if u own the tractor head , can police go in without a warrant?

I am a Texan. I will do it the hard way to get my point across and then I will call my Texas lawyer in Dallas and let the games commence.

 

This driver had a search of the inside of his truck as well, which I imagine he objected to...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/03/29/trucker-serial-killer.html

 

This guy was not a Texan or a trucker. He was psychotic loser who chose to give his address as Texas and chose to go into trucking because it gave him opportunity to commit his acts. This article should not have been titled as "Texas Trucker". BS!!

 

I would agree with you but you're missing a few things.

The use of the pervasively regulated business to initiate any inspection is limited to and only for regulatory needs, a law enforcement officer who is not educated in commercial vehicle inspections or not allowed to do inspections can not enter the cab to say look around unless there is probable cause or suspicion. Under the FMCSA regulations, an officer who has been educated and allowed to operated as his duty can inspect your cab, your sleeper and any other related items to ensure that you are within the requirements of the regulations, but can not inspect say your clothing or personal belongings. Their limitation is that of the regulations and nothing more.

However if they find something illegal or suspect, they can inform you that they want to a search of your truck and if you don't give them permission, then they have recourse for a search.

AND no it is not illegal for them to wake anyone up, no matter what because of the pervasively regulated business argument you used, justifying the need to fulfill the regulatory requirements of the FMCSA regulations. That said there is a limitation to that too and what little I can find in case law doesn't apply out of the jurisdiction of the states where it was adjudicated ( I think there was a case in Illinois about this). Under the FMCSA regulations there has to be documentation of the driver and co-driver of the vehicle to ensure that they are qualified to drive, so if you are sleeping and your co-driver is part of an inspection, you may have to produce that documentation as part of the FMCSA regulations which is enforced by the states. This I think also applies to passengers who have to sign a form that is kept on record at the carrier's office per 390.60 of the FMCSA regulations.

I think the case you are talking about is not really how you presented it, the driver was inspected and cited for violations and the police did not wake up the person in the sleeper to ask for ID, which really was in their right to do so under the FMCSA regulations but rather the co-driver was already out of the vehicle and ignored the inspector's instruction and got back into the truck. A suit was filed as a civil rights suit for some reason odd reason, citing that the person's civil rights were violated by asking for ID while outside the cab/sleeper of the cab, which means he is not sleeping nor in compliance with the FMCSA regulations because the inspector is charged with enforcing those regulations. I can't find much about the case except the notes of it on a website I won't post a link to. The police did admit they were wrong, which is odd because they had a duty to enforce the regulations, which is what we agreed to operate under when we obtain a CDL. The complainant seemed to think (on his website) that the asking of the ID was out of line but I think he didn't understand what the problem was or the limitations of his rights.

that all said the US federal government's Immigration officers who have not only the right to ask for ID but also have the right to inspect your vehicle either at the border or within I think 100 miles of the border. They don't have to give probable cause because that is their job and some of them are downright mean (can't say what I want to) about it.

 

It has been my experience in life that the police can do just about anything they want to do.

 

General privacy rules also apply to commericial vehicles. A officer unless given probable cause can not enter your vehicle without consent to search but trust me they will probally come up with a cause some how

 

Well no it is not constitutional, however... they do have a clever work around... It's called implied consent. In other words, it's implied that you consent to the search, which is deemed consent to search by the fine print waiver you sign to get your CDL. It's a clever way LEO's tiptoe around truckers Constitutional rights. It's VERY similar to the waiver a regular person consents to taking a roadside intoxication test. Even when they probably didn't do anything wrong other than be driving late at night.

 

Sir to let you know a little about that, its easier to let them look because if you dont they can impound your vehicle, then it will be looked in and invertoried of things in there. Also the police can hold a pe rson for 23 hours for no reason at all. So juat wanted to inform you of the rules ...

 

Wow! You really need to read up on your civil rights. They cannot hold you for no reason at all. They must have probable cause to believe you have committed a crime and they must arrest you. They can hold you for one day without charging and arraigning you. After that they must release you or charge you.

 

The pigs up in these parts will hold you.. Hell, they will say anything to get probable cause... it doesn't actually need to be true. Sad really.