Hit by drunk driver, lost my job.

A lot of reputable companies like to keep a good image in the public's eye. You as a driver are the spokeperson and your truck is the billboard for that company. Many do not want their trucks at casinoes, bars or strip clubs, adult book stores etc. Several will tell you to bring the truck back in if some one calls you in.

 

Unfortunately, you are almost alone in giving him the benefit of the doubt in regards to alcohol. If you say that you went out and parked the truck at a club, 99% of the population will draw certain conclusions from those words. And the majority of the people will assume that it does mean alcohol was involved.

As for spending your 10 hour break in the parking lot of a club of any kind that serves alcohol, again, most people will make a specific asumption there, and it will not be to the drivers benefit.

Going into the bar and having 2-3 beers, and then going back to the truck to take your ten hour break also is a no no. If you are in the vehicle, in control of the keys, and have consumed alcohol, you can be considered legally guilty of DUI just for being in the cab. Getting into the truck through the drivers seat meets the legal definition of being in control of the vehicle. If you run the engine for heating or cooling at this time, once again, the legal standard for DUI has been met. Whether or not that is a realistic standard, is besides the point. It's the way the law is interpreted. Just as a police officer can arrest someone for DUI while he is in the drivers seat fumbling with his keys, before he ever moves the vehicle, the same rules apply to a commercial license holder, but usually with lower alcohol consumption standards.

And, as was stated above, most companies are very aware of their reputation and have a policy against parking the truck in certain locations, clubs, bars, and adult oriented businesses amongst them. You do that at your own risk.

If he gets a company to hire him again, I would recommend that he not take any chances and park the truck only in places clearly designated for trucks to be parked, and only places where there can be no controversy over the nature of the business owning the parking space.

 

Ok...OK. I have the answer, just claim the same as the driver below.....

Only On 9: DUI Ice Cream Truck Driver Claims He Wasn't Drunk

Last Update: 8/11 10:29 pm

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For the first time since his DUI arrest earlier this week, the driver of an ice cream truck is telling his version of events.
His arrest while behind the wheel of that truck was a story that 9 News broke.
On Saturday afternoon, the driver said he's a functional alcoholic, meaning despite his dependency on alcohol, he believes he can still do many things well. According to him, that includes driving an ice cream truck.
He tells us despite drinking eight beers that day, he was not drunk, and he also claims the company he was working for sold him out once we broke this story. "I am a functional alcoholic, I have been doing it for twenty-something years," said Shelby Dunigan.


And while the 37-year-old Dunigan doesn't deny that his addiction was a factor in his arrest Monday night as he drove an ice cream truck in Florence, he does deny that he was drunk.

 

Sure, the general population will come to that conclusion.....Won't that same general population conclude that it's the truck driver's fault automaticaly when there is an accident involving a car and truck? Yes

..And yes you do make very good points, but I was being realistic in telling him that many...and I mean many trucking companies will hire someone with nothing on their record (with 4 months exp) that have a pulse with a good blood pressure. (which they will do)

He said he was tested and was a .00000 alcohol.....regardless if I'm correct or not in our previous discussion,,,,he may as well have been parked at the supermarket because he blew a .00000 on the bac test. But I agree that you have to be careful what you do in a CMV. We are all under the microscope.....No doubt!

 

What is being said here is, although you dwell in a truck for weeks at a time, it is not your home in the truest sense of the word "home". It is still, primarily, a motor vehicle and will be treated as such by the regulators of society.

As far as this incident is concerned, in the future, refer to the establishment as a "restaurant", not a "club". The words "club" and "bar" are incriminating to begin with. Stop saying them.

You are wounded, but, not dying. Get busy repairing your career.

For future extracurricular activities, park at the truck stop, then take a cab to the "restaurant" and back.

 

Good Point ....

 

That's why I put ? marks in my first response. It sounded bad the way he posted it, and I wanted to know if it was the case. My first thought was that it had to do with alcohol.

 

There is a strip club in the town next to the one I was living in at the time, My friends and I parked and as we were walking in I saw a BT TRACTOR pull in the lot. Big company and located about 500 miles from this town. about an hour went by and there was a hoopla out side, we went to look and there were 2 cruisers and a killer caddy around the truck. a guy from the caddy waqs pulling stuff from the tractor and putting it into the trunk of the police cruiser, cops breath tested the driver of course he blew a bad tube, he was just drinking, and they fired him right there, took the truck and left him standing there, it was weird, this was about 10 yrs ago but it was scary.

 

i see nothin wrong with parking at a bar/club and having a few then going out to your truck and taking your 10 hour break. why should i care what someone thinks im doing when i know what i am NOT doing. i used park my truck in a bar parking lot everytime i was home now i park at a bowling alley. they serve liquor should i be concerned? BTW the company i drive for now is aware where i park and could care less as long my truck is not towed for improper parking

 

You can see nothing wrong with it if you like, but as was stated before, just having the keys in the ignition, and having gotten into the truck via the drivers door meets the legal definitions needed for a law enforcement officer to take action. The fact that you intend to take a 10 hour break doesn't matter. A drunk can come out of a bar and get into his car and intend to take a nap in the seat, and it still doesn;t change the fact that he was in the car, had control of the keys and had the potential to operate the motor vehicle in that condition.

I always sleep with my keys in the ignition, with the radio playing low. By law, if I were impaired, by having control of thise keys, and by extension, the motor vehicle, I am at a point where I can be charged with operating rhe vehicle.

As for having a few, you are still responsible for that vehicle and it's cargo while you have had a few. Most employers are not relieving you of responsibility for the vehicle during your break time. When I park the truck, I am responsible for it. In fact, unless it is parked on my employers property, I am still responsible for my truck even when I am off duty and it is parked out in front of my home. That's just part and parcel of being a driver. unless you leave the truck at a secure terminal, you retain responsibility for the vehicle and the cargo. As I sit here typing, I am still responsible for the load of flour sitting out in my truck and will remain responsible for it until I dump it into a silo tomorrow afternoon.