Beer on the Road
 

Another question I had as a newbie is...

It goes without saying not to drink and drive, but at the end of the night after a long haul or once you hit your 36hr. break, do you guys stop and get a beer or is it against the rules? I just know at my current job (not trucking) at the end of a long day or week, I love to crack a cold one.

So whats the deal?

Better get a hotel room if you get a beer. Most states can give you a dui if you are in your vehicle legally drunk, even if it is not running. This does not even take into account your companies policy if you are not an O/O. Not worth the chance, as far as I am concerned. Wait till you get home to have a cold one.

Rather trickey there, Molson!!

There is no law against a driver drinking beer when he is shut down.

HOWEVER:

Many companies do have policies which forbid bringing beer into a truck, and some have policies against imbibing at all when you have the truck keys on your person, or in your immediate possession. Not bad rules when you consider a co.'s liability exposure.

If DOT sees you carrying a brewski into your truck, (shut down or not!!) you'd best be ready to do some serious "splainin' ", be ready to fork over some hard earned cash, and be ready to look good in a McCrappy uniform.

Think: "Would you like to have that order supersized"??

As for parking at a tavern, your safety dept. is going to be wanting to know why he received calls from people who took pics or vids of your truck & truck number after sighting you in the tavern parking lot.

As for taking a taxi during a shut down??

As long as all of the brew is out of your system when it's time to fire up again, and as long as you don't get into any trouble at the saloon, you should be okay.

Not necessarily.

The FMCSA has a nice little "policy" about it too.

Why not just pitch a tent at the truckstop? If you have a weekend layover, driving while under the influence is not an issue. If alcohol "in the truck" is the issue, pitch a tent! Have a campfire too! :) Is that feasable?
respects,
uninformed newbie

You may go into a restaurant or bar and drink when you are off duty.

You may not drink within four hours prior to driving a CMV.

You may not operate a CMV with a blood alcohol level above .04 (states may have lower limits).

You may not have any alcoholic beverage in a CMV unless it is part of a manifested shipment.

The interpretations clarify it a bit:

So, given the fact that the FMCSA interpretations specifically state there is a prohibition against carrying alcoholic beverages, and if you are in your CMV, there is the potential that you could go on duty at any given time. Let's say you were parked in a truck stop, drinking in your sleeper, and someone bumped into you, and you got out to investigate. You just went on duty, and are in violation. If you are even sitting in your driver's seat, you are considered on duty, and would be in violation if you had alcohol in the truck.

So, if you can figure out a way whereby you do not go to the controls of your CMV (this would include starting the truck to idle it, going to the restroom, getting out for any reason whatsoever), then you can have alcohol in your CMV. I would love to know, however, how you managed to get the alcohol into your CMV without being at the controls.

He will give some definition of what shut down means and assume what you think shut down actually means compared to his definition of shut down. Then by that time the actual post will be so twisted it has nothing to do with consuming alcohol when your shut down.

But your right Useless, If your shutdown there is no law that says you can't drink alcohol. Just don't drink in the the truck and stay out of it till your sober.

I'll have a beer if I'm on a reset, hell I'll have two :lol:
But not in the truck. If I'm on a reset I get a hotel room, order a pizza, get some beer and channel surf.

Perhaps you should re-read my initial post. I never said that you couldn't drink while you were shut down.

So can you stop at the store, pick up a six, put it in the truck, drive to the motel? or no.

Its not. Someone asked me about it and I told them I did not know the laws and rules so figured I would ask.

A beer is like a candy bar, dont need them, just have one once in awhile. I live a certain lifestyle now so I am just learning what my new one could potentially be like.

Thanks for all the info. as always peeps.

no i dont think by the book it is ok it do that. Now on the other hand would i do that hell yes. How would you ever get caught. And on a guys 34hr restart if he wants to have a few drinks more power to him. I wqould only drink if it was in a motel. Not in a truck stop.

Damn, any suggestions for me? I've done the restaurant manager and financial advisor things, but I found that I really don't like people very much.

Seriously though, I do enjoy a beer or... well, more than one. I'm a little leery about having beer in the truck, so I'll head to a sports bar and watch some football with the locals as long as I know I have time to sleep and eat and all of the rest of it before I drive again. If there's no alcohol in my system and no alcohol in my truck, it's tough to figure out where there would be an issue.

:lol: I am an adviser now and I feel the same way, which is why I am heading this direction.

You stopped reading after (a)(1) apparently.


Apparently, it is reading comprehension problem tonight on CAD. I never said you can't consume alcohol. I only said you cannot have it in a CMV.

Question 3: Does the prohibition against carrying alcoholic beverages in §392.5

Which part of "prohibition against carrying alcoholic beverages" is hard to understand?

When you get stopped by DOT, and they do a cab search.

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.

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.

That's only transporting you nimrod, not when your parked.

If you drink a case of beer you're not going to blow a zero in the morning. And if you even smell like beer or you spill a little bit in the truck and they smell it,,,,,well you might think you are legal, but they are going to find something to write you a ticket for. Believe me they won't stop looking until they find something.

Is it really worth the risk? Your license is your livelihood.


By the way,
Drinking alone is one of the signs that you might just have a drinking problem.

The point is, you can drink when off duty at a truckstop, PERIOD. We are not discussing all the other issues associated with it like being drunk in the morning. He asked if you could drink in your truck while off duty at a truck stop and, yes, you can.

He didn't ask if the company he works for will allow it.

He didn't ask if he could transport it.

He didn't ask if he could be drunk after drinking it.

A simple phone call to the DOT will give you the real answer you seek or, you can take the word of people who really don't know.

If you want to drink stay home. I know some owner operators and drivers who drink at home, but will not even entertain the idea while on the road. You take a huge risk of losing your livelihood if you are drinking in your truck. I have seen others do it, but if something happens you are at risk of losing your job and career. If you are taking a few days off on the road and staying in a motel, you could probably get away with having a few drinks. Personally, I would not take the risk.

If you feel safe drinking in a truckstop, have at it. In Illinois, you can get a dui in your car as long as the keys are in your possession, weather or not the vehicle is running, or if you are in the back seat. Not a risk I would be willing to take with my CDL.

Like I said before, if you are that desperate for a drink, the best bet is to get a hotel room.

Same rules DO NOT apply to a commercial truck driver in a truck stop off duty. Call the DOT. I've talked to them personally about this.

This is not a debate about morality or personal views. Can you drink in your truck off duty, yes. Call your DOT and put the question to rest, it's simple.

How exactly can you be off duty in a CMV?

It's already been done, and the response doesn't agree with what you are stating.

I can just see one of these guys playing truck stop lawyer with a couple of beers in them.

I never worried about any of the fine print because I keep it simple.

No booze in the truck.

So easy that way, nothing is open to interpretation, no arguments with the cops or DOT, no problems at all concerning alcohol. I have enough other problems to deal with running a business and having to drive a truck.

Something a lot of you guys just don't seem to understand, Even if the cop gives you a ticket, or arrests you, or tows and impounds the truck, AND THAT COP IS DEAD WRONG you are still out the lawyers fees, the towing and storage costs, and all the money you will lose because you are spending your time fighting it instead of working.

Don't even kid yourselves into thinking that the judge will just wave his gavel like a magic wand and make everything better. Even if you win you lose.

And if you are an O/O something like that can ruin you. While you are busy fighting the law, your customers are going to call someone else

This is where your not too bright Rev. I didn't say carry or transport which is against the law. You don't read too well.