DUI Question/Advice needed

[Cerberus]

I need some feed back and opinions on a situation here. And keep the dumb remarks to yourself. We all know the obvious and woulda , coulda , shouldas. Okay i shouldn't say that but i am only looking for some straight up information and advice and some knowledge from anybody who has gone thru this.

I got a friend who lives up north and on his way to work yesterday got pulled over. He ended up having to do a breath alyzer and blew a .08, in his state it is .07 for the limit. So he got ticketed with a DUI. Sat in the pokey for a couple hours to sober up and his boss(company owner) actually picked him up and took him home. He is not sure if he still has the job or not as his boss(company owner) has to talk it over with the other owner. Two ways to look at this. The good. He has been there 5 years and he is well liked there and does a good job. A few weeks back He was actually told they would not lay him off , due to slow times, as they feared he would not come back. The bad. The insurance, if they would accept him, would be outrageous for the company.

Now this looks bad, real bad. Yes he needs to get a lawyer to fight this DUI since it was so close to the legal limit. Question here, i know the legal limit is .04 in a big truck but does that also come into play since it is a CDL even though it was his own vehicle at the time? That i am not sure of. He goes to court on the 5th of February. What should he all have done before he goes to court? I suggested he might want to go ahead and go to a driving class and also go to AA as to get a lawyer. And go ahead and file unemployement since it does take a few weeks to become effective. That way when he goes to court he is admiting he was wrong and making an effort to correct it. Anything else he can do to make sure he keeps his CDL or will it automatically be suspended or revoked for a period of time? He is like many of us here, all we have ever done is drive and that is what we know and love, at times. I , you and he knows he is screwed but what can he do to make it hurt less? And in this market, is his driving career over? Will anybody hire him now? He was not OTR at this time. He had/has a really sweet local gig.

Time is the essessence(sp) here, financially in a month the money he has will run out. Max unemployement is only 400$ a week there and his bills run 2400$ a month. He would much rather work than do that anyways.

[pro1driver]

Originally Posted by Cerberus

I need some feed back and opinions on a situation here. And keep the dumb remarks to yourself. We all know the obvious and woulda , coulda , shouldas. Okay i shouldn't say that but i am only looking for some straight up information and advice and some knowledge from anybody who has gone thru this.

I got a friend who lives up north and on his way to work yesterday got pulled over. He ended up having to do a breath alyzer and blew a .08, in his state it is .07 for the limit. So he got ticketed with a DUI. Sat in the pokey for a couple hours to sober up and his boss(company owner) actually picked him up and took him home. He is not sure if he still has the job or not as his boss(company owner) has to talk it over with the other owner. Two ways to look at this. The good. He has been there 5 years and he is well liked there and does a good job. A few weeks back He was actually told they would not lay him off , due to slow times, as they feared he would not come back. The bad. The insurance, if they would accept him, would be outrageous for the company.

Now this looks bad, real bad. Yes he needs to get a lawyer to fight this DUI since it was so close to the legal limit. Question here, i know the legal limit is .04 in a big truck but does that also come into play since it is a CDL even though it was his own vehicle at the time? That i am not sure of. He goes to court on the 5th of February. What should he all have done before he goes to court? I suggested he might want to go ahead and go to a driving class and also go to AA as to get a lawyer. And go ahead and file unemployement since it does take a few weeks to become effective. That way when he goes to court he is admiting he was wrong and making an effort to correct it. Anything else he can do to make sure he keeps his CDL or will it automatically be suspended or revoked for a period of time? He is like many of us here, all we have ever done is drive and that is what we know and love, at times. I , you and he knows he is screwed but what can he do to make it hurt less? And in this market, is his driving career over? Will anybody hire him now? He was not OTR at this time. He had/has a really sweet local gig.

Time is the essessence(sp) here, financially in a month the money he has will run out. Max unemployement is only 400$ a week there and his bills run 2400$ a month. He would much rather work than do that anyways.

Cerb, this i got form the state of Nebraska CDL manual, but there is more.......

Are the DUI blood alcohol limits the same for all license holders?

No. As a commercial vehicle driver, you are subject to much more stringent blood alcohol restrictions than Class C drivers. A blood alcohol content (BAC) of just 0.04% is enough to convict you of DUI while driving a commercial vehicle, while a BAC of 0.08% is the limit for other drivers. In fact, you will automatically be put out of service for 24 hours if you have any amount of alcohol detected in your blood, even below the legal 0.04% limit.

