiology reports. The FMCSA’s Cardiovascular Advisory Panel guidelines direct examiners on how to evaluate these conditions, and your examiner needs current documentation to work from.⁷

Sleep Apnea

Drivers diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea who use a CPAP machine must bring a compliance report from the device. The report needs to show at least 70% usage for four or more hours per night. The time period the examiner reviews depends on where you are in the certification cycle: one month for initial certification, three months at the next check, and annual reviews after that.⁸ Most CPAP machines store the data automatically. Download or print the report before your appointment.

Seizure Disorders

Bring complete neurological records and documentation of your seizure-free period. Drivers with epilepsy must generally be seizure-free for eight years (on or off medication) and on a stable medication plan for at least two years to qualify through FMCSA’s federal seizure exemption program. For a single unprovoked seizure, the seizure-free requirement drops to four years.⁹

Vision and Hearing: Bring Your Correction

If you use glasses or contact lenses for driving, bring them. The examiner tests your vision with your correction in place. The federal standard requires at least 20/40 distance acuity in each eye (with or without corrective lenses), at least 20/40 binocular acuity, a horizontal field of vision of at least 70 degrees in each eye, and the ability to distinguish standard red, green, and amber traffic signal colors.¹⁰

Drivers who don’t meet the vision standard in their worse eye, including drivers with monocular vision, no longer apply for a separate exemption. Since March 2022, FMCSA’s alternative vision standard allows medical examiners to evaluate and qualify these drivers directly under 49 CFR 391.44.¹¹

If you wear hearing aids, bring them and wear them during the hearing test. The standard requires you to perceive a forced whisper at five feet or better in your better ear, with or without a hearing aid. An audiometric test is the alternative; you pass if your average hearing loss in the better ear is no greater than 40 decibels at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 Hz.¹²

Blood Pressure: What to Do the Morning Of

Blood pressure catches more drivers off guard than any other part of the exam, and your reading determines how long your medical certificate lasts. If you take blood pressure medication, bring it and take it as scheduled before the exam. If you know your readings tend to run high, skip the caffeine and energy drinks that morning.

The certification tiers work like this:

Below 140/90: full two-year certification.
140–159 / 90–99 (Stage 1): one-year certification.
160–179 / 100–109 (Stage 2): a one-time three-month certificate. If your blood pressure drops below 140/90 within those three months, you can get a one-year certificate.
180/110 or higher (Stage 3): disqualified. Once your blood pressure is brought below 140/90, you can be recertified at six-month intervals.

¹³

Drivers on hypertension treatment should expect annual certification at most.

Quick-Reference Checklist

Bring all of the following that apply to you:

Photo ID: driver’s license, CDL, or passport.
Form MCSA-5875 with your identifying information pre-filled.
Medication list with dose, frequency, and prescribing doctor’s name and contact information.
Clearance letters from prescribing doctors for any sedating medications.
Glasses or contacts, whichever you use for driving.
Hearing aids, if you use them.
Diabetes records: HbA1C results, glucometer data, and a completed MCSA-5870 form if you use insulin.
Heart condition records: cardiologist clearance letter and recent test results.
CPAP compliance report, downloaded or printed from your machine.
Neurological records documenting your seizure-free period, if applicable.
Blood pressure medication, taken as scheduled before the exam.
Any company-specific paperwork your employer requires.

Wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing so you can move easily during the physical portion of the exam. Drink some water beforehand so you can provide a urine sample without delay. The urinalysis screens for glucose, protein, blood, and specific gravity to check for conditions like diabetes or kidney problems, and it is not a drug test.¹⁴ The DOT drug test is a completely separate process governed by different rules.¹⁵

If You’re Missing Something

Depending on the issue, the examiner may give you a short-term certificate, ask you to get a specialist evaluation and return with documentation, or determine you’re temporarily disqualified until a condition is treated. There is no mandatory waiting period to retake the exam. Once you’ve addressed the gap, whether that means getting the sedating-medication letter, providing sleep apnea compliance data, or obtaining a specialist clearance, you can schedule a new appointment with any certified examiner on FMCSA’s National Registry.¹⁶

1
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Medical Examination Report Form MCSA-5875
2
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Medical Examination Report Form MCSA-5875
3
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. 391.41 CMV Driver Medication Form, MCSA-5895 (optional)
4
Memorial Health System. What to Bring to a DOT Physical Exam
5
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Insulin-Treated Diabetes Mellitus Assessment Form, MCSA-5870
6
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Insulin-Treated Diabetes Mellitus Assessment Form MCSA-5870
7
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Cardiovascular Advisory Panel Guidelines for the Medical Examination of Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers
8
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Expert Panel Recommendations: Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Safety
9
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Federal Seizure Exemption Application
10
eCFR. 49 CFR 391.41 – Physical Qualifications for Drivers
11
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. General Vision Exemption Package
12
eCFR. 49 CFR 391.41 – Physical Qualifications for Drivers
13
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Section 391.41(b)(6) – Driver Safety and Health Medical Requirements
14
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. May a Urine Sample Collected for Purposes of Performing a Controlled Substances and Alcohol Test Be Used to Test for Diabetes as Part of a Driver’s FMCSA-Required Physical Examination?
15
U.S. Department of Transportation. DOT Rule 49 CFR Part 40 Section 40.13
16
FMCSA National Registry. Search Medical Examiners