Lost CDL while Out of State - Please Help!

License lost in mail, not dlvd perhaps. Why didn't company have her scheduled to go home and pick the hard copy up.

 

Not necessarily in Pa... I forgot my wallet in my personal truck...got pulled in the scales DOT pulled me in for the inspection...of course at the inspector could’ve just let me go since he looked up my license and everything is valid...citation was for driving with out a license $150.00...went to court and I lost...

 

North Carolina allows you to order a duplicate online, and they will mail it to any address.

 

OP, what she should have done was carry on as usual until she got routed back to GA, then stopped in for a duplicate.

 

Did you take the little green book with you, open it up to table 2 for §383.51 and point out footnote #1? Or did you simply show up and say "I forgot my wallet in my car that day...sorry"? One is an affirmative defense, and requires a "not guilty" verdict. The other is an admission of guilt, and will receive a conviction. Judges and prosecutors are only human, and only know what they have either seen often enough or something unique enough to stand out enough to commit to memory. That's why lawyers argue and present relevant laws in defense of their clients, and if you didn't cite the regulation that allowed you to get the "not guilty" verdict then in their mind you were "guilty".

 

The problem is §383.51 concerns federal violations. It is a violation of §383.51 to operate a CMV without your document on you. However sadly this does not Indemnify you against a state violation. Drivers have used §395.13 (B) (3) to say a state cop can't cite you for a log book violation if you meet this exception. That section says no such thing. The main issue is the states are REQUIRED per §350.201 (A) to have companion laws. This is a deep and complex subject. You try quoting a Federal Rule like this with a state enforcement officer you might get a lesson is what they can really do.

 

§350.339 limits variances from the federal regs to intrastate operations. If you are interstate, the state's variances from the federal regulations may not be applicable.

§393.13(b)(3) only says you'll have the opportunity to bring the current day's log book page current without being placed OOS (provided all of the previous 7 were completed). It allows you to avoid an OOS, not a citation. Drivers who attempt to make that claim have likely never actually read the regs, and merely cite what they heard somebody else say they could/couldn't do in some trucker's lounge or CB chatter. I've always said you have to KNOW the rules of the game before you can bend them to your favor, and the ONLY way to do that is to read them and study them yourself. The company is going to bend them to THEIR favor, leaving out the parts that will help you. The DOT will look at the violations, and won't mention the exemptions that might make what you're doing perfectly acceptable and NOT be in violation. If you haven't taken the time to learn the parts that help you, it'll be an uphill battle.

 

Basically 350.339 really means a state can't go under a federal minimum or over a maximum. Your comments are correct. However in the case of a state charge of not having a CDL I'm not sure 383.51 is going to apply. Remember if a non DOT cop stops a driver 383.51 is not even going to be the charge. Like I said this federal v state rules and laws are interlocked and can be really complex. This is why attorneys make big bucks.

 

To me the moral of the story is drivers really need to develop muscle memory where your wallet is concerned. Keep it either in your hand or your pocket. Never take a document out and lose track of it. Never put a wallet down. I never keep my wallet anywhere but my pants pocket. When I change pants I move everything then hang fresh pants on a hook. I can't remember how many times I have reminded someone hey you forgot your wallet on a table or a POS counter. Sure fire way to reach for that wallet and find to your horror it's not there.

 

If the conviction would be counted as a "serious traffic violation" under §383.51, then footnote #1 to table 2 would absolutely come into play in regards to the verdict as it is quite clear that a "not guilty" verdict be entered provided the driver provides proof that they did indeed have a valid CDL on the day of the citation. If you know the regs going in, you can avoid the citation altogether by raising this fact with the cop and stating that his check with the state's computer database showing the CDL was valid proves it is valid. Reg was written prior to the instant access to the states databases.