The CDL requirements are still 140/90. I do the physicals daily. I haven't heard any talk of changing it or seen any documentation of that.
The Joint Commission just had the JNC-8 come out a while back and have recommended different blood pressures but that has not trickled to the FMSCA. National kidney foundation, American heart etc all have their recommendations. In the future who knows, they may change they may not but what you see in the JNC-8 is taking into account multiple comorbid issues as well.
But a DOT physical does not allow comorbid issues as I understand it, it's pass/fail, no other wiggle room allowed, unless the examiner fudges the results.
They will change it, they have no legal cover not to.
All the reaction here means few remember or researched one of the many threads here on Moparts, a recent one in 2008, in the Archive Tech section "Warning on racing rigs in PA", most of today's concerns were foretold in that thread.
Attended PRI CDL Seminar last year, early in the discussion it was mentioned from the audience about the possibility of simply upping the lower cut off weight limit (curently 10K lbs) to ANYTHING higher, giving a lot of protection at the lower end weights for racers. The quick answer from the dais was,"no, they are not going to be able to change anything". At that point, I felt like the seminar was a waste of time. And then at the very end, the speakers asked for suggestions from the audience, "what could they focus on to help racers?" Guess they have hearing/retention issues.
Back in 2008 and prior, many suggested cavalierly to just go get a CDL and a DOT number (which is referenced to your SSN), and ignore the warning of the perils of doing so, but once you are in the system, you can't get out, and if you think the fines are steep for some of the violations mention here so far, wait till you get stopped with a suspended DOT number and violations.
Another thing not yet mentioned, and we are all are on very thin ice about, is the "sleep apnea" spectrum. If you are over 40?, any over weight, snore, have a deviated septum, ever say you are tired, or any combination, you may have your CDL restricted/suspended until you take a sleep apnea evaluation test (heard it is close to $1K), not sure it is treatable to resume driving. Currently the test is on hold by USDOT, but there is a lot of money on the table for testing, and I suspect its just a matter of time before it re-appears.
Again, this is only going to get worse.
