Alcohol question

It's typical convoluted and sometimes contradictory "government rules". Kind of along the same lines of the 8/2 sleeper birth provision that says the 8 MUST be Sleeper Berth, Off Duty will not count for anything unless it's at least 10 hours in duration.

 

It doesn't have to make sense. They are regulations, like taxes the regs build up over time as some are added to old ones or new ones. If it's hard to not have alcohol, don't get a CDL.

 

That’s actually a myth. Any alcohol in mouthwash is considered out of testing range in 15 minutes. That’s the reason that if you fail a breathalyzer they test you again in 15 minutes before officially putting you out of service.

 

I'm just glad we don't live in the "land of the free" so we can buy duty-free and sale-priced booze and take it home.





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The old days of alcohol in the cab are long gone, decades ago with the new CDL Laws 1991 or so. (1994 for me when my state demanded my class A license to be turned in for CDL or convert to a car license) You run into the current zero tolerance for alcohol in this industry. You cannot take even mouthwash that contains it in the morning prior to driving. BAC means nothing really.

In the past DUI, DWI etc in a CMV got you unhireable for life. DAC has reduced that to about 5 years against hiring because the industry needs drivers.

You can carry sealed containers of alcohol in your trunk but not in the cabin of the car. And yes that reefer was useful for more than hauling deliveries back in the day. Even though the back doors are sealed, the side door was padlocked.

We continue to have drunken truckers now and then and it's a problem.

My post is essentially my own experiences with the Law on drinking, it's a strange life because early in my time drinking was not a problem anywhere (Who cared... not the Law, not the boss etc) and after the early 90's all of that got stopped. And as drug testing improved in it's regulations and sensitivity etc they really tightened the screws down over the years.

Bottom line if you know something has Alcohol in it, do not put it into a big truck period.

 

But you can have alcohol in a parked CMV, unless there’s signs saying no consuming alcohol on this property. And don’t be obvious.

And you don’t have to be prudes and never drink while yours away from home, day cabbers drink beer at home,
Just drink responsibly,
I always said, first night of a reset drink like a teenager, the second night drink like an adult.

 

The old truckstops had bars in them, I think we calculated a formula of time, body weight and so on to determine the final cut off time before next day's driving. Never mind the hangover lol, that turbo will ice pick it out of you soon enough.

I love to drink as much as anyone, but I am very careful how much I get into it. I don't need that much.

A long time ago I drank a entire 10 dollar bottle of jack in 12 minutes in competition with 3 other people. The largest one stayed awake the longest before she finally went down. Ugh... anyway the resulting two weeks after was not a fun time. In fact it created a problem of alcohol poisoning potentially in the brain stem. If you ran a BAC on me that night it would be into the .30's

There is a very old movie called dusk to dawn that had a great deal of drinking in it. Always a hoot. (And yes it was a truckstop...)

 

By the letter of the regs one cannot actually.
§392.5 Alcohol prohibition.
(a) No driver shall—

(1) Use alcohol, as defined in §382.107 of this subchapter, or be under the influence of alcohol, within 4 hours before going on duty or operating, or having physical control of, a commercial motor vehicle; or

(2) Use alcohol, be under the influence of alcohol, or have any measured alcohol concentration or detected presence of alcohol, while on duty, or operating, or in physical control of a commercial motor vehicle; or

Now that being said...
Some states already have physical control laws. Texas has very defines case law about what is, and what is not physical control. Other states may not even care.
I guess my point is don't piss off an leo if you do have a drink, because they will find a way to make you regret it.

 

I like it, she stayed awake the longest,,

 

How does Texas define physical control?