My Bf has gotten an offer to work at Fedex freight...but right after he took the drug test he got a ticket on the way home. The ticket is for not yielding for an emergency vehicle. A cop had pulled over another car and he couldn't get over into the left lane. We are hoping to get the ticket reduced at the least. He has a perfect driving record. The ticket is considered a class 1 misdemeanor. He was also in his personal car at the time. Fedex has already done the background and dmv check and is just waiting on the drug test. Basically we are not sure if he should tell them about the ticket before he is hired. In case they try to say he lied about it or deceived them..and get fired later on. Also he will have to take off time to go to court. Do you think they will not hire him if he tells them before starting? Thanks for the opinions

Bad thing ,he got a ticket.Good thing,it's just a summons to appear in court.Not a conviction.Sign the ticket,check the box,not guilty.Wait for your court date.You can choose to get a lawyer(good advice).A lawyer may be able to plea it down to a non moving violation.No points,nothing on the DMV record but probably a larger fine.If you choose not to get a lawyer you still may be able to talk to the prosecutor or officer about a plea down.Now ,I know your not deaf or blind but under the law you may have your charge reduced to not intentionally failing to yield to an emergency vehicle if all else fails.You didn't see the lights,you didn't hear the siren or had no place to safely pull over.If he is convicted,which I doubt with a good lawyer will happen,most companies only request a statement from a driver every 6 to 12 months on convictions.If he or she is convicted of the charge at a later date,just let the company know.I doubt it's a job killer.His honesty will go a lot further than not reporting the conviction than hopeing no one finds out.My advice?Get the job,you have nothing to hide at this time.

When employers say you must divulge all past tickets, they generally mean traffic violations where the judge had already convicted you of committing the offense. If he had just gotten the ticket, it means the case is still pending, which means you're either going to contest this ticket, or pay the fine and not challenge the ticket, which has the same effect as pleading guilty. So the answer to your query is NO.

I recommend you show up in court, and plead "not guilty." The judge will schedule a trial date, and a summons is sent to the officer who issued the ticket, notifying him you are challenging the legality of your traffic citation. Your 1st court appearance, which is dated on your traffic citation, is your arraignment day. You will either plead guilty, not guilty, or no contest (same effect as guilty).

On your 2nd court appearance, the officer will show up to give his testimony, on why he felt he was justified to cite you. If the officer fails to show up, the case is dismissed. If he shows up, both you and the officer will stand in front of the judge, and you will make the opening statement. You will state "Your honor, on (date and time) I was driving when I heard the approaching (fire truck, ambulance?) and intended to pull off immediately, to yield the right of way. I was prevented from doing so, because ......" You give your testimony, and the officer will give his testimony. The judge will decide whether the officer acted correctly or not.

It's not unusual for the officer to say "your honor, I issue so many tickets in a given day, and this incident happened over 2 months ago, that I really can't remember this particular case." The judge will dismiss your citation if the officer can't recall your case.

To increase the likelihood for the officer to forget your case, contact the court 2 or 3 weeks before your court date and ask if you have the option of rescheduling your trial date. Some courts allow this, others don't. If the clerk says "Yes," extend your trial date as far ahead into the future as you can. The clerk will often give you a choice of available dates, so pick the date that's the furthest in the future.

On your trial date, if you lose your case, tell the judge you'd like to take traffic school. Completion of traffic school will result in the court not notifying your state's Dept of Motor Vehicle of this moving violation, and you would still have a clean driving record.

Federal regulations prohibit CDL drivers from having convictions masked by driving school . Once convicted it sticks . Best advice is get an attorney . They can get most tickets reduced to a non-moving violation .

First could you please provide a reference to that federal regulation? And second FMCSR §391.21 (b) ( shows you only have to tell them about violations when you're convicted or forfeited bond or collateral for the past 3 years. So whatever choice you make about your court date you don't need to tell Fedex until it's over.

Here is some info on this:

I only listed the one, but there are several on the article. It has been in effect since 2005. The FMCSA Reg is 384.226.

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Question: I got a ticket in California for “Improper Lane Use.” I called the clerk to get traffic school, but she told me that I wasn’t eligible for traffic school as a CDL holder. Aren’t we allowed to take traffic school every 18 months in California?
Answer: Usually a driver can qualify to attend traffic school for a California traffic citation every 18 months in order to dismiss a single violation. However, there are many courts that no longer allow CDL holders to take traffic school at all. This may be in part to the new citation masking provisions. Remember, citation masking prohibits a state from accepting a “guilty” or “no contest” plea and then failing to transmit the conviction to the state department of motor vehicles.
Be careful with an offer from a court to attend traffic school. Many traffic school programs require that you plead guilty to the charge, but upon completion of the traffic school, the case is dismissed. These “dismissal with traffic school” cases are potentially the very ones that may end up being reported and appear on your driver abstract even though you attended and successfully completed the required traffic school program in a timely manner.
In fact, there is a bill pending in the California Legislature that would prohibit CDL holders from taking traffic school for any type of violation. If this bill becomes law, your options will diminish significantly.

Thank you that's what I was looking for.

The rules require him to report CONVICTIONS, not ACCUSATIONS. A citation (ticket) is not a conviction.

From that old retired federal DOT officer

However, some companies have a policy requiring the driver to report tickets as well. Check company policy, YMMV.

(personally, I have told them their chances are better at winning the lottery than having me report a ticket )

Another thing to consider is he was not an employee of FedEx when he was ticketed . There is no regulation requiring drivers to report violations to prospective employers . If they have already accepted an application he doesn't have an obligation to tell them . Something else interesting is drivers have to fill out an annual form reporting any violations convicted of in the past year BUT when he fills out this form next year it will be for the period starting from his date of hire which is after he got the ticket .
Let me back up on that . If he goes to court after being hired then he will have to report the conviction to FedEx .