Worker's comp explanation

You need to pass a DOT Long Form Exam and recieve a card. Or maintain the one you still have valid if possible or see your CDL possibly downgraded when the Medical Card itself expires. (You can swear out a Tier two form at the DMV to hold your CDL)

The weight gain needs to come off. You would complicate future DOT exams by creating a busted BMI panel and be introduced to sleep apnea etc.

The mental health and associated medicines need to stop and stay stopped for a while. If ever.

The ankle should have healed by now or nearly so. You had surgery to fix the busted thing. I had a hip joint put in last dec. Its doing better than the original within limits.

As far as the settlement from the company did it cover your bills from the first injury? If the settlement covered the medical billing for the back etc with the initial injury then thats the end of that gravy train.

Workmans comp is very simple.

Employer pays WC for you the employee.

One day I slashed my finger on the back hatch of the milk trailer creating a big blood contamination of the sample tray. Which was not welcome. Hospital sewed the gash and patched me up, stuck two needles in, one for lockjaw and the other for pain and sent me home.

From the State came a check for about 270. That was to cover the 200 dollars in the ER bill then and a days lost wage. (Never mind the fact that the demerol muscle was still in me the following morning back on the farm gathering milk... that was a different time)

And thats it. Done.

A friend of mine blasted a hand with a gun tool at work. Came to a cool 5000 dollars in losses on paper. State paid him that via WC. That eventually got a settlement in court vs the employer who dug in against that problem. Employer lost. They paid. And some punitive damages. And that settles that issue.

Try to rest, get fit again and maintain your or regain your medical card again. Then you can apply to trucking companies again. You also need to enter a new drug database elsewhere on TTR at the Federal Level by your name and so forth. Companies are not allowed to hire anyone without a clear check against that driver based database now.

As far as the settlement by your company I think they got off easy. Hand you something and make you go away. That saves them the trouble of going through the state WC which it's own seperate process and could hurt the employer via additional costs.

 

Having a case of WC is protected behavior it is not to be discriminated against. I don't recall "Explaining" anything to any employer about injuries. I get smashed up or cut etc and ER or trauma patches me up and off I go. Im tough that way.

Long form is a formal DOT Physical from top to bottom. It is literally a big form with a lot of checkmarks to discover your history.

Nothing is "Wrong" with medicines except narcotics, mental health type and benzoes in trucking. Plus Legal Pot is verboten. The Industry chooses not to risk drivers who are on something when they can pick another from 100 other applications who do not take medicines.

Your vertigo could be BP related directly to heart related. Maybe you are not pumping enough ejection to support the extra body that you have accumulated. That's one possibility. Also again going back to medicines could have interfered with your inner ear signals to the brain which is the foundation of all your balance. If that loop set does not work or sends wrong or late signals to your brain, you are dizzy or worse until the thing settles down. Sometimes its health related. Or medicine result or something else.

These explainations were made with respect. For teaching purposes from what I have gained in this industry first hand over the years.

Vertigo is your most immediate problem. Find a doctor and solve that one first before anything.

 

Like @x1Heavy says, discrimination against an injured worker is not allowed. I used to be a workers' comp adjuster for a large third party administrator. I did handle trucking claims. The employer in addition to other employers is not allowed to terminate employment. That you were forced to agree tells me that more than likely your injury precludes you, at least at that time, from driving a truck, or that you used a non-WC attorney.

Like @x1Heavy says, lose the weight and the antidepressants, they probably go hand in hand, and get your medical card.

 

the new employers that you apply to will need to know why you haven't driven. they WILL inquire to your former employer, who WILL tell them of your worker's comp.

back surgery can make you "undesirable" for hire as you will now be a risk for more claims on your back.

i personally have a buddy that worked at New Penn, got hurt, needed a back operation and was forced to retire, New Penn would NOT take him back, so he lost a great union job, pay, and benefits.

you will need to pass a DOT exam, and the doctor will most likely see the scar on your back, and inquire about it, although, whether a doctor or doctor's PA, they will already KNOW you have back surgery.

if YOU LIE on ANY application, and do get hurt, and at the hospital or ER that you go to, and they SEE that scar, they will report that to your company, and you might be fired on the spot for with holding vital information, in other words, YOU LIED on the application