The case of a case of beer in the Semi Truck

Discussion in 'Trucking Industry Regulations' started by No1Packerfan, Dec 22, 2010.

  1. dieselbear

    dieselbear Road Train Member

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    Kinda hard to be riding down the road under a load and claim off duty status. You may be able to get it if your bobtailing to the house and a short distance. Then you have to take into account State laws. Best advice, park your rig. Jump in your POV and go to the store and bring it home and enjoy. So many open container laws in different State's no sense in getting one of them on your way home from the store. I enjoy a cold beer as much as anyone, but your job and my job depend on my license. Why take a chance on something so trivial, it's not worth it. Wait the extra 10 minutes until you get home then go in your pick up and if you work for a company why risk violating their policies. I see people of all walks f' up over stupid stuff. Had a plumber that worked for a decent size company in a van that I stopped. Guy has been drinking, not drunk but open container and about .04-.05. Had a case, with 3 missing and 1 opened he spilled when I stopped him. Not DUI material in a non commercial vehicle. His boss rides by and stops why I have him on the side of the highway. Boss fires him right there on the spot and now he's out of a job right before Christmas. What do you say to the guy? I have to verify that he is not intoxicated and have him outside the vehicle performing field sobriety tests. Unfortuntalety for him, his boss rides by and sees this. What do you tell your wife and kids right before Christmas? In my opinion it is not worth it. Just leave the booze out of your rigs. You may get away with it forever, you may. But it takes one time to upset your apple cart. It takes one idiot pulling in front of you and hitting you. The bad thing is you never know what or can happen. The only thing you can control is to not have any on your breath or in your possession.
     
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  3. CondoCruiser

    CondoCruiser The Legend

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    In response to nik's post...

    I don't even drink, but it is BS that a man can't drink a beer and watch TV an hour or two of going off duty. In the truck or not. Just don't haul it.

    The truck is a drivers home. To place restrictions on him on his off duty outside normal laws is nothing but communistic. These lawmakers should have to practice what they preach. Have a drink when you go home and we'll haul you to jail and take away your livelyhood. Treating drivers like idiots is not called for.

    If they were so concerned, why are beer sales allowed in truck stops?
     
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  4. dieselbear

    dieselbear Road Train Member

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    Tell that to the fool I stopped that was a .20 riding down the highway with 80k lbs and enough booze for 10 people.
     
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  5. BarnDog

    BarnDog Light Load Member

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    dieselbear, I couldn't argue with any of that; I was just pointing out that even though there's an exception to the rule, as quoted above by calcustom, there still might be a "gotcha" there somewhere.

    I actually posted up that 392.5 information earlier in the thread, before you did.
     
  6. dieselbear

    dieselbear Road Train Member

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    Last time I checked they are convience stores that sell to the general public not just trucker's. It's called capitalism. I agree with you, it would make sense for them not to have it available for sale in the truck stop. Look how many liquor stores are near truck stops?


    The problem with your thinking is, a trucker's rig may be their home. But they can easily jump in and move 80,000 lbs with the turn of a key. When you go home to your house, your not moving your rancher, cape cod or what ever type house you have with a key.
     
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  7. dieselbear

    dieselbear Road Train Member

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    Sorry bout that, I jumped the gun. I didn't read the whole thread before I started my post.
     
  8. Big Red

    Big Red Lonestar

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    First......I DON'T drink and haven't for over 23 years.....however.....

    I see no problem with an off duty driver having a cold beer or two....parked in the truck stop or wherever.

    Buy ONLY what you are going to drink....If it's 2 beers, DON't buy 3.....walk to the place of purchase....walk back to truck and close the curtains and enjoy.

    Give yourself enough time to sober up completely. Don't drive that truck while under the influence.......or hungover.

    You DON'T need to carry your beer along like you would snack food or sodas.
     
  9. CondoCruiser

    CondoCruiser The Legend

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    DieselBear, a drunk can easily jump in any vehicle and drive, even from home. I appreciate you getting any drunk off the road as does everyone. But to assume every driver is irresponsible like that one drunk that doesn't know when to say when is far from the truth. Most drivers I know are too tired after their shift to pull an all nighter getting drunk to where they can't make a sound judgement. I bet that guy you pulled over had priors in the past where he shouldn't of received a CDL in the first place. Drinking and driving usually occurs when one is coming home from a bar or on a beer run. Basically going one place to another. A truck driver at the end of his shift is shut down for 10 hours. That alone is deterrent enough not to drive. The last thing he wants to do is drive some more. Your picture is the sous can't stop at 2 beers, continues to get **** faced and stares at the keys and wooohoooooooo! Let's drive some more! That's a rare occurance. Maybe 2 out of 3 million drivers. Hardly enough to make a rule over. To a guy drinking in a truck stop, believe me, everyone knows it. That truck wouldn't move far before cell phones were dialing. That guy you pulled over didn't come out of a truck stop drunk. He was either drinking and driving all day or come from somewhere else. But with like alot of rules, one messes up we all pay for it. It's great the gov't is so strict on truck drivers, but to make a real impact on road safety they need to apply rules to all and not just a select group.
     
  10. CondoCruiser

    CondoCruiser The Legend

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    Bars are held accountable to how much one drinks. Travel centers can limit the sales to truck drivers. After all they ID and see the CDL. Two beers is all you get. I just don't think a man should lose his job for drinking in his truck. If he is one that likes a night cap, let him. He moves, put it to him. The store owner probably sold that guy a 12 pack and then turned around and ratted him out. Something is wrong with that picture.
     
  11. rambler

    rambler Road Train Member

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    There is a time and place for everything. A truck, whether on duty, or off duty is not the place for booze guys. If a driver needs a drink so bad he can't even take a 10 hour break without having a couple drinks......there's a problem. If you're having to sit all weekend somewhere, thats kinda different and I could see it...being very discreet about it. It looks bad no matter how you slice it. A commercial vehicle is a commercial vehicle no matter whether you own it or if it's somebody else's, no matter if you're on duty or off duty..the right place at the right time with the right officer and you are going to have problems.
     
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