The case of a case of beer in the Semi Truck

www.fmcsa.dot.gov


§ 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

(3) Be on duty or operate a commercial motor vehicle while the driver possesses wine of not less than one-half of one per centum of alcohol by volume, beer as defined in 26 U.S.C. 5052(a), of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, and distilled spirits as defined in section 5002(a)(8), of such Code.

However, this does not apply to possession of wine, beer, or distilled spirits which are:

(i) Manifested and transported as part of a shipment; or
(ii) Possessed or used by bus passengers

(b) No motor carrier shall require or permit a driver to—
(1) Violate any provision of paragraph (a) of this section; or
(2) Be on duty or operate a commercial motor vehicle if, by the driver's general appearance or conduct or by other substantiating evidence, the driver appears to have used alcohol within the preceding four hours.

(c) Any driver who is found to be in violation of the provisons of paragraph (a) or (b) of this section shall be placed out-of-service immediately for a period of 24 hours.
(1) The 24-hour out-of-service period will commence upon issuance of an out-of-service order.
(2) No driver shall violate the terms of an out-of-service order issued under this section.

(d) Any driver who is issued an out-of-service order under this section shall:
(1) Report such issuance to his/her employer within 24 hours; and
(2) Report such issuance to a State official, designated by the State which issued his/her driver's license, within 30 days unless the driver chooses to request a review of the order. In this case, the driver shall report the order to the State official within 30 days of an affirmation of the order by either the Division Administrator or State Director for the geographical area or the Administrator.
Code of Federal Regulations380



(e) Any driver who is subject to an out-of-service order under this section may petition for review of that order by submitting a petition for review in writing within 10 days of the issuance of the order to the Division Administrator or State Director for the geographical area in which the order was issued. The Division Administrator or State Director may affirm or reverse the order. Any driver adversely affected by such order of the Regional Director of Motor Carriers may petition the Administrator for review in accordance with 49 CFR 386.13.

 

CFR49 part 392.5(a)(3)(i)

392.5 Alcohol Prohibition
(a) No driver shall-
(3) Be on duty or operate a Commercial Motor Vehicle while the driver possesses wine of not less than one-half of one per centum of alcohol by volume, beer..., and distilled spirits...However this does not apply to possession of wine, beer, or distilled spirits which are:
(i) Manifested and transported as part of a shipment.

I used to work for a carrier who transported Ethyl Alcohol in tankers and when this was added to the regulations the shippers had to add the bottled sample to the manifest and we added a metal box to carry the sample so it was not in the cab or sidebox. Taxable shipments of pure ethanol are well sealed & the tax stamp [remember the seals over caps of booze] shelacked on the front head of the tanker; we had to take a packaged sample in a bottle [usually sealed in a box] for the customer's QC use because they could not open the sealsto withdrawl a sample from the load. Once they opened the trailer the product was theirs and they owed Uncle sam the tax -or- proof that it was used in a tax exempt process [ example: made into a medication] so they did not need to pay the tax. they could not cut the seals & destroy the tax stamp and then decide to send it back...

I doubt that the DOT would accept "1 case beer, domestic" hand written onto your manifest, your mileage may vary but I don't think so!

If you are using your own truck for personal conveyance after being relieved of duty and stop for acase onthe way home, you should have a case to beat the ticket; otherwise I would not stop.

 

Removed - Scalemaster

 

It appears the FMCSA disagrees.

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regu...fmcsr/fmcsrruletext.aspx?reg=392.5&guidence=Y

Question 3: Does the prohibition against carrying alcoholic beverages in §392.5 apply to a driver who uses a company vehicle, for personal reasons, while off-duty?


Guidance: No. For example, an owner-operator using his/her own vehicle in an off-duty status, or a driver using a company truck or tractor for transportation to a motel, restaurant, or home, would normally be outside the scope of this section.

 

The problem here is that many states, decide what they will enforce, and how.

 

I've got the answer!!, you say you wont have it any other way?

quit driving, by a bicyclewith a little basket on the handle bars, so you can transport you beer

 

work on your reading comprehension there crzy. He is saying he wouldn't have it any other way about where he lives.

 

Then the solution to the problem would be for one to be state specific when making statements as well as provide the appropriate RS or regulation.

 

I am only stating a generalization.

You will never know just how they want to interpret it. Look at what Minnesota did for instance.

I agree with what you posted, as I have read the rules and understand them.

I personally do not drink and even if I did, I would question whether it was worth it.

 

I stand corrected.

However, I have seen case law that goes both ways when the vehicle in question is over 10,000# GVW.

I withdraw my previous statement.