Millis OTR journal

Not if you refused a search. They can't punish you (legally) for claiming your rights. Now granted, if they wanted to be jerks, they could've come up with a reason your truck failed inspection.

Some may consent just to not cause problems. IMO, there is too much at stake with letting a cop rummage thru your skivvies. You don't know him/her. Cops are not friends.

Just a word of advice. Cover your butt, because if you don't know your rights, you don't have any.

 

Not trying to hijack your thread, but there are tons of videos from lawyers telling us to never consent to searches. Here's a cop saying it.



And this is one of my all time favorite videos telling us why we shouldn't talk to police.

 

So did you pass it @Steelersjunkie ? Ive been driving 2 yrs only had a level 3 checked paperwork.

 

Let's start with the Consitution of the United States. The Fourth Amendment says, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

On one hand, that means, you are protected against unreasonable searches and seizures of person and property where you have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" according to courts throughout the United States, and most importantly the Supreme Court of the United States. Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967). The good news is, your Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure applies to you as an individual in your truck, whether you own that truck or are a company driver. That you happen to be in a commercial vehicle makes no difference. You are still protected by the Fourth Amendment.

Meanwhile, law enforcement officers (including U.S. DOT) may search your vehicle under three circumstances; (1) You consent, (2) They find probable cause AND obtain a search warrant, or, (3) under some very narrow circumstances search your vehicle without a warrant and without your consent.

The first thing I'd be cautious about is consent. In some jurisdictions, silence could be consent to a search, so you may want to think about at least responding with a clear yes or no to the request to search the vehicle. In Indiana for instance, there are cases out there that suggest that if you say nothing and do not act to prevent the search once it has begun, you have impliedly consented to the search. If you drive through multiple jurisdictions, which pretty much everyone here does, and you do not want your vehicle searched, you would be wise to give a clear, verbal "no" answer to the question, "May I search your vehicle?"---unless you happen to know the case law and statutory law of each jurisdiction you are driving through. Not common, but a nuance you should know if you are opposed to a search.

The second thing I'd be cautious about is probable cause. As truckers, we have the same legal protection as any other citizen, however, we are subject to a lot of additional laws and regulations that our four-wheeled motorist friends are not. Therefore, there are many more opportunities for a law enforcement officer to find probable cause in stops or inspections involving commercial drivers than other drivers.

In a non-commercial passenger vehicle, for instance, a sealed container of alcohol probably does not in and of itself give an officer probable cause to search your vehicle if it is in the interior space of your car---in most jurisdictions. However, Sec. 392.5 of the Federal Code of Regulations, states that as a commercial driver, you may not, "Be on duty or operate a commercial motor vehicle while the driver possesses wine of not less than one-half of one per centum of alcohol by volume, beer as defined in 26 U.S.C. 5052(a), of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, or distilled spirits as defined in section 5002(a)(8), of such Code." In other words, sealed container of Coors Light in a non-commerical vehicle = non-problem. The same 12-pack of Coors in a commercial vehicle = big problem. That's just one example. Think about all of the additional laws and regs you are subject to that other people aren't. All those additional regulations provide law enforcement with additional opportunities to find probable cause.

Every individual should weigh the circumstances when considering whether to consent to a search. It is legally correct to say that you can always say no. That is your absolute Fourth Amendment right. But, as a practical matter, it is also correct to say that in a highly regulated commercial motor carrier environment, probable cause is really easy to find. And as to the question of whether the failure to consent shows up on a particular report? I don't know whether a failure to consent shows up formally on a particular inspection report or not, but I do know it would certainly be a matter of public record in almost all circumstances I can think of. In other words, if you would rather your company not know that you refused to consent to a search, assume they can find out regardless of what type of report it is. Any law enforcement interaction you have, if a search is requested and you refuse, that fact will absolutely be documented in an incident report, the officer's notes, or some other supplemental record of that law enforcement interaction, and while it may not be reported to the company, the fact that you refused is almost certainly documented in some publicly available record that your company could easily get ahold of.

Not saying anyone is wrong or right here, just food for thought. It's an interesting dilemma. Personally, I would have taken Steelersjunkie's approach here, but to the other responder's point, what as a driver I might view as a steak knife sitting in my drawer next to my can opener and plastic silverware, in some jurisdictions might constitute a concealed weapon.

There aren't any easy answers to this issue.

This post is not intended as legal advice.

 

My nickname should DB cooper, cuz that constitutes real thread hijacking. Sorry brother, I just got into this one a little. I didn't mean to drone on that long. Jeez...