Wheels of Justice

Safety director wants to help his drviers keep their jobs

I received a letter from John, a safety director in Alabama, after he read my article “Driver Turnover.” It was about hiring “good guys” as dispatchers. You can see all my past articles if you go to www.driverslegalplan.com and select the legal articles link.

John is well-known in the industry, and he spends a great deal of time and money keeping up with the rules and regulations as they apply to his company and his drivers. Any time you don’t know the consequences of your ac-tions, then you are just waiting on trouble to appear. Here is the primary point he made in his letter to me:

“I received a call from a driver who retired several years ago, and it reminded me of a situation he got caught up in.

“In 16 years of accident-free driving with the company, he had gotten only one moving violation. Unfortunately. It was a major speeding violation he received because he didn’t see/slow down for a speed zone on a U.S. highway.

“Later, he got a left lane violation ticket in Atlanta. He said that he changed lanes to avoid an accident with a police car that abruptly changed into his lane to get behind the car he was following. He paid the ticket because he didn’t want to take the time to go to court. Several months later, he got notice that his CDL was suspended.

“No accidents and only one ticket in 16 years—I would say he was a pretty good driver. His record certainly did not reflect anything other. One more ticket, and he is out of work for 60 days.”

Pay heed to John’s story. The DOT is nice enough to put together their rules and regulations in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations book. If you look under section 383 you will find all kinds of actions that will get your CDL suspended.

OK, drivers, this is not rocket science. These rules have been published since 1990, and there have been significant changes in the years that followed.

Remember that if you receive two serious violation convictions within three years, you will lose your CDL for 60 days—no exceptions. Unless you want to spend 60 days at home without pay and then have a hard time getting another driving job, I suggest that you monitor your driving so you do not violate the law. However, should you receive any citation that jeopardizes your CDL, whether you deserve it or not, you need to act immediately to protect your CDL and your job.

Jim C. Klepper is president of Interstate Trucker Ltd., an organization that provides legal defense protection to commercial drivers. Jim is a lawyer who focuses on transportation law and the trucking industry in particular. He works to answer your legal questions about trucking, and he holds his Commercial Drivers License.