The regulation is very clear and specific. You may not operate a CMV or go on duty while your CMV contains any alcoholic beverage unless it a shipment and it is on your BOL. If you come out of the sleeper berth and engage in a conversation/inspection with a DOT or police officer you are in fact then on duty and if you have alcohol in your system your had. If someone hits you in a parking lot and you have to come out and exchange paperwork, take pictures, etc you are on duty and you could be violated.

There is an exception. If you are using your CMV as a personal conveyance you may have closed containers in the CMV but you are on very thin ice with that one unless you are an O/O.

The simplest thing to do to prevent loosing your career over something so unnecessary is to NEVER have alcohol in your truck. By the way say you drive your personal conveyance to the nearest tavern and have a few. Even if you sleep in the truck how long do you think it will take for the company to fire you when they start getting calls from concerned citizens about their driver who was drinking and driving.

 

Resized for emphasis. I'd like to add something to it though:

Save the drinking for home time.

 

Hey Rev, I said that in the first reply to this guy. Looks like a lot of arguing could have been saved if everyone just agreed with me.

 

[quote="Rev.Vassago"]Rev you did a great job on this, I have one question. This part bothers me above. You could have the truck at home or motel and this happens and have been drinking and be in violation. So are you saying any time that you have the truck you can't drink because of you going on duty without notice? I know it's not used to much now a days but wouldn't it depend on common sense and your log book and the line your on for that time period. I don't mean to sound like a smart butt but I can't drive or work after 14 hours or 34 hours then how can I really be on duty by the example you gave? Wouldn't I be in violation for working over my hours then as well? Here is where it really sounds like a smart butt. So really they can't make me move, drive or answer any questions about my truck in those hours or I would have to log it in and violate the restart or 14 hour. We both know that is not true but sounds good. LOL
If I'm out with the truck I'm not going to have a drink but at home I would like to have one or two by what you're saying that isn't safe and could be on duty if the truck is in your possession because really it is. What you said makes sense to me don't get me wrong but so does mine. Just looking at it another way and getting what you think about it is all. So don't shot me. I'm new to this as well with the others. I hardly do drink really but my luck as soon as I have one and say well I think I'll have me another somebody would hit the truck at the house. You know the saying if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all. Well that was written for me I think. LOL

Thanks Rev on your response. I know your just trying to make it understandable and I'm not trying to shot the messenger. LOL

 

[quote="utvolsr1"]You can be on duty for way more than fourteen hours and not be in violation of hours of service. You cannot however DRIVE after the fourteenth hour on duty. You could conceivably come on duty, drive eleven hours, then stay on duty until the seventieth hour at which time you go onto line one and do a restart and do it again.

An officer can force you to come out of the sleeper berth, go on duty to be inspected, and then require you to start over on your rest peroid. You could use the split berth provision in that case as long as it doesn't violate the fourteen hour rule. This would allow you to start up after eight instead of having to do ten. Most officers will not get you up if your curtains are pulled and you are not illegally parked or idling illegally.

 

Technically you can be on duty past your 70 also you just can't drive past your 70. The only time you are in log violation is if you are driving! You can stay on duty not driving for an eternity and not be in violation as long as you take a legal break b4 driving.

 

As the others have stated, you can be On Duty (not driving) past your 14th hour or your 70th hour. You can also be required to go On Duty by your motor carrier at any point when you are in a CMV.

When you are relieved of duty by the motor carrier at home, you are Off Duty. If your motor carrier called you and required you to work (and you had drank within the past 4 hours), you would be required to wait the mandatory 4 hours before operating a CMV. Even then, if you had any alcohol in your system, you would not be allowed to operate a CMV or be On Duty.

They are two seperate issues.

 

O.K. Molson I have to ask you....where are you from? With an I.D. name I have to figure ......"I am Canadian". For anyone who's not familiar with the name Molson. It's a Canadian beer. One of the best!!

 

When I had my compliance review by the local DOT he covered drinking. There was no mistake on what he said. I can park at a truckstop, go inside and buy a case of beer or whatever and drink it in my truck. In the morning I better not leave until I'm straight and all the cans in the trash outside the truck. There is no state to state rule on the above. It's the same for every state. Drink in your truck and blow 0 in the morning.

 

Would that be the same DOT that was giving you incorrect information before, or a different one? :lol:

The regs are pretty clear. There is a prohibition against carrying alcoholic beverages in a CMV unless they are part of a manifested shipment.