One-armed trucker Hal Gainey has been told to park it.
Gainey, 57, of Shamrock, Fla., took a test to get a commercial driver's license last month in a borrowed nine-speed tractor with a 45-foot trailer and the examiner told him she had never ridden with a better driver but she still wouldn't give him a license because he has only one arm."Now why did she put me through that whole test if she wasn't going to give me the license?" said Gainey, who lost the limb in a childhood accident. "She could see before we got started that I didn't have one of my arms."
Gainey has been a trucker for 30 years but a federal law that took effect April 1 requires all drivers of commercial vehicles, including trucks, to pass uniform written and skills tests.
Drivers missing a limb automatically are disqualified unless they can wear a prosthesis, which Gainey cannot. Gainey drives by shifting gears with his right hand using his right forearm and left thigh to hold the steering wheel.