Hey folks, I'm new on here, glad to "meet" you. I'm planning on getting my CDL in the near future, so I've been studying the physical standards, and the hearing one may be a problem for me. The way I read it, you pass the hearing test if you can hear a forced whisper at 5 feet in your "better ear." My problem is, my better ear is pretty good, but my "bad" ear is nearly deaf. I went to a few audiologists, who've told me I can get a cros, but it's very expensive. My question is, if you pass the test in your "better ear", does your level of hearing in the other ear matter? Thanks!
Hearing Standards
- Thread starter JimsK
- Start date
On my audio report, the audiologist wrote "cros recommended", but she called it a "crossover." Evidently, what it means is, I would have a unit in each ear. The unit in the bad ear is the receiver, and the unit in the good ear has the amplifier, with the result that sounds caught in the bad ear will be amplified and heard in the good ear. She said those units used to come with a connecting wire, but modern units can come wireless. She said a lot of truckers do have them.
R
Racer X 69
Guest
So there ya go! Looks like you shouldn't have any trouble getting a CDL and getting certified "fit for duty".
Thanks, I really hope so. My worry is whether there's some baseline level of hearing that you can't fall below in the bad ear, even if it is correctable with a device like that. Plus the cost, because those things are supposedly really expensive, much more than a single ear unit.
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
Here's a thread by a guy who's legally deaf in one ear.
http://www.truckersforum.net/forum/showthread.php/69894-Hey
Road Dust
Takes a little sunshine
I am slightly hard hearing, and I always passed the hearing tests. With the tests I have had, they were really lenient and gave me several tries until I think I must have eventually guessed correctly. Also, each time it seemed they would whisper just a bit louder. Still it was a guessing game on my part. At Swift in Memphis, they gave everyone the beep test first, and those who failed had to do the whisper test. All the others I have had was the whisper test only.
Road Dust
Takes a little sunshine
Here is what the FMCSA says:
(11) First perceives a forced whispered voice in the better ear at not less than 5 feet with or without the use of a hearing aid or, if tested by use of an audiometric device, does not have an average hearing loss in the better ear greater than 40 decibels at 500 Hz, 1,000 Hz, and 2,000 Hz with or without a hearing aid when the audiometric device is calibrated to American National Standard (formerly ASA Standard) Z24.5—1951.
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/fmcsr/fmcsrruletext.aspx?reg=391.41
(11) First perceives a forced whispered voice in the better ear at not less than 5 feet with or without the use of a hearing aid or, if tested by use of an audiometric device, does not have an average hearing loss in the better ear greater than 40 decibels at 500 Hz, 1,000 Hz, and 2,000 Hz with or without a hearing aid when the audiometric device is calibrated to American National Standard (formerly ASA Standard) Z24.5—1951.
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/fmcsr/fmcsrruletext.aspx?reg=391.41
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