2 months in, got a question for you guys

So I’m wondering if anyone else has dealt with the situation I’m in.
I’m not sure about other states, but here in Massachusetts where I live, drivers who commit 3 “Surchargable events” within a year, must attend a driver retraining course.
I already had 2 for expired reg and expired inspection sticker, I got both at the same time on my personal vehicle. Stupid I know but hey it happens.

now about a month ago, I was driving my semi in New Jersey on my way to a job site, and made the dumb move to pass another truck in the left lane, and of course I got caught and ticketed. $189 ticket to me not the company.
Being that I was in fact guilty I paid it and moved on.
Now I just got a letter from the MA RMV saying because of that ticket I need to take the driver retraining course?
Does that sound right to you guys?
I don’t see why a ticket I got in my CMV would cause me to have to take this course.
On top of that the paper they sent listing my “surchargable events” listed the violation as “improper lane change” when the ticket I received said something like “marked lanes”
is this a mistake or am I gonna have to do this stupid 8 hour class?
Anyone else ever been thru this?

 

Sounds right. You have a CDL now. What you do in your car matters as well as what you do in the truck and the standards for you are much higher now.

 

You made an illegal lane change when moved into that restricted lane. Jersey does that when you get popped in the 3rd lane. You had to make an illegal lane change to get into that lane.

as for the rest, you have one license regardless of type of vehicle you’re currently driving. Your cdl is your drivers license.

 

Every move is watched man. Improper lane change is a moving violation so maybe we gotta go back to the drawing board.

 

yea I guess that sounds about right. Just sucks man. Expired reg and sticker was a dumb mistake. I thought they were still extended from Covid but I had just run out of time on it. Just a paperwork mistake not like I did anything wrong on the road. It is what it is I guess.

 

No matter if you’re guilty or not ALWAYS go to court! These simple no big deal tickets will jeopardize your livelihood! There are so many technicalities that can happen and get you out of a ticket. I got out of a speeding ticket because the cop was so flustered with the judge and defendant before me that she never identified me at the defendants table. The judge launched into a rant on the officer again and dismissed my case.

 

Massachusetts may not have an actual law like the one in Jersey, so they might just enter the next closest thing in their computer system.

 

Never ever ever —- ever——. plead guilty and pay the ticket.

hire a lawyer local to where the ticket was issued and let them get it reduced or dismissed.
The only thing the police department really cares about is the money.
Once the ticket is written, they are gonna get some money. They might agree to reduce the ticket , but they are gonna get your money.
Revenue collection is THE main function of every police department. Some of em , it’s the only function.

I was an O/O for years and got tickets. the only one I paid without fighting was the one where I was bobtailing and when was 1 mile away from my destination, I fell asleep and hit a police car.

They saw me weaving and figured I was drunk and jumped the sidewalk and drove into someone’s yard to get out of my way and I managed to hit them anyway.

I told them I had fallen asleep and asked how many tickets I was gonna get.
They said one should cover it.

“Good, no problem, I will wait over by my truck while y’all write it if that’s ok”
Got written for “failure to maintain lane “
Their car was totaled. They called a tow truck and I drove off.
Never heard anything from the city wanting money for the damage .
All the other tickets for speeding etc I hired a lawyer and fought them hard and always got it reduced to a non moving violation or a suspended sentence where they don’t report it to the state unless you get another ticket in 12 months in their jurisdiction, or got them dismissed completely.

and as stated above, this applies to any ticket, anywhere for anything , , no matter what vehicle you are driving.

 

For the op, and everyone else....

You only have one license. You do not have two. The single license you have simply adds the ability to drive CMV's. It is treated no different than say a motorcycle license. It's all part of the single license you hold. As such anything you drive will affect your single license. Yes there are different rules for different vehicles, but it comes down to that one license.