---------------------------------------------------

now to follow this, even in his own vehicle, he is still subjected to the CDL guide lines, even "up here" in my state........

and BY THE WAY, my state CDL manual is THE SAME, EXACT CDL MAUNAUL ALL STATES USE..........

-------------------------------------------

and this from the North Carolina DMV, BUT as i said, the rules are the same for ALL STATES........!!

Listed below are Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act rules which
affect CDL drivers.
1.9: Other Safety Act Rules
Read these carefully. Your commercial driver's license is at
stake.

•

At the time you obtain your CDL, you must turn in any and all

license(s) in your possession.

•

You cannot have more than one license. If you break this law, a

court may fine you a minimum of $250 for a first offense and a
minimum of $500 for any offense thereafter. Upon issuance of a
North Carolina license, you must surrender all other licenses.

•

All states are connected to one computerized system to share

information about CDL drivers. The states will check drivers' motor
vehicle records and be assured that drivers do not have more than
one CDL.

•

You must notify your employer within 30 days of a conviction for

any traffic violation (except parking). This is true no matter what
type of vehicle you were driving.

•

You must notify your employer if your license is suspended,

revoked, or cancelled, or if you are disqualified from driving.

•

You must provide your employer information on all driving jobs you

have held for the past 10 years. You must do this when applying
for employment requiring a Commercial Driver License

.

•

Your employer cannot knowingly permit you to drive a commercial

motor vehicle if you have more than one license or if your CDL is
suspended, revoked, or disqualified. A court of law may fine the
employer $500 to $1,000 for breaking this law.

•

No individual may legally drive a Commercial Motor Vehicle after

April 1, 1992, without a CDL. A court may fine you a minimum of
$250 for a first offense and a minimum of $500 for any offense
thereafter for breaking this law.

•

Anyone who holds a commercial driver license automatically

agrees to chemical analysis. Consent is implied by driving a
commercial motor vehicle on the streets and highways of North
Carolina. A commercial driver will be suspended and CDL
disqualified for one year if he/she willfully refuses a chemical
analysis.

•

You will lose your CDL for at least thirty (30) days based on an

immediate civil revocation if you are driving a commercial motor
vehicle and the test reveals an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or
more. This suspension may be extended indefinitely until the

driver satisfies any requirements the court imposes regarding

----------------------------------------------------------------------

so in closing, that guys employer CAN and MIGHT fire him for a DUI or DWI, or OUI, or whatever he did in HIS OWN PERSONAL vehicle, not just a commercial motor vehicle.

we come under "implied consent" when we get a CDL license.

we are not "forgiven" for any offense once we get that CDL.

it applies TO ALL vehicles we drive, on duty or not.........

[Cerberus]

Thx Pro1 for the info. and now since i know were you got the info from, i can check it for that state there. But from what i read , if i understood it correctly, it sounds like he will lose the CDL for 30 days no matter what. is there anybody who will hire him after he gets this taken care of? it's all kind of hard to jump to any conclusion because at this time he hasn't been convicted of the DUI yet. Court date is Feb 5th.

[pro1driver]

Originally Posted by Cerberus

Thx Pro1 for the info. and now since i know were you got the info from, i can check it for that state there. But from what i read , if i understood it correctly, it sounds like he will lose the CDL for 30 days no matter what. is there anybody who will hire him after he gets this taken care of? it's all kind of hard to jump to any conclusion because at this time he hasn't been convicted of the DUI yet. Court date is Feb 5th.

he will have to go through some type of counseling, as per the regulations.

now having (if) been convicted, and through that program, he still might NOT be employable, as that'll be on his record.

frankly, its all too hard to say right now. HE NEEDS a lawyer and a good one that is FAMILIAR with DOT (CDL)regulations.

his current (or maybe now) former employer "MIGHT" hire hi back, but they certainly wouldn't be obligated to do so.

i'm glad that some of my searching was able to be of some help to you and your friend..........

now see.........i ain't such a bad guy after all, now am i.......????

take care and keep us up to date (when you can)

[pcuthbert]

Here, in Canada, we have the .08 limit for all licensed drivers.

We also have 2 tests about 15 minutes apart. The reason is that a driver may have just taken some mouthwash (70% alcohol) which would give a false high reading. 15 minutes later, the readings would be closer to normal.

Just for information purposes, fruit juices contain about .5% alcohol, so you could test high if you had just taken a glass of orange juice or the like.

[trucker3573]

If convicted of DUI forget it........CDL will be gone and no insurance co will touch him for probably seven years or better. Honestly best hope would be a reduction to impaired which would again be equal to being totally screwed as no insurance co will cover a driver with this either.