Beer in the sleeper?

Didn't read the entire thread but I love the fact that a student is asking if it's OK to carry beer in the sleeper. Someone might have already mentioned that fact but all I can do is scratch my head - although it does shed some light on why a good number of trucks scare the living hell out of me..

 

for what its worth, one time i had a moron alcoholic co-drive who got caught at the wheel, and drunk, but..parked at a truckstop for the weekend. Deal is, I was sleeping and he got a ride to the bar from some chick (who did not drink), and she gave him a ride back and was uhm...Performing some entertainment for him. So they were positioned in the drivers seat for the activities.

Some jerk called the cops because her minivan was parked in a truck parking spot, and they came out and caught them. Co-driver was quite obviously intoxicated, and infact puked on the bed around the same time. His friend crapped her pants, literally.

Cops told him to wake me up and they told me. "The reason we woke you up is because...well, you're friend here is drunk as a monkey, and we needed to know when you are planning on leaving". Now, i was very dazed and confused from being woken from deep sleep, and it took me a minute to answer, but i said "monday" (and this was friday night), and they said ok! and left.

You'd have to be a total ####### to give a guy a DUI for being in a vehicle drunk. But i've heard of it happening to 4 wheelers before, so....

Now, DB, You would have never caught me. What i used to do when i pulled dry van was buy *ONE*, drink it, then take a 10 hour break. I strongly suspect it was all out of my system at that point....but if it wasnt, it sure wouldnt have been noticable on my breath or person.

I pull a tanker now, and I really can't be drunk around it. My company does not have an alcohol policy that exceeds the regulations, but think about it. What if im at a truckstop and some jerk opens my valves and someone else wakes me up pointing out that im losing 300 gallons a minute of whatever im hauling? I haul food grade but I haul a lot of things that are extremely difficult to clean up, and i have to be able to think when that happens! I haul things like "tallow fatty acid" which is delivered at 140 degrees, and is the base for bars of soap....and turns solid and looks like a bar of soap almost immediately after spilling. Then theres 99% betaine, which just keeps sudsing and sudsing and sudsing and sudsing and is ridiculously impossible to clean off... You can probably guess what they use it for!

 

If I have to pay a lawyer $10,000 to prove in court that I am right and the DPS, DOT were wrong in ticketing me along with having my license pulled as harassment. What have I gained? How much was that beer worth to me?

Play the game and when you are off duty at the house, knock yourself out.

 

Sure wish I had thought or knew how to take a pic and post it. Got 43k lbs of Rolling Rock right now. Who's got the steaks and charcoal? lol

 

Hey Dieselbear, Is it illegal to carry mouthwash, or nyquil in the sleeper?

 

You can detect the alcohol on the breath of someone for longer than the period that it stays in their system. The drinker does not know that they smell of the alcohol. It is one thing that we can usually tell during accidents, just getting close to someone.

Just another thought about 392.5.

Physical control of the truck? Does this include key in ignition?

 

I do not drink on a regular basis, and if and when I do I am either parked for more than 48 hours, and then if I have 3 beers that is a miracle.I would not think about driving ever if I remotely thought I was even close to being impaired, no less than 24 hours after consumption, probably why I do not drink on home time. I was more set off by the Parking LOT Nazi's who get paid to narc.

 

Backstabbing and brownosing have been a part of trucking from the stone age and well rewarded.Some drivers never develope any other skills.

 

Lots of good comments on both sides of the fence. Here's my 2 cents. The company you drive for has trusted you with an expensive truck and your customer has trusted your company and you with their frieght. If you choose to drink, do it at home.

 

When I was a wee lad my dad went to a local watering hole in a small town down South to tie a few on. Had quite a few and at closing time staggers back to the truck, when he reaches the rig the officer that had been waiting in the shadows lights him up, arrests him for DUI, and impounds the truck. He had to call the boss from jail to beg for several hundred bucks in bail and impound fees. Needless to say he was fired. Locals probably just pocketed the cash (no charges were ever filed, his MVR never showed a citation).

IMHO it's just not freakin' worth it.